[JURIST] Libyan officials announced Thursday that they had found the body of a Libyan judge who was abducted by an affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) [BBC backgrounder] last month. Judge Mohamed al-Nemli’s body, whose death was confirmed [Libya Herald report] by the town of Zliten, was found near the city of Misrata in western Libya. The body had a gunshot wound as well as signs of torture. The judge was believed to have been traveling on this road where the group had set up armed checkpoints when he was captured.

IS has caused increasing international alarm over its human rights abuses [JURIST report] since its insurgence into Syria and Iraq in 2013. Earlier this month a United Nations expert exposed [JURIST report] the worsening situation in ISIL controlled territory where an estimated eight million people are currently living in fear. In July the US and Turkey agreed [JURIST report] to establish a ‘safe zone’ for Syrian refugees fleeing the Islamic State. In March the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that the actions of IS in Iraq may amount to genocide [JURIST report], crimes against humanity and war crimes. In February IS led suicide bombings in eastern Libya, killing [JURIST report] at least 40 people and injuring 70 more. UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported in December that the IS executed [JURIST report] 1,878 people in Syria between June and December 2014.