Libya and the Libyan Civil War 2
Parts of this article (those related to post-23 October 2011 national tertiary level education in Libya) are outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.
Last update: 22 July 2006 (October 2012)
Al Manar Royal Palace in central Benghazi – the location of the University of Libya's first campus, founded by royal decree in 1955
Libya's population includes 1.7 million students, over 270,000 of whom study at the tertiary level.[167] Basic education in Libya is free for all citizens,[168] and is compulsory up to the secondary level. The adult literacy rate in 2010 was 89.2%.[169]
After Libya's independence in 1951, its first university – the University of Libya – was established in Benghazi by royal decree.[17Sony SVE1513A4E battery
Sony SVE1513B1E battery
Sony VPCEA3S1R Battery0] In the 1975–76 academic year the number of university students was estimated to be 13,418. As of 2004, this number has increased to more than 200,000, with an extra 70,000 enrolled in the higher technical and vocational sector.[16Sony SVE1513B4E battery
Sony SVE1513M1E battery
Sony SVE1513V1E battery
Sony VPCEA3S1E Battery7] The rapid increase in the number of students in the higher education sector has been mirrored by an increase in the number of institutions of higher education.
Since 1975 the number of universities has grown from two to nine and after their introduction in 1980, the number of higher technical and vocational institutes currently stands at 84 (with 12 public universities).[ Sony SVE1713Z1E battery
Sony SVE17 battery
Sony VPCEA3M1R Battery? clarification needed][167] Since 2011 some new private universities such as the Libyan International Medical University have been established. Although before 2011 a small number of private institutions were given accreditation, the majority of Libya's higher education has always been financed by the public budget. Sony VPCCA1C5E battery
Sony VPCCA1S1E battery
Sony VPCEA3M1E BatteryIn 1998 the budget allocation for education represented 38.2% of the Jamahiriya's total national budget.[170]
-----------------------------------
The Libyan Civil War, also referred to as the Libyan Revolution[33] was a 2011 armed conflict in the North African country of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government.[34][35] The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi beginning on Tuesday, 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security forces that fired on the crowd.[3Sony VPCCA2 battery
Sony VPCCA2S0E battery
Sony VPCEA3L1E Battery6] The protests escalated into a rebellion that spread across the country,[37] with the forces opposing Gaddafi establishing an interim governing body, the National Transitional Council.
The United Nations Security Council passed an initial resolution on 26 February, freezing the assets of Gaddafi and his inner circle and restricting their travel, and referred the matter to the International Criminal Court for investigation.[3Sony VPCCA2Z0E battery
Sony VPCEA3C5E Battery8] In early March, Gaddafi's forces rallied, pushed eastwards and re-took several coastal cities before reaching Benghazi. A further U.N. resolution authorised member states to establish and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, and to use "all necessary measures" to prevent attacks on civilians.[39Sony VPCCA3 battery
Sony VPCCB2 battery
Sony VPCEA3C4E Battery] The Gaddafi government then announced a ceasefire, but failed to uphold it,[40] though it then accused rebels of violating the ceasefire when they continued to fight as well.[41] Throughout the conflict, rebels rejected government offers of a ceasefire and efforts by the African Union to end the fighting because the plans set forth did not include the removal of Gaddafi.[42] Sony VPCCB2M0E battery
In August, rebel forces launched an offensive on the government-held coast of Libya, taking back territory lost months before and ultimately capturing the capital city of Tripoli,[43] while Gaddafi evaded capture and loyalists engaged in a rearguard campaign.[4Sony VPCCB2M1E battery
Sony VPCEA3A4E Battery4] On 16 September 2011, the National Transitional Council was recognised by the United Nations as the legal representative of Libya, replacing the Gaddafi government. Muammar Gaddafi remained at large until 20 October 2011, when he was captured and killed attempting to escape from Sirte. Sony VPCCB2S1E battery
Sony VPCCB3 battery
Sony VPCEA2S1R Battery [45] The National Transitional Council "declared the liberation of Libya" and the official end of the war on 23 October 2011.[46]
In the aftermath of the civil war, a low-level insurgency by former Gaddafi loyalists continued. There have been various disagreements and strife between local militia and tribes, including 23 January 2012 fighting in the former Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid, leading to an alternative town council being established and later recognized by the NTC.[47][4VPCCB3P1E battery
Sony VPCEA2M1R Battery8] A much greater issue has been the role of militias which fought in the civil war and their role in the new Libya. Some have refused to disarm and cooperation with the NTC has been strained, leading to demonstrations against militias and government action to disband such groups or integrate them into the Libyan military.[49] Sony VPCEA1C5E Battery
Further information: History of Libya under Gaddafi
Leadership[edit source | editbeta]
Muammar Gaddafi was the head of the Free Officers, a group of Arab nationalists that deposed King Idris I in 1969 in a 'bloodless coup.[50Sony VPCEA1S1E Battery
Sony VPCEA2M1R Battery] He abolished the Libyan Constitution of 1951, considering it a neocolonial document. From 1969 until 1975 standards of living, life expectancy and literacy grew rapidly, and in fact continued up until the NATO intervention in March 2011.[51Sony VPCEA1S1R Battery
Sony VPCEA2C5E Battery] In 1975 he published his manifesto The Green Book. He officially stepped down from power in 1977, and subsequently claimed to be merely a "symbolic figurehead" until 2011, with the Libyan government up until then also denying that he held any power.[52][53] Sony vgp-bps24 battery
Under Gaddafi, Libya was theoretically a decentralized, direct democracy[54] state run according to the philosophy of Gaddafi's The Green Book, with Gaddafi retaining a ceremonial position. Libya was officially run by a system of people's committees which served as local governments for the country's subdivisions, Sony vgp-bpsc24 battery
Sony VPCSD1S1C battery
Sony SVE1511J1EW batteryan indirectly elected General People's Congress as the legislature, and the General People's Committee, led by a Secretary-General, as the executive branch. According to Freedom House, however, these structures were often manipulated to ensure the dominance of Gaddafi, who reportedly continued to dominate all aspects of government.[55] Sony SVS15 battery
Sony VPCSA2Z9E battery
Sony SVE1511H1ESI battery
WikiLeaks' disclosure of confidential US diplomatic cables revealed US diplomats there speaking of Gaddafi's "mastery of tactical manoeuvring".[56] While placing relatives and loyal members of his tribe in central military and government positions, he skillfully marginalized supporters and rivals, Sony SVE171A11M battery
Sony SVE1511H1EW battery thus maintaining a delicate balance of powers, stability and economic developments. This extended even to his own sons, as he repeatedly changed affections to avoid the rise of a clear successor and rival.[56] Sony SVE151C11M battery
Sony SVE1511B1EW battery
Both Gaddafi and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, however, officially denied that he held any power, but said that he was merely a symbolic figurehead.[52][53] While he was popularly seen as a demagogue in the West, Gaddafi always portrayed himself as a statesman-philosopher.[57] Sony SVE1711T1EB battery
According to several Western media sources, Gaddafi feared a military coup against his government and deliberately kept Libya's military relatively weak. The Libyan Army consisted of about 50,000 personnel. Its most powerful units were four crack brigades of highly equipped and trained soldiers, Sony SVE1711K1EW battery
Sony SVE1511S1EB batterycomposed of members of Gaddafi's tribe or members of other tribes loyal to him. One, the Khamis Brigade, was led by his son Khamis. Local militias and Revolutionary Committees across the country were also kept well-armed. By contrast, regular military units were poorly armed and trained, and were armed with largely outdated military equipment.[58][59][60] Sony SVE1711V1EB battery
Sony SVE1511S1ESI battery
Development and corruption[edit source | editbeta]
Much of the state's income came from its oil production, which soared in the 1970s. In the 1980s, a large portion of it was spent on arms purchases, and on sponsoring militant groups and independence movements around the world.[61][62] Sony SVE1711X1EB battery
Sony SVE1511G1EW battery
Petroleum revenues contributed up to 58% of Libya's GDP.[63] Libya's GDP per capita (PPP), human development index, and literacy rate were better than in Egypt and Tunisia, whose Arab Spring revolutions preceded the outbreak of protests in Libya.[64Sony SVE1511G1ESI battery] Libya's corruption perception index in 2010 was 2.2, ranking 146th out of 178 countries, worse than that of Egypt (ranked 98th) and Tunisia (ranked 59th).[65] One paper speculated that such a situation created a broader contrast between good education, Sony SVE1511G1EB battery
Sony SVE1511S1EW battery high demand for democracy, and the government's practices (perceived corruption, political system, supply of democracy).[64]
An estimated 13% of Libyan citizens were unemployed.[66] More than 16% of families had none of its members earning a stable income, while 43.3% had just one. Despite one of the highest unemployment rates in the region, Sony VPCCA4S1E battery
Sony VPCSE2V9E battery there was a consistent labor shortage with over a million migrant workers present on the market.[67] These migrant workers formed the bulk of the refugees leaving Libya after the beginning of hostilities. Despite this, Libya's Human Development Index in 2010 was the highest in Africa and greater than that of Saudi Arabia. Libya had welfare systems allowing access to free education, Sony VPCCB3M1E battery
Sony VPCSE2F1E battery free healthcare, and financial assistance for housing, while the Great Manmade River was built to allow free access to fresh water across large parts of the country.[68]
Some of the worst economic conditions were in the eastern parts of the state, once a breadbasket of the ancient world, Sony VPCCA3S1E battery
Sony VPCCA2S1E battery
Sony VPCSB4S9E battery where Gaddafi extracted oil.[69][70] Despite improvements in housing and the Great Manmade River allowing access to free fresh water,[68] not much infrastructure beyond this was developed in the region for many years, with the only sewage facility in Benghazi being over 40 years old, Sony SVS13A1U9ES battery
Sony SVS13AA11M battery
Sony VPCSA3Q9E battery and untreated sewage has resulted in environmental problems.[71]
Several foreign governments and analysts have stated that a large share of the business enterprise was controlled by Gaddafi, Sony SVS131B12M battery
Sony SVS1511W9EB batteryhis family, and the government.[72] A leaked US diplomatic cable said that the Libyan economy was "a kleptocracy in which the government – either the Gaddafi family itself or its close political allies – has a direct stake in anything worth buying, selling or owning".[73] According to US officials, Gaddafi amassed a vast personal fortune during his 42-year leadership.[7Sony SVS151A11M battery
Sony SVS1511V9ES battery4] The New York Times pointed to Gaddafi's relatives adopting lavish lifestyles, including luxurious homes, Hollywood film investments, and private parties with American pop stars.[73][75] Sony SVS151A12M battery
Sony SVS1511V9EB battery
