the long aged dictatorship

8/22/2019 The Long Aged Dictatorship

1/41

The Long-Aged Dictatorship

40 Years of Qaddafi Rule in Libya

Introduction

September 1st, 1969 is considered a new start in Libya's history

when the Libyan army's Unionist Free Officers, led by first

lieutenant Moammar al-Qaddafi, took over power after forces from

the army succeeded in overthrowing the king. The king's

representative Hassan Reda, heir to the throne, hastened to give

up the throne while King Idriss I was on a recreational trip to

Turkey and Greece. Qaddafi then made his movement's first

statement to the Libyan people.

Libya had been suffering from long years of colonization after the

Ottoman empire handed it over to Italy in 1912 by virtue of theUshi agreement. The Italain occupation continued till 1932 and

was faced with resistance and jihad.

After the end of World War II in 1945, victorious nations divided the

world among themselves, and Libya fell under British and French

rule where ther former ruled Tripoli and Serna??? and the Frenchruled the area of Fazzan. In 1949 a United Nations resolution

declared Libya's independence and ordered the formation of an

international committee to supervise enforcement within a

maximum period of two years until 24 December 1951. Libya

became a unionist kingdom and was handed over to King

Mohamed Idriss al-Senoussi.


2/41

Senoussi sought to sign agreements with foreign countries,

including Britain, where the latter was granted broad power and

control over some Libyan areas. The Libyan people were not

satisfied with these agreements which they considered a return of

fthe oreign control they had fought long to get rid of. In January

1964 Libya was overtaken by demonstrations objecting to the

king's policies. After announcing giving up power, the king

changed his mind. Tensions and repeated demonstrations

continued until the revolution which changed Libya's name to the

Arab Republic of Libya. (1(

Following the revolution, it took Libya's new regime seven years,

until early 1977, to develop. This year witnessed fundamental

changes that pushed toward a new, different regime . Government

institutions with their traditional bureaucratic frames were replaced

by what was called "the people's authority" the declaration of whichstates that the political system is based on a direct people's

authority exercised through people's conferences, committees,

unions, syndicates and professional ties, as well as the people's

general conference. (2(

The September 1st Revolution and Qaddafi's Taking OverPower

The Libyan army's Free Unionist Officers' Movement, led by the

then first lieutenant Moammar Qaddafi, took over power on

September 1st, 1969. Qaddafi evacuated American and British

bases. His attempts to achieve Arab union failed, whether what

was called the Union of Arab Republics with Egypt and Syria, or


3/41

the union with Egypt and Tunisia.

Qaddafi became the country's leader. Without an official title, he is

sometimes described as the Brother and Leader, and other times

as the Leader of the Revolution. Qaddafi controls all the main

aspects of the country's political and economic life. (3(

The revolution tried to give it rules an Islamic character to avoid

alienating the people's religious sentiments instilled during the

Senoussi era. Qaddafi's government issued a law that prohibits

alcohol and sought to enforce Zakat (alms giving) and Qaddafi

declared his Islamic tendency. The revolution introduced a new oil

policy to end foreign monopoly of national wealth. Qaddafi

nationalized the British Petroleum Company when Britian gave

three Gulf Arab islands to Iran. He also withdrew Libya's large

deposits from the range of the Sterling pound area on 6 April,1973.

The People's Authority, Only in Appearance

According to the Green Book which Qaddafi wrote in 1957, he

refused the idea of representation claiming that it erects a legalwall between the people and the exercise of authority as it is

monopolized by the representatives. He presented the mechanism

of people's conferences as a soltuion to the legislative

representation aspect of democracy. Theoretically, the

conferences represent a center of power and decision making as

their decisions are taken to the People's General Conference

which makes decisions. It is difficult to estimate the number of the


4/41

People's General Conference members which range between

hundreds and thousands at varying times. Many leaders took over

the secretariat of the People's General Conference. However,

since the eighties the secretariat's main authorities decreased and

were given to the People's General Conference. On the practical

side, the General Conference is ineffective because it convenes

one week every year and its members don't have enough

information or skills to perform their duties. However, conferences

changed their decisions repeatedly when they weren't satisfactory

to Qaddafi to the extent that the 1990 Conference changed its

decision to reduce taxes when Qaddafi reacted: These are not the

decisions of the Libyan people I know! (4(

Qaddafi and the Successive Post-Revolution Freedom-

Restricting Laws

Libya is the first Arab country to prepare a historical legislative

database. The Libyan Legislative Encyclopedia consists of 40

volumes that cover the period from the Italian occupation until the

present time. Annexes are periodically added to the encyclopedia.

This historical encyclopedia was a pioneering effort that supporited

ruling regimes in some Arab countries, as was the case with thefederal system in the United Arab Emrates derived from Libya's

1951-1963 federal experiment. (5)

Since taking over power, the Libyan regime, led by Moammar al-

Qaddafi issued hundreds of laws in various areas, including laws

directly related to public freedoms and the exercise of political,

cultural and economic activities. The majority of the laws reflected


5/41

the regime's interest in protecting itself by filling gaps and and

closing the door in the face of any other opinion or power that may

compete with its authority, thus finding legal justification to oppress

and exclude others. These laws were not issued by the Legislative,

but rather the Executive Authority represented in the Revolutionary

Leadership Council. The laws were used against Libyans to

deprive them of their legitimate fundamental rights. The repeal of

the 1951 Constitution which established and embodied the state's

Constitutional legitimacy was Qaddafi's first step to tighten his grip

on the state. This was followed by supporting laws that

undermined democracy and freedom. (6)

The mentioned laws include:

Law 45 of 1972 which prohibits strikes, sit-ins and

demonstrations

Law 71 of 1972 rendering political parties criminal. An article

of this law considers the exercise of political party activities

as treason, represented by the saying: "Those who belong to

political parties commit treason!" Articles 3 and 4 prescribe a

penalty of death or no less than 10 years' imprisonment for

anyone who calls for establishing any prohibited gathering,

organization or formation.

