Anti-Gaddafi forces captured alive an estimated 150 persons after the battle. They transported some 70 of these survivors to Misrata and held them there in custody, but at least 53 and possibly as many as 66 people were found dead the next day at the nearby Mahari Hotel. Amateur video footage recorded by a Misrata fighter shows 29 of the detained persons being beaten, slapped, insulted and spat upon by their captors, at the place of their capture. Six of the twenty-nine in the video have been identified by Human Rights Watch as being among the bodies photographed later on the grounds of the Mahari Hotel.

Gaddafi's death marked a milestone in the Libya conflict [JURIST backgrounder], which began in February 2011 [JURIST report] as part of a wider protest movement, commonly referred to as the "Arab Spring," that had spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa. In August Libya elected [JURIST report] a Gaddafi opponent to be interim president. Last October family members of Gaddafi filed a complaint [JURIST report] against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with the International Criminal Court for its alleged role in Gaddafi's death. Also last October, the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights [official website] called for a full investigation [JURIST report] into his death.