Gaddafi said that he was planning to combat corruption in the state by proposing reforms where oil profits are handed out directly to the country's five million people[76] rather than to government bodies, stating that "as long as money is administered by a government body, there would be theft and corruption." Sony SVS1311E3EW battery
Sony SVS1511T9ES battery [77] Gaddafi urged a sweeping reform of the government bureaucracy, suggesting that most of the cabinet system should be dismantled to "free Libyans from red tape" and "protect the state's budget from corruption." According to Western diplomats, this move appeared to be aimed at putting pressure on the government to speed up reforms.[7
Sony SVS1511N3ES battery6] In March 2008, Gaddafi proposed plans to dissolve the country's existing administrative structure and disburse oil revenue directly to the people. The plan included abolishing all ministries except those of defence, internal security, and foreign affairs, and departments implementing strategic projects.[78Sony SVS1311P9EB battery
Sony SVS1511L3ES battery
Sony SVS1511M3EW battery] He stated that the ministries were failing to manage the country’s oil revenues,[79] and that his "dream during all these years was to give power and wealth directly to the people."[80]
Sony PCG-4121GM battery
A national vote on Gaddafi's plan to disband the government and give oil money directly to the people was held in 2009, where Libya's people's congresses, collectively the country's highest authority, voted to delay implementation. The General People's Congress announced that, out of 468 Basic People's Congresses, Sony PCG-4121DM battery
Sony PCG-41214M battery64 chose immediate implementation while 251 endorsed implementation "but asked for (it) to be delayed until appropriate measures were put in place." This plan led to dissent from top government officials, Sony PCG-4121EM battery
Sony PCG-41414M battery who said it would "wreak havoc" in the economy by "fanning inflation and spurring capital flight." Gaddafi acknowledged that the scheme, which promised up to 30,000 Libyan dinars ($23,000) annually to about a million of Libya's poorest, may "cause chaos before it brought about prosperity," Sony PCG-41211M battery
but said "do not be afraid to experiment with a new form of government" and that "this plan is to offer a better future for Libya's children."[80][81]
Human rights in Libya[edit source | editbeta]
Further information: Human rights in Libya
In 2009 and 2011, the Freedom of the Press Index rated Libya the most-censored state in the Middle East and North Africa.[82][8Sony PCG-41213M battery
Sony PCG-41218M battery3] In contrast, a January 2011 report of the United Nations Human Rights Council, on which the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya sat prior to the uprising, released a month before protests began, praised certain aspects of the country's human rights record, including its treatment of women and improvements in other areas.[84] Sony PCG-41212M battery
The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya's delegation to the United Nations issued a report about human rights in Libya. The report said that the country was founded on direct people's democracy that guaranteed direct exercise of authority by all citizens through the people's congresses. Sony PCG-41215M battery
Citizens were said to be able to express opinions to the congresses on political, economic, social, and cultural issues. In addition, the report stated that there were information platforms such as newspapers and TV channels for people to express their opinions through. Sony PCG-41216M battery
Libyan authorities also argued that no one in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya suffered from extreme poverty and hunger, and that the government guaranteed a minimum of food and essential needs to people with low incomes. Sony PCG-41217M battery
In 2006, an initiative was adopted for providing people with low incomes investment portfolios amounting to $30,000 to be deposited with banks and companies.[85]
The Revolutionary Committees occasionally kept tight control over internal dissent; reportedly, ten to twenty percent of Libyans worked as informants for these committees, with surveillance taking place in the government, in factories, and in the education sector.[86] Sony PCG-41218M battery
The government sometimes executed dissidents through public hangings and mutilations and re-broadcast them on public television channels.[86][87] Up to the mid-1980s, Libya's intelligence service conducted assassinations of Libyan dissidents around the world.[86][88] Sony PCG-31111M battery
In December 2009, Gaddafi reportedly told government officials that Libya would soon experience a "new political period" and would have elections for important positions such as minister-level roles and the National Security Advisor position (a Prime Minister equivalent). He also promised that international monitors would be included to ensure fair elections.
Sony PCG-31113M batteryHis speech was said to have caused quite a stir. These elections were planned to coincide with the Jamahiriya's usual periodic elections for the Popular Committees, Basic People's Committees, Basic People's Congresses, and General People's Congresses, in 2010.[89] Sony PCG-31114M battery
Dissent was illegal under Law 75 of 1973, and in 1974, Gaddafi asserted that anyone guilty of founding a political party would be executed.[86] With the establishment of the Jamahiriya ("state of the masses") system in 1977, Sony PCG-31112M battery
he established the Revolutionary Committees as conduits for raising political consciousness, with the aim of direct political participation by all Libyans rather than a traditional party-based representative system.[90] In 1979, Sony PCG-4R2M battery
some of the Revolutionary Committees had eventually evolved into self-appointed, sometimes zealous, enforcers of revolutionary orthodoxy.[9Sony PCG-4R2M battery
Sony VPCZ12Z9E/X battery0] During the early 1980s, the Revolutionary Committees had considerable power and became a growing source of tension within the Jamihiriya,[91] to the extent that Gaddafi sometimes criticized their effectiveness and excessive repression,[90][91] until the power of the Revolutionary Committees were eventually restricted in the late 1980s.[91]
The Green Book, Sony PCG-6Z4M battery
Sony VPCZ12Z9E/B battery which Gaddafi authored in the 1970s, was for years the principal text of political education. BBC cited a Libyan who said that teachers who called it "rubbish" could face execution.[92] According to the Libyan Government, "the death penalty may not be imposed except in tretribution (qisas) or on persons whose lives endanger or corrupt society."[85] Sony VPCZ13 battery
In 1988, Gaddafi criticized the "excesses" he blamed on the Revolutionary Councils, stating that "they deviated, harmed, tortured" and that "the true revolutionary does not practise repression."[90Sony VPCZ13M9E/B battery
Sony PCG-6123M battery] That same year, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya issued the Great Green Document on Human Rights, in which Article 5 established laws that allowed greater freedom of expression. Article 8 of The Code on the Promotion of Freedom stated that "each citizen has the right to express his opinions and ideas openly in People’s Congresses and in all mass media."[8Sony VPCZ13V9E battery
Sony PCG-6122M battery4] A number of restrictions were also allegedly placed on the power of the Revolutionary Committees by the Gaddafi government, leading to a resurgence in the Libyan state's popularity by the early 1990s.[91Sony VPCZ13Z9E/X battery
Sony PCG-6121M battery] In 2004, however, Libya posted a $1 million bounty for journalist and governmental critic Ashur Shamis, under the allegation that he was linked to Al-Qaeda and terror suspect Abu Qatada.[93]
The flag of the former Kingdom of Libya was used as an opposition flag.[94][95]
Between 13 and 16 January 2011, upset at delays in the building of housing units and over political corruption, Sony VPCZ21Q9E battery
Sony PCG-6112M battery protesters in Bayda, Derna, Benghazi and other cities broke into, and occupied, housing that the government had been building. Protesters also clashed with police in Bayda and attacked government offices.[96][97] By 27 January, the government had responded to the housing unrest with a €20 billion investment fund to provide housing and development.[98][99] Sony VPCZ23K9E battery
Graffiti in Benghazi, drawing the connection to the Arab Spring
In late January, Jamal al-Hajji, a writer, political commentator and accountant, "call[ed] on the Internet for demonstrations to be held in support of greater freedoms in Libya" inspired by the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. Sony VGP-BPS20/B battery
Sony VPCZ12X9E/B battery He was arrested on 1 February by plain-clothes police officers, and charged on 3 February with injuring someone with his car. Amnesty International stated that because al-Hajji had previously been imprisoned for his non-violent political opinions, the real reason for the present arrest appeared to be his call for demonstrations.[1Sony VGP-BPS20/S battery
Sony VPCZ12V9E/B battery00] In early February, Gaddafi, on behalf of the Jamahiriya, met with political activists, journalists and media figures and warned them that they would be held responsible if they disturbed the peace or created chaos in Libya.[101] Sony VPCZ11 battery
The protests would lead to an uprising and civil war, as part of the wider Arab Spring,[102][103] which had already resulted in the ousting of long-term presidents of adjacent Tunisia and Egypt.[104] Social media played a central role in organizing the opposition.[105][106][107][108][109] Sony VPCZ11X9E battery
Uprising and civil war[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Timeline of the Libyan civil war before military intervention
A girl in Benghazi with a placard saying that the Libyan tribes are united, on 23 February 2011.
The protests, unrest and confrontations began in earnest on 15 February 2011. On the evening of 15 February,
Sony VPCZ12M9E battery between 500 and 600 demonstrators protested in front of Benghazi's police headquarters after the arrest of human rights lawyer Fathi Terbil. Crowds were armed with petrol bombs and threw stones. Marchers hurled Molotov cocktails in a downtown square in Benghazi, damaging cars, blocking roads, and hurling rocks. Sony VPCZ11X9E/B battery
Sony VPCZ12C7E/B batteryPolice responded to crowds with tear gas, water cannon, and rubber bullets.[110] 38 people were injured, among them ten security personnel.[111][112] The novelist Idris Al-Mesmari was arrested hours after giving an interview with Al Jazeera about the police reaction to protests.[111] Sony VPCZ11Z9E battery
In a statement released after clashes in Benghazi, a Libyan official warned that the Government "will not allow a group of people to move around at night and play with the security of Libya". The statement added: "The clashes last night were between small groups of people - up to 150. Some outsiders infiltrated that group. Sony VGP-BPL14 battery
They were trying to corrupt the local legal process which has long been in place. We will not permit that at all, and we call on Libyans to voice their issues through existing channels, even if it is to call for the downfall of the government."[113Sony VGP-BPL14/S battery
In Bayda and Zintan, hundreds of protesters in each town called for an end to the Gaddafi government and set fire to police and security buildings.[111][114] In Zintan, the protesters set up tents in the town centre.[111] Sony VGP-BPS14/B battery
Sony VGN-Z51WG/B battery The armed protests continued the following day in Benghazi, Derna and Bayda. Libyan security forces allegedly responded with lethal force. Hundreds gathered at Maydan al-Shajara in Benghazi, and authorities tried to disperse protesters with water cannons.[115]
The Libyan National Transitional Council flag is flown from a communications tower in Bayda in July.
