Film Screening: Escaping Libya's Detention Industry
When: Monday, April 28, 2025, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Where: BLOC Cinema, Arts One Building, Queen Mary University of London327 Mile End Road London E1 4NS United Kingdom
We are honoured to invite you to the private screening of a new documentary film, ‘Escaping Libya's Detention Industry’, hosted by (B)OrderS Centre.
‘Escaping Libya's Detention Industry’, a new film produced by Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL) and Forensis, reveals the evolution and present state of Libya’s detention industry, shedding light on the systemic abuse, torture and inhuman treatment of migrants and refugees within Libya’s ‘official’ detention centres’ and trafficking sites.
Through a combination of powerful witness testimonies, satellite imagery and digital reconstructions, the investigation highlights how these violations are entrenched within Libya’s detention system. It also demonstrates how the EU’s externalisation of migration control policies plays a key role in the ongoing entrapment of migrants and refugees in the vicious circle of abuses in Libya.
Doors will open at 6:00pm. The film will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with leading experts in the field. The event will conclude with a reception from 8.00pm - 9.00pm.
Welcome: Professor Violeta Moreno-Lax ((B)OrderS Centre Director)
Speakers
Mehdi Ben Yousef (Lawyers for Justice in Libya)
Mehdi Ben Youssef is Programme Lead for justice and accountability for serious international crimes and human rights violations at Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL). His role includes overseeing investigations, case-building, and legal analysis.
Phoebe Walton (Forensis))
Phoebe Walton is a researcher and spatial designer with Forensis. She employs technological and spatial research with a feminist approach to platform the claims of marginalised and suppressed voices.
Sara Creta (Investigative journalist)
Sera Creta is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker renowned for her investigations into human rights abuses. Her documentary “No Escape from Hell” exposed the horrific realities faced by migrants and refugees in Libyan detention facilities and highlighted the role of militias in their suffering.
Merna Nasralla ((B)OrderS Centre / Lawyers for Justice in Libya)
Merna Nasralla is Senior Programmes Officer at Lawyers for Justice in Libya, and a PhD candidate at Queen Mary University of London and a member of the (B)orderS Centre. Her research examines States' responsibility for failing to rescue migrants and refugees at sea, and the externalisation of border control measures to curb migration flows.
About (B)OrderS Centre for the Legal Study of Borders, Migration and Displacement
The (B)Orders Centre focuses on the study of bordering, ordering and othering processes through law. It constitutes an excellence hub for intellectual collaboration and the evaluation of the role of law in the making and unmaking of borders and their impact on global (im)mobility. It connects scholars within and beyond Queen Mary Law School to harness existing inter- and multi-disciplinary research into law, borders and (im)mobility and shape future policy and research agendas in response to global challenges.
About Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL)
Established in 2011, Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL) is a people-centred, Libyan and international, non-governmental organisation promoting victims’ and affected communities’ rights to achieve justice, accountability and respect for human rights in Libya. We seek transformative justice in Libya to create long-term systemic change, challenging the underlying social, cultural, economic, ecological and political conditions that give rise to injustice, corruption, and violence in Libya.
About Forensis
Founded in 2021 in Berlin as a non-governmental, not-for-profit association (e.V.), Forensis works for and in collaboration with individuals and communities affected by state and corporate violence, to support their demands for justice, reparations, and accountability. Drawing on techniques and methodologies developed by Forensic Architecture (FA), Forensis is an interdisciplinary team of researchers with expertise in spatial and visual investigation, time-based 3D reconstruction, cartographic platforms, and open-source investigation.