The Revolution Protection Law issued on 11 December

1969, article 1 of which states that anyone bearing arms in

the face of the 1st September republican regime or joining an

armed gang for the same purpose shall be executed.

The Revolutionairy Legitimacy Document issued on 9 March 1990,further suppressing freedoms, violating human rights and granting


6/41

the regime's leader immunity against any legal accountability.

Among the revolution leader's obligatory instructions, according to

an article by Sharef al-Gharyani, Secretary General of the Libyan

Union for Human Rights Defenders, is an instruction that says:

"We execute even innocent people with the aim of terrorizing real

culprits who may not be known at the moment. The locations of

those who wish to defy the revolution shall be attacked and

destroyed inside Libya, even if in a mosque. If the location is

external we have to move to its location and attack and execute

the perpetrators." (7(

This law, the Revolutionary Legitimacy Document called the "Code

of Honor" was issued at a later stage of the revolution when the

people's objection to the regime increased. It aimed to terrorize

any opposing voices by enforcing collective penalties not onlyagainst those who commit actual acts that the regime consider

against it, but also against their relatives, families, tribes and even

close friends!

Law 75 of 1973 nationalizing independent or people's

newspapers and periodicals transferring their control

completely to the state, including the Al-Balagh, Al-Ra'ed, Al-

Horreya, al-Shura, al-Jihad, al-Ra'y, al-Midan and al-Haqiqa

newspapers.

Law 10 of 1993 concerning purging, which means

amputating the limbs of those who oppose him.


7/41

Law 52 of 1974 establishing the punishment for defamation,

meaning subjecting those accused of defamation to 80 whip

lashes.

Law 5 of 1991 concerning the implementtation of the

principles of the Major Green Document, derived from the

Green Book, the introduction of which states that the Green

Book is humanity's guide to final freedom from the rule of

individuals, class, sect, tribe and party toward establishing a

society where all are free and equal in authority, wealth and

arms and a response to the the continuous incitement of the

revolutionary Moamar al-Qaddafi, the maker of the era of the

people (9), and other laws completely unrelated to

contemporary humanity.

Qaddafi's Authorities during the Revolutionization Stage Moammar

al-Qaddafi occupied many positions that focused power into his

hands alone since the start of the revolution until the end of the so-

called revoluionalization stage in 1977. The mentioned positions

include:

Revlutionary Leadership Council President

General Commander of Libya's Armed Forces (later

Supreme Commande) Minister of Defense and Head of the National Security

Council

Head of the Supreme Judiciary Council

Head of the Supreme Planning Council

Head of the Supreme Council for National Guidance

Head of the only political organization, the Arab SocialistUnion, and it national conference.


8/41

In addition to the above, Qaddafi was Prime Minister during

the period from 13/09/1970 till 6 April 1972. (10)

Civil and Political Freedoms Under Qaddafi's Rule

I: Freedom of the Media

The Press:

The brother, leader of the Libyan revolution presents his view of

the press in the Media section of his immortal Green Book saying:

"I personally testify that all free newspapers are ones that accept

bribes and as such they are corrupt papers."

Thus, the inspiring leader's immortal words summarized the reality

of the press!! But what about the press that we all know?!!

The history of the press in Libya dates back to 1827 when a

number of European consuls established in Tripoli the African

Explorer in French. This was followed by the first Arabic language

newspaper under the name Tripoli of the West, established by

Ottoman ruler Mahmoud Nadim Pasha. Despite the oppression

that Libya witnessed under Ottoman rule, many newspapers and

magazines were published. Article 2 of the Ottoman Publications

Law issued in 1909 entitled "every person who is 21 years old to

establish an independent daily or weekly newspaper." Libya also

witnessed the introduction of private printing presses. With the

Italian colonization in 1911 the press experienced a dark era as

military authorities confiscated printing presses. Tripoli West


9/41

newspaper was replaced by New Italy. After the end of the Italian

colonization in 1943 and Libya's falling under British administration

the press witnessed a new start on basis closer to the

contemporary press. About 20 newspapers were published at that

time due to the activities of political parties and powers. That was

activity unparalleled in Libya's contemporary history. With

independence in December 1951, although the governments of

King Idriss al-Senoussi canceled political parties, the following

figures reflect press activity. Fourteen daily and weekly

newspapers, 13 monthly and fortnightly magazines, eight English

language newspapers and three Italian newspapers were

published. Independent newspapers represented 65% of the

publications, compared to 35% government papers. In 1969, with

the September revolution and the country's falling under the rule of

the Revolution Leaders Council headed by Moammar al-Qaddafi,

revolution officers started confiscating private newspapers andrestricting papers published by unions and civil society institutions,