A "Day of Rage" in Libya and by Libyans in exile was planned for 17 February.[101][116][117] The National Conference for the Libyan Opposition asked that all groups opposed to the Gaddafi government protest on 17 February in memory of demonstrations in Benghazi five years earlier.[ Sony VGN-Z11MN/B battery
Sony VGN-Z51XTG/B battery101] The plans to protest were inspired by the Tunisian and Egyptian revolution.[101] Protests took place in Benghazi, Ajdabiya, Derna, Zintan, and Bayda. Libyan security forces fired live ammunition into the armed protests. Protesters torched a number of government buildings, including a police station.[118] Sony VGN-Z11WN/B battery
[119] In Tripoli, television and public radio stations had been sacked, and protesters set fire to security buildings, Revolutionary Committee offices, the interior ministry building, and the People's Hall.[120][ Sony VGN-Z21 battery
121] According to a report from the International Crisis Group, "much Western media coverage has from the outset presented a very one-sided view of the logic of events, portraying the protest movement as entirely peaceful and repeatedly suggesting that the government's security forces were unaccountably massacring unarmed demonstrators who presented no security challenge".[120] Sony VGN-Z21XN battery
On 18 February, police and army personnel later withdrew from Benghazi after being overwhelmed by protesters. Some army personnel also joined the protesters; they then seized the local radio station. In Bayda, unconfirmed reports indicated that the local police force and riot-control units had joined the protesters.[12Sony VGN-Z31 battery
Sony VGN-Z41WD/B battery2] On 19 February, witnesses in Libya reported helicopters firing into crowds of anti-government protesters.[123] The army withdrew from the city of Bayda.
Cultural revolt[edit source | editbeta]
‘Al-Soo'al’ (The Question)[124]
“Muammar: You have never served the people
Muammar: You'd better give up
Confess. You cannot escape
Our revenge will catch you
As a train roars through a wall
We will drown you.” Sony VGN-Z31VN/X battery
Rap, hip hop and traditional music, alongside other genres, have played a role in encouraging the dissidents to Gaddafi's government. Music has been controlled and dissenting cultural figures have been arrested or tortured in Arab Spring countries, including Libya.[1Sony VGN-Z31WN/B battery
Sony VGP-BPS12 battery24] The music has provided an important platform by means of communication among the demonstrators. The music has helped create moral support and encouraged a spirit of resistance and revolt against the governments.[124] Sony VGN-Z51 battery
An anonymous hip hop artist called Ibn Thabit gave a voice to "disenfranchised Libyans looking for a non-violent way to express their political will".[125][126] On his website, Ibn Thabit said that he "has been attacking Gaddafi with his music since 2008" when he posted his first song on the internet, titled "Moammar – the coward".[125][1Sony VGN-Z51XG battery
Sony VGN-Z battery27] Lyrics of a song 'Al-Soo'al' released by Ibn Thabit on YouTube on 27 January 2011, weeks before the riots began in Libya were indicative of the rebel sentiment.[124]
Some groups, such as a rock band from Benghazi called the "Guys Underground", used metaphors to cloak the censure of the authorities. Sony PCG-6P2M Battery
Sony PCG-8X1M Battery The group released a song just before the uprising entitled "Like My Father Always Says" to ridicule an autocratic fictional male head of a family which was a veiled reference to Colonel Gaddafi.[124]
Organization[edit source | editbeta]
Libyan Boy Scouts helping in the social services in Benghazi.
See also: National Transitional Council
Many opposition participants have called for a return to the 1952 constitution and a transition to multi-party democracy. Military units who have joined the rebellion and many volunteers have formed fighting units to defend against Jamahiriya attacks and to work to bring Tripoli under the influence of Jalil.[128] Sony PCG-6C1M Battery
In Tobruk, volunteers turned a former headquarters of the government into a centre for helping protesters. Volunteers reportedly guarded the port, local banks and oil terminals to keep the oil flowing. Teachers and engineers set up a committee to collect weapons.[ Sony PCG-6E1M Battery
Sony PCG-791M Battery70] Likewise supply lines were run by volunteers. For example, in Misrata people organised a pizza service which delivered up to 8,000 pizzas a day to fighters.[129]
The National Transitional Council (Arabic: المجلس الوطني الانتقالي) was established on 27 February in an effort to consolidate efforts for change in the rule of Libya.[130] Sony PCG-6G1M Battery
Sony PCG-7X1M Battery The main objectives of the group did not include forming an interim government, but instead to co-ordinate resistance efforts between the different towns held in rebel control, and to give a political "face" to the opposition to present to the world.[131] The Benghazi-based opposition government had called for a no-fly zone and airstrikes against the Jamahiriya.[13Sony PCG-6G2M Battery
Sony PCG-7T2M Battery2] The council refers to the Libyan state as the Libyan Republic and it now has a website.[133] Former Jamahiriya Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil said in February that the new government would prepare for elections and they could be held in three months.[1Sony PCG-6J1M Battery
Sony PCG-7R1M Battery34] On 29 March, the political and international affairs committee of the Council presented its eight-point plan for Libya in The Guardian newspaper, stating they would hold free and fair elections and draft a national constitution.[34][35]
An independent newspaper called Libya appeared in Benghazi, as well as rebel-controlled radio stations.[135Sony PCG-6J2M Battery
Sony PCG-7N2M Battery] Some of the rebels oppose tribalism and wear vests bearing slogans such as "No to tribalism, no to factionalism".[70] Libyans have said that they have found abandoned torture chambers and devices that have been used in the past.[136]
Composition of rebel forces[edit source | editbeta]
Court square in Benghazi, April 2011. At the central place for gatherings and demonstrations the walls are draped with pictures of casualties, mourners passing by.
The rebels were composed primarily of civilians, such as teachers, students, lawyers, and oil workers, as well as police officers and a contingent of professional soldiers that defected from the Libyan Army and joined the rebels.[13Sony PCG-6L2M Battery
Sony PCG-7N1M Battery7] The Islamist group Libyan Islamic Fighting Group is considered part of the rebel movement,[138] as is the Obaida Ibn Jarrah Brigade which has been held responsible for the assassination of top rebel commander General Abdul Fatah Younis.[139] Sony PCG-7Y1M Battery
Gaddafi's administration had repeatedly asserted that the rebels included al-Qaeda fighters.[140] NATO's Supreme Allied Commander James G. Stavridis stated that intelligence reports suggested "flickers" of al-Qaeda activity were present among the rebels, but also added that there is not sufficient information to confirm there is any significant al-Qaeda or terrorist presence.[14
Sony PCG-7H2M Battery1][142] Denials of al-Qaeda membership were issued by the rebels.[143] Gaddafi's claims are supported by a secret cable to the State Department from the US embassy in Tripoli in 2008 and an analysis by the Combating Terrorism Center at the US Military Academy at West Point of a set of documents called the Sinjar Records, Sony PCG-8V1M Battery
Sony PCG-7H1M Battery purporting to show a statistical study of the al-Qaeda personnel records. The West Point analysis of these documents concluded that Libya provided "far more" foreign fighters in per capita terms than any other country.[1Sony PCG-8W1M Battery
Sony PCG-7G1M Battery44] A disclosed file from 2005 on WikiLeaks found that rebel leader Abu Sufian Ibrahim Ahmed Hamuda Bin Qumu was a former Guantanamo Bay detainee alleged to be a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, to have joined the Taliban in 1998, Sony PCG-8W2M Battery
and that he was a “probable member of Al Qaida and a member of the African Extremist Network.”[145]
State response[edit source | editbeta]
Further information: Muammar Gaddafi's response to the Libyan civil war
In the days leading up to the conflict, Gaddafi called for a rally against the government that was to be held on 17 February. Sony PCG-7A1M Battery
Sony PCG-7D1M BatteryThe International Crisis Group believes this to have been a political manoeuvre to divert attention away from himself and the Jamahiriya political system towards government officials currently in power.[120] Sony PCG-6P2M Battery
Later in February, Gaddafi stated that the rebels were influenced by Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, and hallucinogenic drugs put in drinks and pills. He specifically referred to substances in milk, coffee, and Nescafé, and said that Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda were distributing these hallucinogenic drugs. He also blamed alcohol.[146] Sony PCG-6Q2M Battery
Sony PCG-6R1M Battery
Sony PCG-791M Battery [147][148] Gaddafi later also stated that the revolt against his rule was the result of a colonialist plot by foreign states, particularly blaming France, the US and the UK, to control oil and enslave the Libyan people. He referred to the rebels as "cockroaches" and "rats", Sony PCG-6C1M Battery
Sony PCG-7X1M Batteryand vowed not to step down and to cleanse Libya house by house until the insurrection was crushed.[149][150][151] He said that if the rebels laid down their arms, they would not be harmed. He also said that he had been receiving "thousands" of phone calls from Benghazi, Sony PCG-6D1M Battery
Sony PCG-7T2M Battery from residents who were being held hostage and who wanted to be rescued. Gaddafi said in a speech addressed to Benghazi on 17 March 2011 that the rebels "can run away, they can go to Egypt. Sony PCG-6E1M Battery
Sony PCG-6G1M Battery
Sony PCG-7R1M Battery..Those who would surrender their weapons and would join our side, we are the people of Libya. Those who surrender their weapons and would come without their arms, we would forgive them, and would have amnesty for those who put down their weapons. Anyone who throws his arms away and stays at home would be protected.[152] Sony PCG-6H1M Battery
Sony PCG-6G2M Battery
Sony PCG-7N2M Battery
Libya's ambassador in Malta explained that "many people instigating unrest were arrested. Libya will show that these belonged to Al Qaeda. Some young protestors were also misled. The government is ready to dialogue with them." Sony PCG-6J1M Battery
Sony PCG-7N1M Battery He cited reports from the Libyan Foreign Ministry that up to 2,500 al-Qaeda foreign operatives have been working in eastern Libya and were mostly responsible for "stirring up trouble." He concluded, “What we saw in Tahrir Square, and in Tunisia, was a clear situation. But in Libya, there is something different."[153] Sony PCG-6J2M Battery
Sony PCG-6L1M Battery
Sony PCG-7M1M Battery
He called himself a "warrior", and vowed to fight on and die a "martyr", and urged his supporters to leave their homes and attack rebels "in their lairs". Gaddafi said that he had not yet ordered the use of force, Sony PCG-6L2M Battery
Sony PCG-7Y1M Battery
Sony PCG-7H2M Batteryand threatened that "everything will burn" when he did. Responding to demands that he step down, he stated that he could not step down, as he held a purely symbolic position like Queen Elizabeth, and that the people were in power.[154] Sony PCG-8V1M Battery
