libya

Significance of the Study

Studying the Revolutionary War in Libya, it is one of the essential facts to an individual and to the society. It helps us understand the people/leaders behind this war, how it came to be a war. It contributes to the moral understanding of a person. This also helps us gain access and acquire some basic data that somehow affect our own lives.

Part of Libyan Revolution

Area of Study

The Libyan civil war also referred as Libyan revolution was an armed conflict in the North Africa state of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government. The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi which led to clashes with security forces that fired on the crowd. The protests escalated into a rebellion that spread across the country with the forces opposing Gaddafi establishing an interim governing body, the National Transnational Council.

Facts of the Study

Libya’s popular revolution has unleashed the potential for more diverse and inclusive growth. In the short term, the country faces the complex and costly tasks of rebuilding its economy, infrastructure, and institutions, and responding to the demands of its population, especially for improved governance. The conflict that accompanied the revolution had a severe impact on the economy, which is heavily dependent on hydrocarbons, but the contraction is expected to be temporary. The restoration of hydrocarbon production is already well advanced, and reconstruction efforts will boost non-hydrocarbon output growth in the coming years.

Libya’s wealth opens a choice of paths for the future: it can fall into the trap of many resource-rich countries that have become overly reliant on revenues from finite natural resources and failed to diversify their economies, or it can pursue a course of sustainable, inclusive development led by increased private-sector activity. In early June, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, denounced Europe’s response to such tragedies, noting its added responsibility to guarantee safety for those fleeing Libya given NATO’s military involvement in Libya. He urged European governments and institutions to accelerate their efforts and proactively seek to ensure successful search-and-rescue operations. He also called on them to put human rights considerations at the centre of their policy decisions.

International human rights law applies in time of armed conflict as well as peacetime; some (but not all) rights may be modified in their application, or “derogated from” or limited in situations of armed conflict, but only to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the particular situation and without discrimination. At the start of the unrest in Libya, there was no armed conflict, and the lawfulness of conduct of Libyan security forces under Colonel al- Gaddafi was to be assessed against human rights standards alone.

Analysis

As a consequence of the conflict, crude oil production fell to 22,000 barrels per day in July 2011, although output was restored rapidly in the last quarter of 2011 to half the pre-conflict level. As a result of the conflict, the banking sector balance sheet is likely to have worsened. Economic disruption will delay some loan repayments, as asset quality has deteriorated (mostly through physical destruction). Looking ahead, Libya faces a number of challenges to establishing a robust, efficient, and transparent Public Financial Management system and to ensuring sustainable use of its hydrocarbon revenues. Prior to the conflict, Libya revamped its legal framework in an effort to improve conditions for private-sector activity. By early 2010, 22 new laws were passed to make fundamental changes to a range of activities including commerce, customs, income tax, the stock market, labor, communication, and land registry. At the time, however, Libya ranked low on international measures of governance, business conditions, and competitiveness.

Opposition forces have detained hundreds of individuals, including civilians, in areas they control since the end of February. Many of those held are former ISA members, suspected members of the Revolutionary Committees or Revolutionary Guard, and people accused of “subverting the revolution”, commonly referred to as the “fifth column”. Foreign nationals, the overwhelming majority from Sub-Saharan African countries, suspected of being "mercenaries” were also held but have since been released. In addition, scores of soldiers from al Gaddafi forces captured at the front continue to be detained in Benghazi and Misratah. Amnesty International welcomes the access granted to the ICRC to facilities where such individuals are held. Several detainees, including Libyan and foreign civilians, as well as captured soldiers, told Amnesty International that they were tortured, in most cases immediately upon capture by those who seized them and in some cases during the first days of detention. Allegations of beatings and ill-treatment upon capture were frequent, and allegations of torture in detention were particularly common in the Zarouq detention centre in Misratah, as well as in a building separate from the detention facility in the 17 February military camp.

Opposition fighters have launched Grad rockets from their front-line positions in eastern Libya since at least March, more recently from the Misratah western front line around Dafniya and possibly from the eastern front line towards Tawargha. Such rockets, which are unguided and indiscriminate, have a range of up to 40km and pose a lethal danger to populated areas within that distance. They should never be used in areas where civilians might be located within the strike range. The majority of foreign nationals interviewed by Amnesty International who had crossed the border from Libya into Tunisia and Egypt said they had fled for several reasons, including to escape the fighting and the increasing attacks and harassment they were facing, and because they could not survive financially as the country had come to a virtual standstill.