while establishing newspapers of a directed revolutionary

tendency. The press in Libya entered a newspaper revolutionizing

and ideology stage. It was no longer allowed to establish private or

independent newspapers. The first daily newspaper was published

on 20/10/1969 under the name Al-Thawra (the Revolution). (11)This was followed by trying a number of Libyan journalists before

the People's Court because of their writings contrary to the

directions of the Libyan revolution. Tens of Libyan journalists were

also detained among 700 intellectuals and writers in 1973. Libyan

citizens were prevented from exercising their right to publish

private newspapers. They were also prevented from writing and

expressing their opinions which may not agree with the views of


10/41

the then existing political regimes. Such writings were sufficient

cause for detention, imprisonment and trial before courts that

lacked the most basic criteria for fair trials. In 1973 and with the

announcement of what is known as the Cultural Revolution, the

People's Authority was declared in 1977, in addition to

establishing the Revolutionary Committees Movement party

although political parties were prohibited in Libya. The press scene

had become more restricted and oppressive. (12(

Today Libya's press scene has reached a state of failure and

deteriration on the level of laws and reality. Today there are only

four main newspapers in Liyba, three of which (Al-Jamahiriya, Al-

Shams and Al-Fajr al-Jadid) are affiliated with the Public Press

Institution, while the fourth, Al-Zahf al-Akhdar, is affiliated with the

Revolutionary Committees' Movement party, the only entity entitled

to publish newspapers. Some believe that the circulation of thementioned papers does not exceed 4,000 copies. The circulation

of some papers has even dropped to 1,500 copies distributed

obligatorily to government institution. The mission of these papers

is to promote the ideas of the Green Book, the 1969 revolution and

glorify Qaddafi whose person and ideas can not be criticized under

any circumstances. It is also not possible to publish any ideas orviews "that contradict with the revolution's principles and

directions." Despite the massive development related to press

freedom and the independence of the media sector in most

countries, the press in Libya still suffers from complete state

(political regime) control and the absence of any margin for press

freedom, particularly with relation to important topics and issues

directly related to exercising citizen rights, practices and


11/41

composition of the authority and the political regime, and its legal

and administrative violations in running public affairs, topics freely

discussed in most countries worldwide in free newspapers, radio

and television. However, in Libya these issues are still considered

"red lines", prohibited for media and publication under the pretext

of "protecting the revolution. Accordingly, the regime monopolizes

all publication tools and decides which topics can be addressed

and which to be prohibited. (13(

The Internet

Despite the absence of any legal framework that defines

censorship and site blocking, Libyan authorities monitor opposition

sites, completely destroying them in some cases. A Libyan activist

said that all opposition sites are blocked inside Libya and can only

be browsed through a proxy. Blocked sites include "Akhbar Libya"(Libya's News): http://www.akhbar-libya.com

, Libya Watanona (Libya Our Homeland): http://www.libya-

watanona.com

and Libya al-Mostakbal (The Future Libya): http://www.libya-

almostakbal.com. Those who try to browse these sites in an

Internet cafe may be asked to leave or worse. Another citizen saidthat some sites were clearly blocked, such as opposition sites. He

believed the sites were definitely blocked by the state and that

security authorities had recently brought in a number of experts

from Russia to tighten its grip on Internet browsing.

Despite the Libyan authorities' Internet monitoring and restrictions,

the Internet has proven a definite success as an influential


12/41

medium, particularly in the case of the Beni Ghazi demonstrations

on 17/2/2006 which the Libyan authorities tried to impose an

information blockade but the Internet broke the siege on

information according to Libyan rights groups' statements. A

statement mentioned that Libyan authorities closed down a

number of Internet cafes and monitored others. Many Internet cafe

customers were detained for interrogation for visiting "suspicious

sites". Nevertheless, news about the incidents was leaked in

emails from Libya and published by Libyan opposition sites. (14)

Television and Satellite Stations

There are no privately owned radio or telelvision stations in Libya.

They are all under government control through the General

Authority for the Great Jamahiriya Broadcast Services which

prepare strict entertainment programs due to their success. Untilrecently the number of television and satellite channels in Libya

was very limited, including Al-Jamahiriya, Libyan Satellite channel,

Al-Monawaa, Al-Tawasol, Al-Hedaya, Libya's two sports channels

and Al-Badeel channel. Tripoli enjoyed the majority of these

channels.

Qaddafi's nationalizing the Al-Libiya al-Mostakela (Independent

Libyan) channel and transforming it into a government channel

under the direction of the Libyan Radio Authority chairman in April

2009 due to objection on a program prepared by famous Egyptian

media figure Hamdy Kandeel which aired in March 2009 clearly

demonstrates the ease with which Qaddafi takes decisions while

claiming he doesn't control anything and that all matters are in the


13/41

hands of revolutionary committees in Libya. (15)

Publishing and Books

The call on part of one of Qaddafi's sons, Saif al-Qaddafi, to cancel

the traditional form of the Ministry of Information, considering that

its presence means there is no freedom due to the censorship on

publications and the press, was only a type of empty publicity to

his institution Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) Institution, an affiliate of

Qaddafi Institution which he heads. A few days later, on 13th May

2008, Ahmed Ibrahim, who represents the revolutionary tendency,

while chairing the International Center for Green Book Studies and

Research, after affirming that freedom of expression is a Western

trick, said: "Democratic journalism is that mentioned in the Green

Book, that issued by a People's Committee representing all of

society's sectors." (16(

II: Peaceful Demonstrations and Gatherings

Peaceful demonstrations, sit-ins and strikes, as a form of collective

expression on part of different people's, professional and student

sectors were prohibited although this right was granted under theking as the fifties and sixties witnessed a number of worker

peaceful demonstrations, protests and strikes. This completely

stopped after the 1969 revolution under the pretext that all people's

demands were or would be fulfilled by the leader of the September

1st revolution. Expressing political opinion and tendencies as

before was then considered high treason. All demonstrations

opposing the September 1st or Qaddafi's policies were prohibited.