Sony PCG-7H1M Battery
The Swedish peace research institute SIPRI reported flights between Tripoli and a dedicated military base in Belarus which only handles stockpiled weaponry and military equipment.[155]
Violence[edit source | editbeta] Sony PCG-8V2M Battery
Sony PCG-7G1M Battery
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, in an interview with ABC on 17 March, stated that the rebels in Benghazi engaged in terror against the population. He stated, "You know, the armoured militia yesterday, they killed four young boys in Benghazi. Why? Sony PCG-8W1M Battery
Sony PCG-7D1M BatteryBecause they were against them. Everybody is terrified because of the armed militia. They live in terror. Nightmare. Armed people are everywhere. They have their own courts. They execute the people who are against them. No school. No hospital. No money. No banks."[156] Sony PCG-8W2M Battery
Sony PCG-7A1M Battery
The Libyan government were reported to have employed snipers, artillery, helicopter gunships, warplanes, anti-aircraft weaponry, and warships against demonstrations and funeral processions.[157] Sony PCG-6Z2M battery
Sony PCG-71318M battery It was also reported that security forces and foreign mercenaries repeatedly used firearms, including assault rifles and machine guns, as well as knives against protesters. Amnesty International initially reported that writers, intellectuals and other prominent opposition sympathizers disappeared during the early days of the conflict in Gaddafi-controlled cities, and that they may have been subjected to torture or execution.[158] Sony PCG-6X4M battery
In a 17 March 2011 interview, shortly before the military intervention, Muammar Gaddafi's son and heir apparent Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said that "armed militia" fighters in Benghazi were killing children and terrorizing the population.[156]
Rebel fighter in hospital in Tripoli
Amnesty International also reported that security forces targeted paramedics helping injured protesters.[159] In multiple incidents, Gaddafi's forces were documented using ambulances in their attacks.[160Sony PCG-4Q2M battery,
Sony PCG-91311M battery][161] Injured demonstrators were sometimes denied access to hospitals and ambulance transport. The government also banned giving blood transfusions to people who had taken part in the demonstrations.[162] Security forces, including members of Gaddafi's Revolutionary Committees, Sony PCG-4R1M battery
stormed hospitals and removed the dead. Injured protesters were either summarily executed or had their oxygen masks, IV drips, and wires connected to the monitors removed. The dead and injured were piled into vehicles and taken away, possibly for cremation.[16Sony PCG-71C11M battery
Sony PCG-71511M battery3][164] Doctors were prevented from documenting the numbers of dead and wounded, but an orderly in a Tripoli hospital morgue estimated to the BBC that 600–700 protesters were killed in Green Square in Tripoli on 20 February. The orderly said that ambulances brought in three or four corpses at a time, Sony PCG-61511M battery
Sony PCG-71411M battery and that after the ice lockers were filled to capacity, bodies were placed on stretchers or the floor, and that "it was in the same at the other hospitals".[163]
In the eastern city of Bayda, anti-government forces hanged two policemen who were involved in trying to disperse demonstrations. In downtown Benghazi, anti-government forces killed the managing director of al-Galaa hospital. The victim's body showed signs of torture.[165Sony PCG-61611M battery
]
On 19 February, several days after the conflict began, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi announced the creation of a commission of inquiry into the violence, chaired by a Libyan judge, as reported on state television. He stated that the commission was intended to be "for members of Libyan and foreign organizations of human rights" Sony PCG-61712M battery
Sony PCG-61813M battery and that it will "investigate the circumstances and events that have caused many victims."[121] Later in the month, he went on state television to deny allegations that the government had launched airstrikes against Libyan cities and stated that the number of protesters killed had been exaggerated.[146] Sony PCG-61813M battery
Towards the end of February, it was reported that the Gaddafi government had suppressed protests in Tripoli by distributing automobiles, money and weapons for hired followers to drive around Tripoli and attack people showing signs of dissent.[16Sony PCG-71411M battery
Sony PCG-61611M battery6] In Tripoli, "death squads" of mercenaries and Revolutionary Committees members reportedly patrolled the streets and shot people who tried to take the dead off the streets or gather in groups.[16Sony PCG-91112M battery
Sony PCG-61511M battery7] The International Federation for Human Rights concluded on 24 February that Gaddafi was implementing a scorched earth strategy. The organization stated that "It is reasonable to fear that he has, in fact, decided to largely eliminate, wherever he still can, Libyan citizens who stood up against his regime and furthermore, Sony PCG-91311M battery
Sony PCG-71D14M battery to systematically and indiscriminately repress civilians. These acts can be characterized as crimes against humanity, as defined in Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court."[168] Sony PCG-71315M battery
In May 2011, International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo estimated that 500–700 people were killed by security forces in February 2011, before the rebels took up arms. According to Moreno-Ocampo, "shooting at protesters was systematic".[169]
During the siege of Misrata in May 2011, Amnesty International reported "horrifying" tactics such as "indiscriminate attacks that have led to massive civilian casualties, including use of heavy artillery, rockets and cluster bombs in civilian areas and sniper fire against residents."[17
Sony PCG-4R1M battery0] Gaddafi's military commanders also reportedly executed soldiers who refused to fire on protesters.[171] The International Federation for Human Rights reported a case where 130 soldiers were executed.[172] Some of the soldiers executed by their commanders were reportedly burned alive.[173] Sony PCG-71316M battery
,
In June 2011, a more detailed investigation carried out by Amnesty International found that many of the allegations against Gaddafi and the Libyan state turned out to either be false or lack any credible evidence, saying that rebels at times appeared to have knowingly made false claims or manufactured evidence.[36] Sony PCG-71318M battery
,
In July 2011, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi had an interview with Russia Today in which he denied the ICC's allegations that he or his father Muammar Gaddafi ordered the killing of civilian protesters. He said that he was not a member of the government or the military and therefore had no authority to give such orders.
Sony PCG-6X4M battery He also said that his father made recorded calls to General Abdul Fatah Younis, who later defected to the rebel forces, in order to request not to use force against protesters, to which he said Fatah Younis responded that protesters were attacking a military site and soldiers were acting in self-defense.[174] Sony PCG-6Z2M battery,
Prison sites and torture[edit source | editbeta]
Gaddafi reportedly imprisoned thousands or tens of thousands residents in Tripoli, with Red Cross denied access to these hidden prisons. Sony vgp-bps24 battery
Sony PCG-31113M batteryOne of the most notorious is a prison which was set up in a tobacco factory in Tripoli where inmates are reported to have been fed just half a loaf of bread and a bottle of water a day.[175] Sony vgp-bpsc24 battery
Sony VPCSD1S1C battery
In late April, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice alleged that soldiers loyal to Gaddafi were given Viagra and encouraged to commit rapes in rebel-held or disputed areas. The allegations surfaced in an Al Jazeera report the previous month from Libya-based doctors, Sony SVS15 battery
Sony PCG-31111M batterywho claimed to have found Viagra in the pockets of government soldiers.[176] Human rights groups and aid workers had previously documented rapes by loyalist fighters during the war. The British aid agency "Save the children" said it got reports that children were raped by unknown perpetrators, although the charity warns that these reports could not be confirmed.[177][17Sony VPCSA2Z9E battery
In Misrata, a rebel spokesman said that government soldiers had committed a string of sexual assaults in Benghazi Street before being pushed out by rebels. A doctor said that two young sisters were raped by five Black African mercenaries after their brothers joined the rebels. According to aid workers, Sony SVS13AA11M battery
Sony SVS131B12M battery
Sony PCG-41217M batteryfour young girls were abducted and held for four days, and were possibly sexually assaulted.[179] In a questionnaire 259 refugee women reported that they had been raped by Gaddafi's soldiers, however the accounts of these women could not be independently verified as the psychologist who conducted the questionnaire said that "she had lost contact with them".[36]
The validity of the rape allegations is questioned by Amnesty International, which has not found evidence to back up the claims and said that there are indications that on several occasions the rebels in Benghazi appeared to have knowingly made false claims or manufactured evidence.[36]
Mercenaries[edit source |
Sony PCG-4121GM battery
editbeta]
The Libyan government alleged that the armed rebellion was composed of "criminal gangs and mercenaries."[180] A Libyan official reported to Libyan television that security forces arrested Tunisians and Egyptians that were "trained to sow chaos."[18Sony SVS151A11M battery
Sony SVS151A12M battery
Sony PCG-41214M battery1] According to the Libyan Government authorities, mercenaries from Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia entered Libya to fight on the side of the rebels. Dozens of them were arrested. Libya's Jamahiriya News Agency reported that the detained men were part of a “foreign network (and were) trained to damage Libya’s stability, the safety of its citizens and national unity.”[182Sony PCG-41212M battery
Sony PCG-41215M battery] Military advisors from Qatar participated on the side of the rebels,[183] and were sometimes labelled as "mercenaries" by the media.[184]
After clashes between Government and anti-government forces, allegations arose of the Libyan Gaddafi using foreign mercenaries. Sony SVS1311E3EW battery
Sony SVS1311P9EB battery
The Libyan Government's ambassador to India Ali al-Essawi said that the defections of military units had indeed led to such a decision.[185] Video footage purporting to show this started to leak out of the country.[185Sony SVS1511L3ES battery
Sony PCG-41414M battery] Gaddafi's former Chief of Protocol Nouri Al Mesmari said in an interview with the Al Jazeera that Nigerien, Malian, Chadian and Kenyan mercenaries were among foreign soldiers helping fight the uprising on behalf of Gaddafi.[18Sony SVS1511M3EW battery
Sony PCG-41218M battery6] Chadian sources repudiated allegations that mercenaries from Chad were involved in the fighting in Libya. The Chadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said that "Chadians are not sent or recruited in Chad to serve as mercenaries in Libya," Sony SVS1511T9ES battery
