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Libya Case Study #2

Human rights conditions in Free Libya have recently transpired into a volatile

situation, pitted along ethnic and partisan lines. The smoldering ashes of civil war

continue to afflict Libyas minority groups and present formidable obstacles for National

Transitional Councils establishment of a democratic state. As is the case with any country

vehemently torn apart by civil war, atrocities and human rights violations fall across the

board, with each faction guilty of crimes against their fellow man.

Yet it is bewildering to think, that in lieu of Mummar Al-Qaddafis 42 years of

brutal despotism, Libyan militias are now violating the exact same human rights and

international laws- an impunity that Libyan Rebels fought for with their lives.

Additionally, these revenge attacks committed by various Libyan rebel groups are a

direct result of theNTCs inability to exert control and consolidate the Libyan militias

into one national entity.

As one Libyan doctor explained, after he witnessed the sectarian violence

involved in the Mahari hotel massacre, There will be no peace in Libya for years.

Whereas, now, in a post-civil climate militias have unrestricted reign to carry out human

rights atrocities on suspected loyalists; who, more often than not, fall victim to brutal

interrogations and prolonged executions. The purpose of this case study is to delineate

how human rights violations have evolved in Libya through a historical framework,

which pivots the old regime against the new interim government. Thus attempting to

unearth correlating trends and provide new insights to how a nation might transition more

peaceably from despotism to democracy.

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Interestingly enough, the pre/post civil war regimes of both Qaddafi forces and

Rebels share many commonalities with consideration to specific human rights violations.

The Human Rights violations observed by human rights groups prior to, in the course of

andpreceding Libyas civil war, traverse between chronological periods of governance

that had become synchronized, during the nine months of civil war. These common

Human Rights violations committed by both regimes include: Stalinist-style executions,

arbitrary arrests, torture of prisoners, indiscriminant attacks on urban civilian centers,

forced manual labor, and merciless persecution of migrant workers.

One noteworthy point revolves around the discrimination of Sub-Saharan migrant

workers, and fascinatingly human rights violations committed during NTC current reign

far exceeds the levels present in Qaddafis reign. In 2011, Amnesty International released

a report concerning the Mishrata militias violations against international law, as they

displaced the ethnic minority group of Tawargha. Consequently, the entire population of

Tawargha fled in fear of retribution from Rebel forces. Likewise, ethnic minorities were

extensively persecuted under Qaddafis regime, and as the report recommend- to ensure

freedom for all Libyans. Moreover, it places particular emphasis on the protecting the

Tabu and Amazigh communities from discrimination, but most of the measures discuss

womens rights.

In countries with predominantly Muslim populations, as is the case in Libya,

notions ofwomens rights is contentious because it traces the boundaries between

secularism and Islam. Islam is a totalistic in its nature, meaning, it encompasses all

aspects of life, particularly those that fall under the broad category of matrimony:

including dowry, divorce, and polygamyto name a few. So would it not seem strange,

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for many in the international community, involved in Libya, for Mustafa Abdel Jalil to

announce Libyas absorption ofIslamic law into political and social institutions.

1. http://www.ilac.se/sites/default/files/userfiles/LIBYA_FF_REPORT_111221.pdf

2. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/14/us-libya-tawargha-return-

idUSTRE7BD1CS20111214

3. http://humanrightsinvestigations.org/2011/09/26/libya-ethnic-cleansing-

tawargha-genocide/

4.www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/world/middleeast/libyas-interim-leaders-to-

investigate-qaddafi-killing.html

5. http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/09/30/libya-cease-arbitrary-arrests-abuse-

detainees

6.http://www.ntclibya.com/InnerPage.aspx?SSID=4&ParentID=3&LangID=1

7.www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/world-report-2012-libya

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