14/41

Only demonstrations supporting the revolution were allowed to beg

for support. (17(

In 1972 Qaddafi gave an oral, then written order that was

generalized to all government departments, institutions and

companies in Libya to send employees and workers to protests

and demonstrations organized by the authorities and punish those

who refuse to participate. The same applied to various labor and

professional unions, reaching in some cases the extent of paying

sums of money to Libyan, Arab or foreign demonstrators.

According to the Free Libya website forum, demonstrators

representing various population and student sectors opposed to

Qaddafi's regime and practices who demonstrated between 1972

and 1976 were subjected to the most brutal forms of oppression.

Thousands were detained, imprisoned and tortured, some were

killed or hanged in squares and others were exiled. Qaddafi did nothesitate in April 1984 to order Libyan demonstrators in front of his

people's office in London shot. A British police woman was hit.

In February 2007 a number of intellectuals and political activists

attempted to organize a peaceful sit-in in the Shohadaa (Martyrs)

Square in Tripoli. Security authorities and revolutionarycommittees assaulted them and their families and accused them

falsely. (18)

III: Incriminating the Right to Form Political Parties

Libya is among the countries that most prohibit the establishing of

political parties. According to the People's General Conference


15/41

document (the Legislative Authority), political parties are prohibited

and anyone who practices party activities are considered traitors

and agents who seek to hinder the country's renaissance and

development. Nevertheless, a number of opposition political

parties emerged, the most significant of which was the Muslim

Group, the Libyan name of the Muslim Brotherhood. (19)

In an interview with Al-Jazeera in 2005, Muslim Brotherhood in

Libya general supervisor Soliman Abdel-Qader said: "We now

have brothers in prison. There are no brothers outside prison.

They were all detained and are in prison." (20)

To demonstrate the situation for other political powers, such as the

Left, in the introduction to declaring what he termed as the

People's Revolution on 15/4/1973 Qaddafi said: "I shall not allow

anyone to poison people's thoughts when they are incapable totaking the challenge. This happened in the university and on the

street. Thus, I tell you that anyone we find talking about

Communism, Marxist or atheist ideas shall be put in prison. I will

order the Interior Minister to purge any group of these sick people.

If we find any member of the Muslim Brotherhood or Islamic

Hizbut-Tahrir practicing secret activites, we will cosnider thempracticing destructive, anti-revolution activities and they shall be

put in prison. There are people whom I know and whom I have

forigven. However, we can not allow them anymore to poison the

people's ideas. This means that there are people who should

prepare themselves from now because I will put them in prison."

There is a famous incident that took place during Qaddafi's recent


16/41

visit to Italy where he advised Italy to cancel all political parties

saying: "It it were up to me I would have canceled all political

parites and given the Italian people direct power. Then there would

be no left, right or middle. The party system aborts democracy."

(21)

Wasting Libya's Funds

According to Dr. Youssef Al-Maqreef, former head of the

Accounting Department and Libya's ambassador to India in his

article about Liyba's tragedy and Qaddafi's responsibility in 2002,

the Libyan regime, following the revolution has spent no less than

40% of Libya's oil revenues on hoarding weapons and military

expenses!! Abdel-Salam Jalloud, in a speech he gave in the city of

Sert during what is known as the Loyalty Day on the 20th

anniversary of the coup in early April 1989 said that the regimehad spent since the coup 22% of Libya's oil revenues (about

US$44 billion) on funding and supporting the international

revolution movement. He added that Qaddafi was not happy to

spend such a small amount on liberation movements. (22)

According to the same source, Qaddafi helped fund and supportoperations and movements in over 40 Arab, African, Asian and

European countries and about 127 operations. (23)

This resulted in about 50 Arab, African, Asian, European and

American countries cutting or freezing diplomatic relations with the

regime of the brother ..... leader of the revolution. (24)


17/41

On 16 August 2009 the BBC quoted an article by David Blair in the

Telegraph saying that: "During the sixties and seventies Qaddafi

funded a number of terrorist groups, including the Irish Republican

Army." The article added that a number of leaders whose hands

were full of blood enjoyed Qaddafi's support, including Aidi Amin in

Uganda and Charles Taylor in Liberia. (25)

The Main Benefit from the Green Book: Profiting and Getting Rich

Quick

Qaddafi started writing the Green Book in 1975. Part I of the book

was published on 3 January 1976. Part I talks about what he

termed "the democracy problem the people's authority". Since

then the sayings in this booklet have become the Libyan regime's

political reference. The book consists of three chapters. Chapter 1

addresses the problems of politics and authority in society.Chapter 2 addresses the economic pillar and offers solutions to

historical economic problems between employer and employee.

Chapter 3 addresses the social pillar, including the family, mother

and child, women and culture and the arts. (26)

The International Center for the Green Book Studies and Researchwas established in accordance with People's Committee decree

1485 dated 9 October 1981 by virtue of the decision of the Public

of the Main People's Conferences who believe in the need to

dedicate the intellectual energy, strategic concepts and democratic

methods inherent in the ideology of the Jamahiriya's theory, the

Green Book.


18/41

According to the Center's definition, the Green Book is the final

result of the struggle of the people against the regimes of

exploitation and slavery, providing all the solutions for all society's

problems locally, regionally and internationally. (27)

Since the Green Book was published and the establishing of the

massively-funded International Center for Green Book Studies and

Research, the book has become a source of income and quick

wealth to thousands of Arab and international writers, journalists,

through establishing centers affiliated to the International Center or

through conducting research and studies on the book, although it

is common knowledge that the Green Book is a little more than a

children's book and no where near a serious book.

About the large financial rewards any contributors to the Center's

activities receive, Gamal Eid said: I got US$500 for a humblelecture I gave about freedom of expression on the Internet in a

poor conference on electronic media at the International Center for

the Green Book Studies and Research. There were over 100

contributors . They paid travel and accommodation, in addition to

the high compensation. What if I had written an article that praised

this nave book? (28)

According to Ar-Riyadh Saudi newspaper, the book is full of

comments that can, at best, be described as naive. For example,

when talking about differences between men and women, the book

states: "Men do not bear children." The book also contains racist

ideas, such as when it claims that black people limitlessly

reproduce because they "exercise inactivity in continuously hot


19/41

weather." The article reaches the conclusion that "a few people

outside Libya and an decreasing number in Libya take the book

seriously. The Center tries to change the view toward the book.

(29)

The list of persons and institutions profiting from writing about the

Green Book and .participating in the mentioned Center is

horrifyingly long It includes the names of academics from most

countries of the world. Many writers, journalists and hypocrites

established branches of the Center in their countries or

participated with research papers. Writing about the Green Book

has become a more profitable profession sometimes than working

in oil countries. The Center's activities and those cooperating with

it can be accessed on its website. (30(

Libya's Policy toward Opposition

The assassination of Libyan citizens in Libya and abroad, as well

as executing prisoners continued in implementation, it seems, of

the official policy calling for the murder of the government's political

opposition. It is believed that hundreds of political and conscience

detained are held without charges, some of whom are said to havebeen imprisoned following unfair trials, or remained imprisoned

despite having been acquitted or having served their sentences. It

is also said that many are detained in secret detention centers

subject to torture. Libyan exiles were subject to repeated assaults,

such as Mohamed Fahima who was assassinated in Athens,

Youssef Kharbish in Rome, while Libya's former ammbassador

survived an assassination attempt in Vienna. All this took place in


20/41

1987 alone. It was not known whether those responsible for the

assaults actions were based on direct orders from the Libyan

authorities. However, assassination incidents seemed consistent

with the pattern of attacks against government opposers that the

Libyan authorities had previously claimed responsibility for. (31(

On 17 February 1988 the Libyan people watched some scenes

from the execution of nine citizens, six of whom were hanged and

three were shot. They were said to belong to an opposition group

called Al-Jihad and that a revolutionary court in Beni Ghazy

sentenced them to death after charging them with assassinating

Libyan citizens and

attempting to assassinate Soviet experts. This took place after

Basic People's Conferences called all over Libya in October 1986

for the physical liquidation of eight persons described as God'senemies. In his speech before the People's Conference, Qaddafi

described the executions as very useful lessons. (32(

Since the early seventies over 199 Libyan citizens were detained.

The number increase to 400 since early 1989, in addition to the

detention and isolation in an unknwon location of numerouscivilians and military personnel following the military mutiny in

October 1993. (33(

When Qaddafi announced purging operations in 1996, many

businessmen, jewellers, importers and exporters were arrested.

Qaddafi formed the "Volcano" committees from revolutionary youth

to attack food shops and confiscate goods under the pretext of


21/41

selling them at higher prices. The number of detainees during the

mentioned period exceeded 1,200 persons. (34)

Non-Libyans living in Libya were illegally detained. Following the

International Court of Justice verdict in the Hague in February

1994 settling the dispute over the border with Chad in favor of the

latter, Libya detained over 400 Chadian citizens in Tripoli alone, a

large number of Nigerians, Jordanians and Somalia for reasons it

claimed were related to work permits. (35(

In mid-1995 the Libyan Human Rights Association published a list

of 21 persons who were kidnapped and whose fates were not

known, including Shiite leader Imam Moussa al-Sadr who

disappeared during a visit to Libya in late August 1978. Libya

announced that he had left to Rome while the Shiite Amal

movement in Lebanon accused Libya of kidnapping him. Qaddafiresponded by accusing Amal movement leader Nabih Birri of

having kidnapped Sadr to replace him as leader of the Shiite

movement in Lebanon. (36(

The file of political prisoners and missing persons in Libyan prisons

is one of the most important files which demonstrate the volume ofviolations committed by the Libyan state against its citizens.

Atlhough Libya signed most of the international agreements

related to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights, it is one of the countries that most violate the rights of

political prisoners. Although the Libyan authorities completely

denied the existence of prisoners of conscience, Libya is full of

prisons and detention places, the oldest and largest of which


22/41

include Abu-Salim and Ain Zarah prisons in Tirpoli and Al-

Kuwaifiya in Beni Ghazi, in addition to hundres of temporary

custody centers and interrogation bureaus affiliated with the

different security bodies. Methods of torture include beating with

the hands, feet, belts, sticks and electricity wires; hanging in

painful positions accompanied by beating; the use of electric

shock; rape, sexual violence and threatening to rape detainee

wives and daughters to force them to confess, in addition to the

abusive, inhumane treatment of prisoners, such as forcing them to

drink their urine. As a result of the absence of supervision on part

of the state or human rights organizations of prisons and detention

places in Libya, tens of the families of political prisoners lose hope

that their sons and relatives are alive. They believe they died either

of torture, neglect of health conditions or killed in the group murder

incicent in the Bou-Salim prison, known as the Bou-Salim Prison

Massacre. (37(

Qaddafi's Worst Scandal: The Abou-Salim Prison Massacre

The Abou-Salim prison massacre is one of the worst crimes

against humanity. On 29 June 1996 the massacre that killed about

1,200 political prisoners took place.

The Libyan authorities committed a massacre in the Abou-Salim

prison, its largest political prison in 1996 when it used light and

heavy weapons against unarmed detainees whose only crime was

striking due to poor health conditions, inhumane treatment, torture,

humiliation and their continued detention without trial. Following

negotiations with the detainees, who had held a prison guard for


23/41

long hours, the detainees demanded to be allowed contact outside

the prison, to be tried before court instead of their continued

detention without charges, improved treatment and an end to

torture. The authorities agreed on condition that the detainees

release the guard. After the guard was released higher authorities

ordered that the mutiny end in a brutal way after the detainees

were gathered in a large yard and arbitrarily shot resulting in the

death of hundreds of them. Al-Raqeeb institution registered and

documented the full incident through one of the massacre

witnesses.

To date the Libyan authorities, despite Qaddafi's admitting to the

incident, have not taken any serious steps to address this case.

The authorities have not put any of the officers who supervised the

massacre on trial. While the Libyan authorities compensate all

Western and American victims, about 800 of the Abou-Salim victimfamilies still await the international community to exert all available

forms of pressure on the Libyan regime to investigate this tragic

incident, disclose the results of the investigation and the names of

those killed to public opinion, compensate the families of the

victims and punish the perpetrators. (38 (

Qaddafi and the Coercive Disappearance of Libyans

A story told by one of Qaddafi's sons may demonstrate the simple

manner in which citizens disappear in Libya and how they are

killed in cold blood. Said al-Qaddafi said that one day in 1986 or

1987 when he was in secondary school a citizen approached him

and told him the Libyan security authorities had arrested his father.


24/41

All the citizen wished to know was whether his father was alive or

dead, over 20 years after the father's disappearance. Saif al-

Qaddafi replied simply: "I have an answer now to this person. First,

your father is dead. He was illegally killed or executed, in the

woods and buried in an unknown grave." (39(

That simply! A citizen disappears, his family searches for him for

more than 20 years without knowing the fate of their supporter,

only for Mr. Qaddafi to respond that he is dead!!

It is the story of thousands of Libyan citizens who disappeared or

were killed in cold blood and were buried in the woods or in an

unknown grave. Who cares in Libya for the lives of Libyan

citizens?!!

The problem of coercive disappearance persists despite repeateddemands of the need to clearly and honestly disclose detainee

locations. Famous examples of such cases are the kidnapping and

disappearance of Mansour al-Kekhia, Ezzat al-Maqreef, Jaballah

Matar, Sheikh Moussa al-Sadr and his companions. (40)

Libyan and international human rights organizations have recordedover 300 documented cases where Libyan authorities notified

families of the deaths of their sons in mysterious circumstances

and failed to give them death certificates or corpses. The Libyan

state also refuses to declare the causes of the deaths. Solidarity

for Human Rights Organization, Geneva, issued a list of 258

prisoners with whom relatives have lost contact since they were

detained. In some cases, the persons were detained without


25/41

charges or trial for periods exceeding 10 years. In other cases, it is

believed that even those acquitted in court remain detained while

the families had not heard any news about them for years.

Following is a list of some of the most prominent coercively

disappeared persons in the Libyan regime's prisons, believed to

have been killed in Libyan detention places, prisons and police

stations:

Mansour al-Kekhia, Libyan diplomat, prominent human rights

activist and secretary general of the Libyan National Coalition. He

disappeared in Cairo, Egypt in 1993 while attending the general

conference of the Arab Organization for Human Rights. He was

last seen on the night of 10 December, 1993 at the Safir hotel.

Jaballah Hamed Matar and Ezzat Youssef al-Maqreef, two

prominent members of Libyan opposition group The Front ofNational Libyan Salvation. They "disappeared" in Cairo in March

1990. Their location remains unknown since then despite news

affirming they were delivered to Libyan authorities.

Imam Mousa al-Sadr, a prominent Shiite religious leader, born in

Iran who has the Lebanese nationality, "disappeared" with otherpersons during a visit to Libya in 1978. On 1 September 2002, in a

famour speech, Qaddafi confessed that Sadr disappeared in Libya.

Amr Khalifa al-Nami, Islamic studies professor and PhD holder

from Cambridge university disappeared in the Libyan regime's

prisons since his last detention in 1984. Some unconfirmed news

says that Dr. Amr died of torture. To date, 25 years later, his family


26/41

and children await news of the fate of their father. (41)

The Exceptional People's Court

The People's Court: A political oppression tool and a court

classified as an exceptional (illegitimate) one that does not abide

by the minimum criteria for fair trials. The People's Court was

established in accordance with Law 5 of 1988. However,

amendments to the mentioned law, particularly the one introduced

in accordance with Law 3 of 1977 rendered this court and its arm,

the People's Prosecution Bureau, a tool of the regime that fulfills

the desires of the Executive ruling authority rather than a tool of

justice.

The following can be deduced from a reading of the cases that the

People's Prosecution Bureau and the People's Court take chargeof:

The People's Prosecution Bureau always tries to cover up

the Executive Authority's unfair practices through pretending

to release the defendants legally imprisoned for prolonged

periods who are brought to the bureau then immediately

arresting them again.

The People's Court circles submit verdicts before they are

issued, particularly those related to important cases, for the

approval of the ruling Executive Authority, which violates the

court's independence and neutrality.

The detention of acquitted defendants continued for long

periods of time.


27/41

The lack of guarantees for lawyers performing their duties.

The People's Prosecution Bureau prevents lawyers from

exercising their rights which consitutes a violation of the

basic guarnatees for defense before the People's Court.

Denying defense access to their clients' files which violates

the rights of the latter. The People's Court's legal rules

render justice impossible. Thus, lawyers, legal professionals

and human rights organizations always call for replacing the

People's Court with a fair judiciary capable of settling cases.

(42)

The People's General Conference on 12 January 2005

decided to cancel the People's Court. In its visit to Libya in

February 2004 Amnesty International had called for

canceling this court which Qaddafi invented to legitimize the

pursuit of his opposition. The cancelation of the court came

in response to international pressures due to its badreputation as an unfair court the rulings of which blatantly

violated human rights. Rather than refer cases previously

heard by the People's Court to regular courts, a State

Security Court and Prosecution were established. A short

time following the cancelation of the People's Court, a court

called the State Security Court was established in late 2007to hear the same cases that the People's Court heard, such

as cases incriminating political party activities, revolution

protection and promoting ideas and theories against the

state regime. The State Security Court is, in short, a tool the

regime uses to defend itself by issuing laws that protect it

and serve its interests while violating laws that guarantee

citizen rights. (43)


28/41

Qaddafi and Arab and African Journalism

Qaddafi made every effort to silence voices that opposed him in

the Arab press as he succeeded in silencing them in Libya.

Qaddafi recently succeeded in suing the three Moroccan

newspapers Al-Masaa, al-Jareeda al-Ula and Al-Ahdath al-

Maghribiya accusing them of humiliating him and harming his

dignity in some articles that criticized him. The court fined the three

newspapers US$370,000, as if Qaddafi, having destroyed freedom

of the press in Libya, started directing his expertise in pursuing

Arab journalism and journalists across borders. (44)

The list of journalists pursued by Qaddafi, particularly in the Arab

world and Africa is long. It includes the following:

A court case against Egyptian journalist Ibrahim Issa, editor-in-chief of Al-Dustour newspaper, and Bilal Fadl, Al-Dustour journalist

because of an article about the Green Man in October 2006.

Ibrahim Issa denied the accusation of having participated in

insulting the president of a friendly nation, affirmong that the article

is classified under allowed criticism.

In late 2003 Qaddafi filed a lawsuit against 14 Egyptian journalists

following a media campaign where Egyptian newspapers attacked

him after willingly giving up the production of all weapons of mass

destruction. Qaddafi accused the Egyptian journalists of

defamation and libel. Some of the mentioned cases reached

Egypt's Prosecutor General calling for referring the journalists to

criminal court. Egypt's former minister of information Safwat al-


29/41

Sherif commented at the time saying: "The Libyan government

does not object to objecitve dialogue, but objects to some of the

experssions that insult our brothers in Libya. It rejects such

practices that harm the media profession and represents a

violation of the Code of Honor of journalism." However, the cases

were soon forgotten until further notice.

Egyptian newspaper journalist Selim Azzouz and the paper's

editor-in-chief were tried for insulting the Libyan people and their

leader Moammar Qaddafo because of an article titled "Empty

Words." The lawsuit was filed by the head of the State Cases

Department in the Great Libyan Arab People's Socialist Republic in

his capacity as the legal counsel of the Libyan State. He

demanded LE1 million in compensation provided the amount is

given as a donation to the new children's cancer hospital in Egypt.

The court, however, rejected the lawsuit and obliged Qaddafi tobear expenses. The ruling stated that the article defended

Egyptian fishermen arrested by the Libyan authorities which

accused them of violating Libyan territorial waters.