Sony PCG-41211M battery and that allegations about Chadian mercenaries were "likely to cause serious physical and material harm to Chadians residing in Libya."[187] Sony SVS1511N3ES battery
Sony PCG-41213M battery
According to African Union chairman Jean Ping, the "NTC seems to confuse black people with mercenaries,". Ping said that for the rebels, "All blacks are mercenaries. If you do that, it means (that the) one-third of the population of Libya, which is black, is also mercenaries. They are killing people, normal workers, mistreating them."[188] Sony SVS1511V9EB battery
Sony PCG-4121EM battery
In Mali, members of the Tuareg tribe confirmed that a large number of men, about 5,000, from the tribe went to Libya in late February.[15][189][190][191] Locals in Mali said they were promised €7,500 ($10,000) Sony SVS1511V9ES battery
Sony PCG-4121DM batteryupfront payment and compensation up to €750 ($1,000) per day.[189][190] Gaddafi has used Malian Tuaregs in his political projects before, sending them to fight in places like Chad, Sudan and Lebanon and recently they have fought against Niger government, a war which Gaddafi has reportedly sponsored. Sony SVS1511W9EB battery
Sony VPCSE2V9E battery Malian government officials told BBC that it's hard to stop the flow of fighters from Mali to Libya.[189] A recruitment center for Malian soldiers leaving to Libya was found in a Bamako hotel.[191] Sony VPCSA3Q9E battery
Reports from Ghana state that the men who went to Libya were offered as much as €1950 ($2,500) per day.[185] Advertisements seeking mercenaries were seen in Nigeria[18Sony VPCSB4S9E battery
Sony VPCSE2F1E battery5] with at least one female Nigerian pro-Gaddafi sniper being caught in late August outside of Tripoli.[192] One group of mercenaries from Niger, who had been allegedly recruited from the streets with promises of money, included a soldier of just 13 years of age.[13]
Sony SVE1511W1ESI batteryThe Daily Telegraph studied the case of a sixteen-year-old captured Chadian child soldier in Bayda. The boy, who had previously been a shepherd in Chad, Sony PCG-31114M battery
Sony SVE1511V1EW battery told that a Libyan man had offered him a job and a free flight to Tripoli, but in the end he had been airlifted to shoot opposition members in Eastern Libya.[14]
Reports by EU experts stated that Gaddafi's government hired between 300 and 500 European soldiers, including some from EU countries, Sony SVE1511A1EW battery
Sony SVE1511R9ESI battery at high wages. According to Michel Koutouzis, who does research on security issues for the EU institutions, the UN and the French government, "In Libyan society, there is a taboo against killing people from your own tribal group. This is one reason why Gaddafi needs foreign fighters,"[193Sony SVE1511F1E battery
Sony SVE1511K1E battery
Sony SVE1511Q1EB battery] The Serbian newspaper Alo! stated that Serbs were hired to help Gaddafi in the early days of the conflict.[194] Rumors of Serbian pilots participating on the side of Gaddafi appeared early in the conflict.[195][ Sony SVE1511L1E battery
Sony SVE1511M1E battery
Sony SVE14A1S1EP battery196][197] Time magazine interviewed mercenaries from ex-Yugoslavia who fled Gaddafi's forces in August.[198]
A witness stated that mercenaries were more willing to kill demonstrators than Libyan forces were, and earned a reputation as among the most brutal forces employed by the government. A doctor in Benghazi said of the mercenaries that "they know one thing: Sony SVE1511P1E battery
Sony SVE1511A1EB battery
Sony SVE14A1S1EB batteryto kill whose in front of them. Nothing else. They're killing people in cold blood".[199]
On 7 April, Reuters reported that soldiers loyal to Gaddafi were sent into refugee camps to intimidate and bribe black African migrant workers into fighting for the Libyan state during the war. Some of these "mercenaries" were compelled to fight against their wishes, according to a source inside one of the refugee camps.[200] Sony SVE1511Q1E battery
Sony SVE1511V1E battery
In June 2011, Amnesty International said it found no evidence of foreign mercenaries being used, saying the black Africans said to be "mercenaries" were in fact "sub-Saharan migrants working in Libya," and described the use of mercenaries as a "myth" that "inflamed public opinion" and led to lynchings and executions of black Africans by rebel forces.[36]
Sony SVE1511W1E battery
In October 2011 it was reported that the South African government was investigating the possibility that South African mercenaries were hired by Gaddafi to help him in his failed attempt to escape the besieged city of Sirte.[201] It is thought that two South African mercenaries died in that operation from a NATO air strike on Gaddafi's convoy. Sony SVE1512B1E battery
Sony SVE1512C6E battery
Sony SVE1713S1E battery One of the alleged mercenaries speaking from a hospital in North Africa stated that around 19 South Africans had been contracted by different companies for the operation.[202] Sony SVE1512J1E battery
Sony SVE1713C5E battery
Censorship of events[edit source | editbeta]
A subsidiary of Bull, developed a software called Eagle that enabled to monitor internet traffic and which was implemented in Libya in 2008 and with better performance in 2010.[203] Gaddafi shut down all Internet communications in Libya, and arrested Libyans who had given phone interviews to the media.[204] Sony SVE1512K1E battery
Sony SVE1712Z1E battery [205] International journalists were banned by the Libyan authorities from reporting from Libya except by invitation of the Gaddafi government.[206][207][208] On 21 February, The New York Times reported that Gaddafi had tried to impose a blackout on information from Libya.[2Sony SVE1512M1E battery
09] Several residents reported that cellphone service was down, and even landline phone service was sporadic.[209] However, every day new footage made with cell phone cameras found its way to YouTube and the international media. Journalists and human rights researchers made daily phone calls to hundreds of civilians in government held territory. Sony SVE1513C4E battery
Sony SVE1513C5E battery
Sony SVE1712Q1E battery
The rebels abducted five journalists from Russia in April 2011 in Ajdabiya. They took away the journalists' documents and equipment.[210] In the city of Misrata, rebel leaders imposed restrictions on the foreign media. Journalists were prevented from traveling to the village of Dafniya and were turned back at rebel-held checkpoints. Journalists were only able to use officially approved translators.[211] Sony SVE1513D1E battery
Sony SVE1711X1E battery
International journalists who have attempted to cover the events were attacked by Gaddafi's forces. A BBC News crew was beaten and then lined up against a wall by Gaddafi's soldiers, who then shot next to a journalist's ear and laughed at them.[2Sony SVE1513E9E battery
Sony SVE1711F1E battery12] A journalist working for The Guardian and another Brazilian journalist have been detained. An Al-Jazeera journalist Ali Hassan al-Jaber was murdered, and was apparently deliberately targeted.[ Sony SVE1513H1E battery
213] Gaddafi's soldiers held four New York Times journalists – Lynsey Addario, Anthony Shadid, Stephen Farrell and Tyler Hicks – in captivity for a week.[214][215] Libyan citizen journalist Mohammed Nabbous was shot in the head by Gaddafi's soldiers soon after exposing the Gaddafi government's false reports related to the cease-fire declaration.[216] Sony SVE1513Q1E battery
Sony SVE1711R1E battery
International media[edit source | editbeta]
After the uprising began, Libyan students studying in the United States allegedly received phone calls from the Libyan embassy, instructing them to join pro-Gaddafi rallies, Sony SVE14 battery
Sony SVE14A1S1E battery
Sony VPCCB4X1E battery
and threatening the loss of their government-funded scholarships if they refused. Gaddafi's ambassador denied the reports.[217] A campaign in Serbia has organized people to spread pro-Gaddafi messages on the Internet.[218]
Gaddafi's aides also organized tours for foreign journalists in Tripoli. The Economist correspondent in Tripoli noted "The picture presented by the regime often falls apart, fast. Coffins at funerals have sometimes turned out to be empty. Sony SVE14A3C5E battery
Sony SVE15 battery
VPCCB3P1E battery
Bombing sites are recycled. An injured seven-year-old in a hospital was the victim of a car crash, according to a note passed on surreptitiously by a nurse. Journalists who point out such blatant massaging of facts are harangued in the hotel corridors."[219] Sony SVE1511A1E battery
Sony SVE1511R9E battery
The Guardian described journalism in Gaddafi's Libya as "North Korea with palm trees". Journalist were not allowed to go anywhere, or talk to anyone, without authorization from Gaddafi's officials who always followed them. Journalists who didn't report events the way Gaddafi's officials instructed faced problems and sudden deportations.[220] Sony SVE1512X9E battery
Sony SVE1513A4E battery
Sony VPCCB3 battery
In June 2011, Amnesty International criticized "Western media coverage" which "has from the outset presented a very one-sided view of the logic of events, portraying the protest movement as entirely peaceful and repeatedly suggesting that the regime's security forces were unaccountably massacring unarmed demonstrators who presented no security challenge."[36Sony SVE1513B1E battery
Sony VPCCB2S1E battery]
Human shields[edit source | editbeta]
Gaddafi forces reportedly surrounded themselves with civilians to protect themselves and key military sites like the Bab al-Azizia compound in Tripoli from air strikes.[221] Amnesty International cited claims that Gaddafi had placed his tanks next to civilian facilities, using them as shields.[170] Sony SVE1513B4E battery
Sony SVE1513M1E battery
Sony VPCCB2M1E battery
According to Libyan state television, the rebels used human shields in Misrata.[222] The Jamahiriya News Agency reported on a speech delivered by Leader Gaddafi to Misrata Tribes in Tripol, in which he said that the rebels "used children and women as human shields. Sony SVE1513V1E battery
Sony VPCCB2M0E batteryThey took more than 100 children whose whereabouts we do not know—maybe to Europe to be evangelised."[223]
Domestic responses[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Domestic responses to the Libyan civil war
Resignation of government officials[edit source | editbeta]
In response to the use of force against protesters, a number of senior Libyan public officials either renounced the Gaddafi government or resigned from their positions. Sony SVE1713Z1E battery
Sony VPCCA3 battery Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil and Interior Minister Major General Abdul Fatah Younis both defected to the opposition. Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem and Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa fled Libya, with the latter defecting to the UK.[ Sony SVE17 battery
Sony VPCCA2Z0E battery224] Libyan Prosecutor General Abdul-Rahman al-Abbar resigned his position and joined the opposition.[225]
The staff of a number of diplomatic missions of Libya have either resigned or condemned the actions of the Gaddafi government. The ambassadors to the Arab League, European Union and United Nations have either resigned or stated that they no longer support the government.[226][227][ Sony VPCCA1C5E battery
Sony VPCCA2S0E battery228] The ambassadors to Australia,[229] Bangladesh, Belgium,[227] France,[230] India,[226] Indonesia,[122] Malaysia, Nigeria, Portugal,[231] Sweden,[232] and the US[233] also renounced the Gaddafi government or formally resigned.