Most had been allowed to flee westwards unimpeded by the authorities, although several said they had their money and phones taken by Libyan officials. When al-Bayda, Benghazi, Derna, Misratah and other cities first fell under the control of the opposition in the third week of February, house raids, killings, lynching and other violent attacks were perpetrated by supporters of the “17 February Revolution” against individuals believed to be foreign mercenaries on account of their skin color. Some victims were dark-skinned Libyan soldiers; others may well have been Sub-Saharan Africans.

Conclusion

Libya has an opportunity to break with the past, modernize the infrastructure of its economy, and create private-sector employment opportunities for its citizens. Bolstered by its sizeable natural resource wealth and the recovery of the hydrocarbon sector, a post-revolution revival in the country’s economic activity should be rapid once the security situation normalizes. But Libya will also need a sustained commitment to comprehensive reforms to achieve its potential. The exchange rate peg to the SDR, which must be accompanied by fiscal restraint to prevent inflation and a damaging appreciation of the real exchange rate, will continue to provide a policy anchor. It is crucial that Libya advance structural reforms to support private-sector growth, economic diversification, and the creation of employment for its young and growing labor force.

Enhancing access to finance for entrepreneurs by developing the nascent financial sector will go a long way to create new employment opportunities and foster the growth of the non-hydrocarbon economy. Such measures need to go hand in hand with strengthening the education system and increasing human capital. The transition to a new and inclusive Libya will undoubtedly be challenging.

To maintain the course and help mitigate the shift to private-sector-led growth, an efficient and comprehensive social safety net will be needed, as well as commitment by the authorities to policy predictability and consistency. Decision making should be supported by reliable data; it will be important to unify the compilation of national statistics under the umbrella of an independent agency, to improve the coverage, quality, and timeliness of statistics. Transparency will help reduce uncertainty, spur investor confidence, and attract the much-needed skilled diaspora, foreign expertise, and investment.

Recommendation

Such measures need to go hand in hand with strengthening the education system and increasing human capital. The transition to a new and inclusive Libya will undoubtedly be challenging. To maintain the course and help mitigate the shift to private-sector-led growth, an efficient and comprehensive social safety net will be needed, as well as commitment by the authorities to policy predictability and consistency. Decision making should be supported by reliable data; it will be important to unify the compilation of national statistics under the umbrella of an independent agency, to improve the coverage, quality, and timeliness of statistics. Transparency will help reduce uncertainty, spur investor confidence, and attract the much-needed skilled foreign expertise, and investments.

To the National Transnational CouncilStop unlawful killings and other violent attacks

Take measures to stop unlawful killings and other violent attacks against civilians and anyone who has been apprehended. Make clear to all fighters, including in public statements, that such abuses will not be tolerated and that perpetrators will be immediately removed from active duty and brought to justice.

Stop arbitrary arrests and detentions Ensure that all those arbitrarily detained are released,

that arbitrary arrests and detentions cease immediately, and that no one is deprived of their liberty except in accordance with proper criminal procedure.

Prevent torture and other ill-treatment Ensure that all detainees are treated humanely and held

only in detention centres authorized by law, and that all detentions are promptly reviewed by a judge, in line with internationally-recognized standards. Detainees must either be charged with a recognizable criminal offence and promptly brought to trial in line with international standards for fair trial and without recourse to the death penalty, or released. In particular, ensure that no statements extracted under torture are used as a basis for convictions;

Restore the rule of law Instruct the General Prosecutor, prosecutors, judges and

police force to resume discharging their duties

Combat Racism Take steps to counter racism, xenophobia and

discrimination against individuals with dark skin, including by celebrating the diverse ethnic make-up of the Libyan population and the positive contribution of migrants, including from Sub-Saharan Africa, to Libyan society.

Adopt best practices identified by the UN Office of Disarmament Affairs to control weapons and munitions, and ratify the international conventions to prohibit the transfer and use of inhumane weapons including anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions.