A Libyan court has handed down heavy sentences to many of the 37 human-trafficking defendants it found responsible for the deaths of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean and reach the shores of a European country, the attorney general’s office announced Monday.

An appeals court in Al Bayda, 800 kilometers east of the capital Tripoli, pronounced its verdict against “persons who belonged to a gang, which organized the departure by sea of ​​irregular migrants (…) in an unseaworthy boat, resulting in the death of 11 of them “, according to the announcement of the prosecution.

The press release, in which neither the nationalities nor the identities of the defendants are specified, also states that of the 37 convicted, five were sentenced to life imprisonment, nine to 15 years in prison and the rest to one year in prison.

Libya has become a hub for tens of thousands of people trying to reach Europe since 2011, after chaos reigned in the north African nation following the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

In a report in March, a UN mission investigating the human rights situation in Libya alleged that migrants trapped in the country have been turned into slaves and sex slaves, a crime against humanity.

The Agency’s team of experts also referred to possible crimes against humanity against migrants in detention centers.

In October 2021, the US and the UN sanctioned Libya’s Osama al-Quni Ibrahim for “horrific crimes against migrants” from sub-Saharan Africa in a detention center in Libya.