Sony VPCCA1S1E battery
Sony VPCCA2 battery
Military defections[edit source | editbeta]
A number of senior military officials defected to the opposition, including General Abdul Fatah Younis, General al-Barani Ashkal,[234] Major General Suleiman Mahmoud, Brigadier General Musa'ed Ghaidan Al Mansouri, Sony VPCEA1C5E Battery
Sony SVE151C11M batteryBrigadier General Hassan Ibrahim Al Qarawi and Brigadier General Dawood Issa Al Qafsi. Two Libyan Air Force colonels each flew their Mirage F1 fighter jets to Malta and requested asylum, after being ordered to carry out airstrikes against civilian protesters in Benghazi.[235] Sony VPCEA1S1E Battery
Sony SVE171A11M battery [236] Colonel Nuretin Hurala, the commander of the Benghazi Naval Base also defected along with senior naval officials.[237]
Libyan royal family[edit source | editbeta]
A young Benghazian carrying (deposed) King Idris' photo. Support of the Senussi dynasty has traditionally been strong in Cyrenaica.[70]
Muhammad as-Senussi, son of the former Crown Prince and grand-nephew of the late King Idris,[238] sent his condolences "for the heroes who have laid down their lives, killed by the brutal forces of Gaddafi" and called on the international community "to halt all support for the dictator with immediate effect."[239Sony VPCEA1S1R Battery
Sony VPCEA3S1R Battery] as-Senussi said that the protesters would be "victorious in the end" and calls for international support to end the violence. On 24 February, as-Senussi gave an interview to Al Jazeera where he called upon the international community to help remove Gaddafi from power and stop the ongoing "massacre".[Sony VPCEA1Z1E Battery
Sony VPCEA3S1R Battery240] He dismissed talk of a civil war saying "The Libyan people and the tribes have proven they are united". He later stated that international community needs "less talk and more action" to stop the violence.[ Sony VPCEA2C5E Battery
Sony VPCEA3S1R Battery241] He asked for a no-fly zone over Libya but does not support foreign ground troops.[242] On 20 April, Mohammed spoke in front of the European Parliament calling for more support for Libya.[2Sony VPCEA2M1R Battery
Sony VPCEA3S1R Battery43] He also stated that he will support any form of government that Libya will choose after Gaddafi including a constitutional monarchy.[244]
A rival claimant to the throne, Idris bin Abdullah al-Senussi, announced in an interview with Adnkronos that he was ready to return to Libya and "assume leadership" once change had been initiated.[245Sony VPCEA2S1E Battery
Sony VPCEA3S1R Battery] On 21 February, he made an appearance on Piers Morgan Tonight to discuss the uprising.[246] In March, it was reported Idris bin Abdullah had held meetings at the State Department and Congress in Washington with US government officials. It was also reported attempts at contact had been initiated by French and Saudi officials.[ Sony VPCEA2M1R Battery
Sony VPCEA3S1R Battery247] On 3 March, it was reported that another member of the family, Prince Zouber al-Senussi, had fled Libya with his family and was seeking asylum in Totebo, Sweden.[248]
Course of the war[edit source | editbeta] Sony VPCEA3A4E Battery
First weeks[edit source | editbeta]
By 23 February, Gaddafi was suffering from the resignations and defections of close allies,[249] from the loss of Benghazi,[250] the fall of Tobruk, Misrata, Bayda, Zawiya, Zuwara, Sabratha, Sorman,[249] Sony VPCEA3B4E Battery
Sony VPCEA4S1R Battery [251] and mounting international isolation and pressure.[249][252][253] By the end of February, Gaddafi's government had lost control of a significant part of Libya, including the major cities of Misrata and Benghazi, and the important harbors at Ra's Lanuf and Brega.[254Sony VPCEA3C5E Battery
][255] But in early March, Gaddafi's forces pushed the rebels back and eventually reached Benghazi[25
Sony VPCEA4M1R Battery6][257] and Misrata.[citation needed] On 10 March, the president of the ICRC Jakob Kellenberger warned of the increase in the intensity of fighting and in the number of casualties arriving at hospitals in Ajdabiya and Misrata.[258] Sony VPCEA3L1E Battery
Foreign military intervention[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: 2011 military intervention in Libya
The Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Charlottetown was deployed to the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya on 2 March 2011, Sony VPCEA3M1E Battery
Sony VPCEA3S1R Battery but did not take immediate action once arrived.[259] Seventeen days later, a multi-state coalition began a military intervention in Libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, Sony VPCEA3M1R Battery
Sony VPCEA3S1E Batterywhich was taken in response to events then occurring during the conflict. That same day, military operations began, with US forces and one British submarine firing cruise missiles,[260] the Royal Canadian Air Force, French Air Force, United States Air Force and British Royal Air Force[2Sony SVE1711T1EB battery
61] undertaking sorties across Libya and a naval blockade by the Royal Navy.[262][263][264]
From the beginning of the intervention, the initial coalition of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Qatar, Sony SVE1711K1EW battery
Sony PCG-6123M batterySpain, UK and US[265][266][267][268][269] expanded to seventeen states, with newer states mostly enforcing the no-fly zone and naval blockade or providing military logistical assistance. Sony SVE1711V1EB battery
Sony SVE1711X1EB battery
Sony PCG-6122M battery The effort was initially largely led by the United States.[260] NATO took control of the arms embargo on 23 March, named Operation Unified Protector. An attempt to unify the military command of the air campaign (whilst keeping political and strategic control with a small group), first failed over objections by the French, German, and Turkish governments.[27Sony SVE1511G1EW battery
Sony PCG-6121M battery0][271] On 24 March, NATO agreed to take control of the no-fly zone, while command of targeting ground units remains with coalition forces.[272]
Loyalist Palmaria howitzers destroyed by the French air force near Benghazi in Opération Harmattan on 19 March 2011
. In May 2011, when Gaddafi's forces were still fighting, and the end result of the civil war still was still uncertain, Putin and Medvedev's Russian government recognized the NTC of Libya as a legitimate dialogue partner.[273] Sony SVE1511G1ESI battery
In June 2011, Muammar Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam announced that they were willing to hold elections and that Gaddafi would step aside if he lost. Saif al-Islam stated that the elections could be held within three months and transparency would be guaranteed through international observers. NATO and the rebels rejected the offer, and NATO soon resumed their bombardment of Tripoli.[274] Sony SVE1511G1EB battery
In July 2011, Saif al-Islam condemned NATO for bombing Libyan civilians, including his family members and their children, under the false pretence that their homes were military bases. He also stated that NATO offered to drop the ICC charges against him and his father if they accept a secret deal, Sony SVE1511S1EW battery
Sony PCG-4U2M battery an offer they rejected. He thus criticized the ICC as "a fake court" that is controlled by the NATO nations.[275][174]
20 August rebel offensive[edit source | editbeta]
A rebel checkpoint in Tripoli on 26 August 2011
Further information: Battle of Tripoli (2011)
Heads of the rebellion reported on 21 August that Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, was under arrest and that they had encircled the leader's compound, Sony SVE1511S1EB battery
Sony PCG-4R2M batterysuggesting that the war had reached its endgame with an imminent rebel victory. By 22 August, rebel fighters had gained entrance into Tripoli and occupied Green Square, which was promptly renamed Martyrs' Square in memory of those who had died fighting in the civil war.[276Sony SVE1511B1EW battery
Sony PCG-4R2M battery] Early on 23 August, Saif al-Islam appeared at the Gaddafi-controlled Rixos Hotel in central Tripoli and boasted his father was still in control.[277] Later the same day, rebels blasted open the Bab al-Azizia compound in Tripoli through its north gates and stormed inside.
