Above photo: Global Sumud Flotilla/X.
Demanding the Immediate Release of 11 Humanitarian Volunteers Detained in Libya
Benghazi, Libya – An international crisis is rapidly escalating as 11 humanitarian volunteers enter their third week of unlawful captivity in Libya. In a desperate bid for freedom, 10 of the kidnapped convoy volunteers detained in Benghazi have been on a strict dry hunger strike since June 1, putting them at imminent risk of organ failure and death.
In an act of solidarity and to bring attention to their urgent situation, a Global Solidarity Hunger Strike has quickly been organized across five continents. Dozens of activists from 13 countries, including: Canada, Spain, Italy, the United States, and South Africa—are now on hunger strike to demand that governments step in and secure the immediate release of these human rights defenders.
In addition to the solitary hunger strikes, around the world, global protests are taking place at Libyan embassies and at ministries of foreign affairs demanding urgent government action and intervention to pressure the Libyan authorities to immediately release the 11 kidnapped international volunteers.
The crisis spans over three weeks with all 11 volunteers currently being held in Libyan black sites, clandestine, extralegal prisons and secret detention networks with little to no access to legal, diplomatic or family support.
A Timeline of the Crisis
– May 19: Humanitarian volunteer Mehdi Bouzguenda is kidnapped while traveling back to Tunisia following convoy activities.●
– May 24: Ten additional volunteers (the “Sirte 10”), acting as official negotiators for the Global Sumud Land Convoy, are kidnapped near Sirte and forcibly transferred to a detention facility in Benghazi.
– June 1: The Sirte 10 commence a dry hunger strike to protest their kidnapping, mistreatment, and the complete denial of legal counsel.
– Today (June 7): The dry hunger strike of 10 kidnapped volunteers enters its seventh day, leaving a critical, narrowing window for diplomatic intervention.
The 11 kidnapped individuals: Achraf Khoja, Lucas Ezequiel Aguilera, Maria Paula Giménez, Ana Margarida França Santana Baptista, Domenico Centrone, Leonarda “Dina” Alberizia, Jenelle Jones, Matías Álvarez, Laura Kwoczała-Alsubaih, Alicia Armesto, and Mehdi Bouzguenda—are doctors, educators, journalists, and human rights defenders. They are parents, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, partners, friends and valued members of their communities who traveled to North Africa to deliver peaceful aid and solidarity to the besieged people of Gaza.
International Demands and Government Inaction
The Global Sumud Coalition and the families of the kidnapped victims are urging the home governments involved, including: Tunisia, Argentina, Portugal, Italy, the United States, Uruguay, Poland, Spain, and Canada—to immediately intensify diplomatic efforts to secure their unconditional release without further delay.
The campaign demands:
1.The immediate and unconditional release of all 11 humanitarian volunteers.
2. Immediate, unrestricted consular access and independent medical evaluations.
3. Open lines of communication between the detainees, their families, and legal counsel.
This lawless kidnapping unfortunately is part of a broader pattern of criminalization of Palestinian solidarity efforts globally in an attempt to silence activism and demands for Palestinian liberation and freedom.
🕊️ Batı Libya’da 19 Mayıs’tan beri tutsak olan Mehdi serbest bırakıldı.
Yaklaşık üç hafta süren yasadışı gözaltının ardından Mehdi Bouzguenda serbest bırakıldı ve Tunus’ta arkadaşları ve ailesiyle bir araya geldi. Özgürlüğünü kutluyoruz.
Ancak mutabık kalınan usule uygun olarak… pic.twitter.com/hQqhRaWJ14
— Global Sumud Filosu Türkiye (@globalsumudtr) June 7, 2026
Translation: Mehdi, who has been held captive in Western Libya since May 19, has been released.
After nearly three weeks of unlawful detention, Mehdi Bouzguenda was freed and reunited with his friends and family in Tunisia. We celebrate his freedom.
However, 10 volunteers from the Global Sumud Fleet Land Convoy, who went to negotiate in accordance with the agreed procedure and were taken captive by Haftar’s forces in Eastern Libya, are still detained in Benghazi. We demand their immediate release!
And our volunteers are not alone. Approximately 10,000 Palestinians are held captive by the Israeli regime.
Every day, tens of thousands of people around the world are unjustly detained, their rights ignored, and their suffering rendered invisible.
We will not look away.
None of us are free until all of us are free. Take action. Keep up the pressure.
