Marco Rubio says "cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment" about alleged Libyan prison abuse

The United States on Friday barred former Libyan Judicial Police official Osema Almasri Habeesh Najeem and his wife, Aml Faraj Mohamed Makhluf, from entering the country, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced. Rubio said the designation under a State Department appropriations law provision was tied to Najeem’s alleged abuse of prisoners at Mitiga and al Jadida prisons, as well as killings, forced labor and targeting of Christians and other minorities. The action came after Najeem was held in Libya in November 2025, following an earlier arrest in Italy on war-crimes charges and his release and return to Libya. The International Criminal Court had accused him of murder and mistreatment, including rape, at Mitiga Prison in Tripoli from February 2015. The designation makes Najeem and his family members ineligible to enter the US.