Sony PCG-41315M batteryDespite previous reports suggesting that Muammar Gaddafi may be inside, no members of the Gaddafi family were found.[278]
Early the following day, 24 August, Sony SVE1511H1EW battery
Sony PCG-41314M battery Gaddafi broadcast an address from a Tripoli local radio station in which he said the withdrawal from Bab al-Azizia had been a "tactical" move. The New York Times reported rebel leaders as saying they believed the only areas still under Gaddafi's control, other than the immediate neighbourhood of Bab al-Azizia, were al-Hadhba and Abu Salim, Sony SVE1511H1ESI battery
Sony PCG-41313M battery the latter including the Rixos Hotel where a group of foreign journalists had been trapped for days. However, the report noted the rebels lacked a unified command and that Gaddafi loyalists and snipers remained at large in many areas of Tripoli. Local hospitals and clinics, even in areas considered under rebel control, were reporting hundreds of cases of gunshot wounds and the death toll was impossible to estimate.[27Sony SVE1511J1EW battery
Sony PCG-41311M battery9] By late afternoon the journalists trapped at the Rixos Hotel had been released while heavy fighting continued in the Abu Salim region close to Bab al-Azizia and elsewhere.[280] The rebels were reported as estimating 400 people had been killed and a further 2,000 injured in the battle.[44] Sony VPCCA4S1E battery
Sony VPCCA2S1E battery
After Tripoli and NTC victory[edit source | editbeta]
See also: Death of Muammar Gaddafi
A rebel tank near Ajdabiya
Efforts to mop up pro-Gaddafi forces in northwestern Libya and toward Sirte began even before the rebels fully consolidated control of Tripoli. Rebels took the city of Ghadames near the borders of Tunisia and Algeria on 29 August. Sony VPCCB3M1E battery
Sony VPCCA3S1E battery Members of the Gaddafi family took flight to Algeria. In September, the Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid was besieged by rebels, who reported that Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam was hiding in the city.[28Sony VGP-BPL14 battery
1] On 22 September, the NTC captured the southern city of Sabha, and claimed to have found a large cache of chemical weapons.[282] Concerns were raised over the danger of Gaddafi mounting an insurgency against the new authorities.[ Sony VGP-BPL14/B battery
By mid-October 2011, much of the city of Sirte had been taken by NTC forces, although fierce fighting continued around the city center, where many pro-Gaddafi fighters were encamped.[284] The NTC captured the whole of Sirte on 20 October 2011, and reported that Gaddafi himself had been killed in the city.[285][ Sony VGP-BPL14/S battery
Sony VGN-Z51WG/B battery286] Some civilian Gaddafi supporters remaining in the city reported that women and children had been killed in crossfire or fired upon by rebel forces. There were also reports of harassment and theft by rebels, Sony VGP-BPS14 battery
Sony VGN-Z51MG/B battery however the rebel army indicated it would leave unarmed civilians "to their own devices", and had allowed families in the city access to supplies and medical assistance.[287] Sony VGP-BPS14/S battery
On September 1, when Gaddafi lost his capital Tripoli but still continued fighting, the Russian government under Putin and Medvedev recognized the Libyan NTC as the only Legal regime in Libya.[288] On September 12, Sony VGN-Z11MN/B battery
Sony VGN-Z31XN/B battery Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao's People's Republic of China government also recognized the NTC of Libya as the only Legal regime in Libya.[289] When China and Russia had abandoned their support of Gaddafi, a spokesman of the NTC of Libya said because of their long time support of Gaddafi, Sony VGN-Z11XN/X battery
Sony VGN-Z41WD/B battery it will be very hard for a Chinese, Russian or Indian oil company to acquire new exploration contracts.[290]
Aftermath[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Aftermath of the Libyan civil war
See also: 2011–present Libyan factional fighting
Despite the defeat of Gaddafi's loyalists, capture of last loyalist cities and Gaddafi's death, Saif al-Islam, Sony VGN-Z21 battery
Sony VGP-BPS12/Q batteryGaddafi's son and successor, remained hiding in the southern region of Libya until his capture in mid-November. In addition, some loyalist forces crossed into Niger, though the escape attempts exploded into violence, when detected by Nigerien troops.
Sporadic clashes between NTC and former loyalists also continued across Libya with low intensity. On November 23, 2011, Sony VGN-Z21MN/B battery
Sony VGP-BPS12 batteryseven people were killed in clashes at Bani Walid, five of them among the revolutionary forces and one Gaddafi loyalist.[291]
Fighting broke out on 3 January 2012, at a building used as intelligence headquarters by the Gaddafi government.[29Sony VGN-Z21WN/B battery
Sony VGP-BPL12 battery2] Abdul Jalil, the chairman of NTC, warned Libyans that the country could descend into another civil war if they resort to force to settle their differences.[292] It was reported that five people were killed and at least five injured in the events.[293]
Also on 3 January, Sony VGN-Z21XN battery
Sony VGN-Z battery Libya's government named a retired general from Misrata, Yousel al-Manquosh, as head of the country's armed forces.[294]
Bani Walid was captured by local tribal fighters on 23 January, due to the NTC's perceived inability to cooperate with them.[1][ Sony VGN-Z21ZN/X battery
Sony VGN-Z51XG battery48] The local forces were said to have used heavy weapons and numbered 100-150 men.[48] Eight NTC fighters were killed and at least 25 wounded, with the rest fleeing the city.[1]
Sony VGN-Z51WG batteryClashes were also reported in Benghazi and Tripoli.[48]
The NTC has functioned as an interim legislature during the transitional period. In early May 2012, it passed its most sweeping measures to date, granting immunity to former rebel fighters for acts committed during the civil war and ordering that all detainees accused of fighting for Gaddafi should be tried or released by 12 July 2012. Sony VGN-Z31 battery
Sony VGN-Z51 battery It also adopted Law 37, prohibiting the publication of "propaganda" criticising the revolution, questioning the authority of Libya's governing organs, or praising Muammar Gaddafi, his family, his government, or the ideas of the Green Book.[295] Sony VGN-Z31MN/B battery
Impact[edit source | editbeta]
Casualties[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Casualties of the Libyan civil war
People in Dublin, Ireland, protesting against Gaddafi (March 2011).
Independent numbers of dead and injured in the conflict have still not been made available. Estimates have been widely varied. Sony VGN-Z31WN/B battery
On 24 February, Libya's ambassador to Malta said that Gaddafi's government believed the number of dead to be about 300, including civilians, police officers, and soldiers.[153] The exact same day, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported that the International Criminal Court estimated 10,000 had been killed.[29Dell Latitude E4200 battery
6] The numbers of injured were estimated to be around 4,000 by 22 February.[297]
On 2 March, the World Health Organization estimated approximately 2,000 killed. At the same time, the opposition said that 6,500 people had died.[2Dell Latitude E5400 battery
Dell Latitude E5220 battery
Dell Latitude E5420 battery98] Later, rebel spokesman Abdul Hafiz Ghoga reported that the death toll reached 8,000.[299]
In June 2011, Amnesty International stated that earlier estimates of the initial clashes in February were exaggerated. It estimated that during the first few days of the conflict, 100 to 110 people were killed in Benghazi and 59 to 64 were killed in Bayda.[36]
On 8 September, Naji Barakat, Dell Latitude E5410 battery
Dell Latitude E6430s battery the Health Minister of the National Transitional Council, stated that about half of an estimated 30,000 dead were believed to have been pro-Gaddafi fighters. War wounded were estimated as at least 50,000, of which about 20,000 were serious injuries, but this estimate was expected to rise.[2Dell Latitude E5510 battery
Dell Latitude E6430 battery9] However, there was no independent verification of the Health Minister's statement and, one month later, the NTC reduced the estimated number of killed to 25,000.[28]
In January 2013, the new Libyan government, based on unfinished research, estimated the number of killed in the conflict to be actually far lower than previous estimates, Dell Latitude E5500 battery
Dell Latitude E6330 battery with 4,700 of the dead being rebel fighters, a similar number loyalist soldiers and an undefined number civilians. An estimated 2,100 rebels and loyalists were missing. No count was given on the number of killed and missing civilians.[25]
Dell Latitude E6320 batteryThe Uppsala Conflict Data Program a public data resource that includes information on different types of organized violence (e.g. actors involved, casualties, date, location, etc.) reported that between 1,914 and 3,466 people were killed during the 2011 fighting.[300Dell Latitude E6400 ATG battery
Dell Latitude E6230 battery] In addition their data shows that between 152 and 168 civilians were deliberately killed by the pro-Gaddafi forces in 2011.[301]
Legal qualification[edit source | editbeta] Dell Latitude E6500 battery
Legal qualification of an armed conflict determines which rules of international humanitarian law apply to the conduct of the parties during that conflict. In general, the normative framework applicable to international conflicts is broader and more detailed than the sum of rules that apply in conflicts not of an international character.[302] Dell Latitude E4300 battery
The qualification of the Libyan conflict is the subject of some academic controversy. While most agree that the intensity of the fighting and the organization of the insurgents quickly rose to the level required for the existence of a non-international armed conflict under Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions,[303][3Dell Latitude E4310 battery
Dell Latitude E6120 battery04] the exact date when these conditions were considered fulfilled ranges from late February[305] to 10 March 2011.[258]
It is generally accepted that the military intervention by a multi-state coalition acting under the Security Council mandate since 19 March 2011 occasioned an international armed conflict between Libya and the intervening states. Dell Latitude E4320 battery
Dell Latitude E6510 battery [306][307] Some academics believe that this intervention transformed the legal nature of the conflict as a whole, with the result that even the rebels should have been considered as one of the parties to an overarching international conflict spanning the whole Libyan territory.[3
07] Others doubt this on account of both legal and factual considerations.[308]
Finally, it remains unsettled whether or not the rebels’ overthrow of Gaddafi’s government following the fall of Tripoli in August 2011 changed the nature of the conflict again.
Dell Latitude E6410 ATG battery Some academics believe that as the rebels were now the legitimate and effective government of the state of Libya, the conflict was "deinternationalised" and thus non-international in nature again.[309][310Dell Latitude E6400 XFR battery
Dell Latitude E6410 battery] Others maintain the opposite position, arguing that the available legal tests for "deinternationalisation" are unpersuasive and introduce vague and politicized criteria that cannot be satisfactorily considered in the heat of the battle. Consequently, these authors would consider that the international nature of the conflict remained unchanged until the end of hostilities.[311] Sony VPCCB4X1E battery
Sony VPCSB4X9E battery
The ongoing conflict (or conflicts) ended for the purposes of legal qualification with the conclusion of hostilities in Libya in the end of October 2011.[312][313]
Humanitarian situation[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Humanitarian situation during the Libyan civil war
By the end of February 2011, supplies of medicine, fuel and food were dangerously low in Libya's urban centres.[314Sony VPCCA3E1E battery
Sony SVS13A1S9E battery
Sony VPCSB4M9E battery] On 25 February, the International Committee of the Red Cross launched an emergency appeal for US$6.4 million to meet the emergency needs of people affected by the violent unrest in Libya.[315Sony SVS13A1X9E battery
Sony VPCSB4L1E battery] In early March, the fighting across Libya meant that more than a million people fleeing or inside the country needed humanitarian aid.[316][317] The Islamic Relief and the WFP also coordinated a shipment of humanitarian supplies to Misrata.[31Sony SVS1312J3E battery
Sony VPCSB3X9E battery8] In March, the Swedish government donated medical supplies and other humanitarian aid and the UN World Food Programme provided food. Turkey sent a hospital ship to Misrata and a Turkish cargo ship brought 141 tons of humanitarian aid.[318][319] Sony SVS1312P9E battery
Sony VPCSB3T9E battery
Another humanitarian issue was refugees fleeing the crisis. A humanitarian ship docked in harbour of Misrata in April to begin the evacuation of stranded migrants.[320] By 10 July, over 150,000 migrants were evacutated.[3Sony SVS1312S9E battery
Sony VPCSB3S9E battery21] Migrants were also stranded elsewhere in Libya, such as in the southern towns of Sebha and Gatroum. Fleeing the violence of Tripoli by road, as many as 4,000 refugees were crossing the Libya–Tunisia border daily during the first days of the uprising. Among those escaping the violence were native Libyans as well as foreign nationals including Egyptians, Tunisians and Turks.[322] Sony SVS1313C5E battery
Sony VPCSB3N9E battery
While the UN sanctioned military intervention has been implemented on humanitarian grounds, UN agencies seeking to ease the humanitarian crisis repeatedly rejected offers of support from the military to carry out the agencies' humanitarian operations.[ Sony SVS1313S9E battery
Sony VPCSB3M9E battery323] The conditions under which such support may be accepted are outlined in the Guidelines on the Use of Military and Civil Defence Assets to Support United Nations Humanitarian Activities in Complex Emergencies (MCDA), Sony SVS1511S9E battery
Sony SVS1512X9E battery
whereby military support can be used but only temporarily and as a last resort.[323] Yet, there remains the concern that aid agencies' neutrality will be brought into question by accepting military support, putting aid staff at risk of being attacked and causing some parties to prevent the agencies accessing all the areas they need to.[ Sony SVS13 battery
Sony VPCSB3L9E battery323] Furthermore, the military may not always have the technical skills required to assess the need for aid and to ensure its effective distribution.[323] Despite this, offers continue for the creation of an aid corridor and aid agencies have accepted military logistical support in the past, for instance in the 2010 Pakistan floods response.[323]
Sony VPCSB2M9E battery
Ethnic targeting[edit source | editbeta]
In August 2011, the UNHCR issued a strong call for the rights and lives of sub-Saharan Africans living in Libya to be protected due to reports that black Africans were being targeted[clarification needed] by the rebel forces as cities fell.[ Sony SVS1511S3R battery
Sony VPCSB2L1E battery324] Other news sources including The Independent and CNN have reported on the targeting[clarification needed] of black people in rebel held areas.[325][326][327]
An Amnesty International statement, released on 30 August 2011, stated that on visits to detention centres in Zawiya and Tripoli, Sony VPCSA battery
Sony VPCSB1Z9E batteryAmnesty International was informed that between one third and half of those detained were from Sub-Saharan Africa. A New York Times online article also comments that "it seems that plenty of the black Africans captured as mercenaries were never actually involved in the fight".[328][3Sony VPCSA3T9E battery
Sony VPCSB1X9E battery29] "Hundreds of thousands of sub-Saharan Africans worked in Gaddafi's Libya, doing everything from managing hotels to sweeping floors. But some also fought as pro-Gaddafi mercenaries, and many migrant workers [-] fled ahead of the rebels, fearing they would be mistaken for mercenaries."[330] Sony VPCSE battery
Sony VPCSE1E1E battery
It was also reported that some African women had said rebels were raping them in refugee camps, with additional reports of forced labour. Foreign aid workers were also claiming to be prohibited from officially talking about the allegations.[331] Sony VPCSE1J1E battery
Sony VPCSE1V9E battery
Sony VPCSB battery
The town of Tawergha, which supported Gaddafi prior to its capture by anti-Gaddafi fighters in August, has been emptied of its mostly black inhabitants in what appeared to be a "major reprisal against supporters of the Gaddafi regime", according to an 11 September report from The Sunday Telegraph, Sony VPCSE1Z9E battery
Sony VPCSA4W9E batteryand commanders of the Misrata Brigade are refusing to allow the displaced townspeople to return. One commander was quoted as saying, "Tawergha no longer exists."[332]
Libyan refugees[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Sony VPCSE2J9E battery
Sony VPCSE2L9E battery
Refugees of the Libyan civil war
Fleeing the violence of Tripoli by road, as many as 4,000 refugees were crossing the Libya–Tunisia border daily during the first days of the uprising. Among those, escaping the violence, were native Libyans as well as foreign nationals including Egyptians, Tunisians and Turks.[333] In February, Sony VPCSE2M9E battery
Sony VPCSA3Z9E battery Italian Foreign Minister Frattini expressed his concerns that the amount of Libyan refugees trying to reach Italy might reach between 200,000 and 300,000 people.[334] By 1 March, officials from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees had confirmed allegations of discrimination against sub-Saharan Africans who were held in dangerous conditions in the no-man's-land between Tunisia and Libya.[335] By 3 March, Sony VPCSE2S1E battery
Sony VPCSB1A9E battery
Sony VPCSA3X9E batteryan estimated 200,000 refugees had fled Libya to either Tunisia or Egypt. A provisional refugee camp set up at Ras Ajdir with a capacity for 10,000 was overflowing with an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 refugees. Many tens of thousands were still trapped on the Libyan side of the frontier. Sony VPCSB1B9E battery
Sony VPCSA3S9E batteryBy 3 March, the situation was described as a logistical nightmare, with the World Health Organization warning of the risk of epidemics.[336]
To continue responding to the needs of people staying at the Ras Ajdir crossing point in Tunisia, the WFP and Secours Islamique-France were upgrading a kitchen that would provide breakfast for families. Separately, Sony VPCSB1S1E battery
Sony VPCSA3N9E batterythe ICRC advised it was handing over its operations at the Choucha Camp to the Tunisian Red Crescent.[337] Since 24 March, the WFP supplied over 42,500 cooked meals for TCNs at the Saloum border. Sony VPCSB1S1E battery
Sony VPCSB1V9E battery
Sony VPCSA3M9E battery A total of 1,650 cartons of fortified date bars (equivalent of 13.2 metric tons) had also been provided to supplement these meals.[318]
The Sunday Telegraph reported on 11 September that almost the entire population of Tawergha, a town of about 10,000 people, had been forced to flee their homes by anti-Gaddafi fighters after their takeover of the settlement. Sony SVS13A1V9E battery
Sony SVS1511X9E battery
The report suggested that Tawergha, which was dominated by black Libyans, may have been the subject of ethnic cleansing provoked by a combination of racism and bitterness on the part of Misratan fighters over the town's support for Gaddafi during the siege of Misrata.[332]
Economic, religious and tribal[edit source | editbeta] Sony SVS13A1Y9E battery
Sony SVS1511V9E battery
Oil prices around the world increased during the Libyan conflict, due to the country's significant oil reserves. The Arabian Gulf Oil Company, the second-largest state-owned oil company in Libya, announced plans to use oil funds to support anti-Gaddafi forces.[338] Islamic leaders and clerics in Libya, notably the Network of Free Ulema – Libya urged all Muslims to rebel against Gaddafi.[339] Sony SVS13A1Z9E battery
The Tuareg and Magarha tribes announced their support of the protesters.[254][340] The Zuwayya tribe, based in eastern Libya, threatened to cut off oil exports from fields in its part of Libya if Libyan security forces continued attacking demonstrators.[340]
International reactions[edit source | editbeta]
Main articles: International reactions to the Libyan civil war and US domestic reactions to the 2011 military intervention in Libya
A total of 19 charter flights evacuated Chinese citizens from Libya via Malta.[341] Here a chartered China Eastern Airlines Airbus A340 is seen at Malta International Airport on 26 February 2011. Sony SVS1311G4E battery
Many states and supranational bodies condemned Gaddafi's government over disputed allegations of air attacks on civilian targets within the country. Virtually all Western countries cut off diplomatic relations with Gaddafi's government over disputed reports of an aerial bombing campaign in February and March, and a number of other countries led by Peru and Botswana did likewise.
Sony SVS1511T9E batteryUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 1970 was adopted on 26 February, freezing the assets of Gaddafi and ten members of his inner circle and restricting their travel. The resolution also referred the actions of the government to the International Criminal Court for investigation,[3Sony SVS1311K9E battery
Sony SVS1511S2C battery8] and an arrest warrant for Gaddafi was issued on 27 June.[342] This was followed by an arrest warrant issued by Interpol on 8 September.[343]
The disputed allegations about the Libyan government's use of the Libyan Air Force to strike civilians led to the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 to create a Libyan no-fly zone on 17 March, Sony SVS1311N9E battery
Sony SVS1511Q9E batterythough several countries involved in the resolution's enforcement have also carried out regular strike missions to degrade the offensive capacity of the Libyan Army and destroy the government's command and control capabilities, Sony SVS1311Q9E battery
Sony SVS1511L3E batteryeffectively acting in de facto support of anti-Gaddafi forces on the ground. 100 countries have recognized the anti-Gaddafi National Transitional Council as Libya's legitimate representative, with many of those countries explicitly describing it as the legal interim government of the country due to the perceived loss of legitimacy on the part of Gaddafi's government. Sony SVS1311S9E battery
Sony SVS1313P9E battery
Many states have also either issued travel advisories or attempted evacuations. Some evacuations were successful in either going to Malta or via land borders to Egypt or Tunisia; other attempts were hindered by tarmac damage at Benghazi's airport or refusals of permission to land in Tripoli. Sony vgp-bpsc24 battery There were also several solidarity protests in other countries that were mostly composed of Libyan expatriates. Financial markets around the world had adverse reactions to the instability with oil prices rising to a two-and-a-half year high.[344] Sony vgp-bps24 battery