In the lawsuit that Qaddafi filed against Algerian newspaper Al-

Shorouk Al-Yawmi, an Algerian court sentenced the newspapermanager Ali Fadeel and female jouranlist Naela Birhal to six

months in prison and a fine of 20,000 Algerian dinars, in addition to

a financial compensation of 500,000 Algerian dinars in favor of

Qaddafi, and suspending the paper for two full months. The

Algerian newspaper had mentioned in two reports published on 12

and 13 August 2006, based on information obtained from Tuareg

leaders who wished to stay anonymous, a fabricated plan that


30/41

Qaddafi had prepared to destabilize Algeria using Tuareg groups

who have separatist tendencies.

Qaddafi even sued a Palestinian news agency for having

published news about his ill health. Palestinian Online News

Agency announced that Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi

appointed a Palestinian lawyer to file a lawsuit against it and its

editor-in-chief Nasser al-Lahham for having published incorrect

news about Qaddafi suffering from cerebral stroke in May 2007.

In July 2004 Qaddafi filed a lawsuit against Saudi Al-Watan

newspaper after having published an editorial titled "The Inferiority

Complex" where it commented on Qaddafi's suggestion to change

Palestine's name to Isratine and accept Israel as a member in the

League of Arab States.

In 2004 Qaddafi filed a lawsuit before Rabat's primary court

against Moustafa al-Alawi, manager of Al-Usboa weekly

newspaper because of a caricature of Qaddafi published on the

first page following Libya's announcing giving up its nuclear

program.

In Feburary 2009 Libyan ambassador to Uganda filed a lawsuit

demanding compensation against the Ugandan newspaper the

Red Pepper. The Ugandan editor-in-chief said that Qaddafi's

lawyers asked for a US$1 billion compensation because it

mentioned he was involved in a love relationship with the Queen

mother in the Turo kingdom, a widow called Bist Kimigisha.


31/41

Murder is the Fate of Critical Journalists

Mohamed Moutafa Ramadan, a journalist who worked as a

broadcaster in the BBC Arabic service in Londonn. On Friday, 11

April 1980, after performing Friday prayer in the London Central

Mosque and while leaving the mosque to join his wife and

daughter, two persons intercepted Ramadan and shot him in broad

day light in front of worshippers and passersby. Revolutionary

Committees proudly declared their responsibility for the crime and

prevented his family from receiving his corpse, holding a funeral or

burying him in his country. His corpse was returned for burial in

London. In an interview with the Times of London dated 10 June

1980, Moussa Kosa was not ashamed to confess that

Revolutionary Committees committed the assassinations of

Mohamed Ramadan and Mahmoud Nafei. He further affirmed that

such murders would continue in Britain. In a trial that lasted nomore than 44 minutes in London, two Libyan nationals, Belhassan

Mohamed al-Masry, 28 years old, and Najeeb Miftah al-Qassimy,

26 years old, confessed to having committed such a hideous crime

"enforcing the people's verdict". Each received a life sentence. (45)

Daif Al-Ghazal. I could receive an arbitrary wound from the knifeof a prisoner who obtained the highest criminal certificates and

who was released for good behavior, a poisoned knife belonging to

a black man who had crossed the border without papers, or a

painful and strange traffic accident that I may suffer suddenly on

the streets of our stolen country or on its desert roads by a truck

driven by a high-ranking army officer!!


32/41

This was a paragraph from an article written by journalist Daif al-

Ghazal before his assassination. On 21/05/2005 Daif was

kidnapped by two armed men who claimed to be Libyan internal

security personnel on his way home from visiting a friend West of

Beni Ghazy accompanied by journalist Mohamed al-Merghany.

Daif al-Ghazal's prophecy was fulfilled. His corpse was found with

smashed fingers, tied hands and a gun shot nine days following

his disappearance.

Due to the extensive reactions in Libya and abroad to this brutal

crime, "the perpetrators" were arrested, tried and sentenced to

death in July 2007 following a mysterious trial that raised more

doubts than it eliminated. The sentence was not enforced, which

gave rise to numerous interpretations, whether those related to

threats to the defendants (there were doubts that they really

committed the crime) of exposing the truth, or due to theannouncement made by Qaddafi's son of leaving the matter up to

Daif al-Ghazal's family to accept Islamic legal compensation

(diyya) and forgive the murderer.

However, the fact remains that the crime was committed against a

journalist the same way that jouranalists who dare criticize in Libyaare punished. The smashed fingers with which the journalist wrote

was the clearest evidence.

Silence in the Face of International Media

Qaddafi pursued and sued anyone who criticized him in Arab

newspapers. However, the contrary was the case with foreign


33/41

newspapers which criticized him using stronger words. He did not

take any action against these papers as if they were praising him.

The papers include the American paper the Washington Post

which called him a dictator. The newspaper's 2007 annual report

about the worst world leaders included some Arab rulers and kings

in addition to Qaddafi which the paper described as a dictator. The

report said that Qaddafi, who reached power when he was 27

years old, spend about a decade in complete animosity toward the

United States. For a long time .Libya was listed among terrorism-

sponsoring countries According to the report, the Libyan president

stopped funding terrorism for six months in 2006. As a result, the

Bush administration decided in June 2006 to remove Libya from

the list. The Libyan regime started in recent years to reap

economic benefits for his change of policy in the form of new

investment in large oil fields and the relative openness withWestern countries. (46)

On 10/06/2004 the New York Times said that Libyan leader

Moammar al-Qaddafi approved a plan prepared by Libyan

intelligence services to assassinate Saudi crown prince Abaddalh

to destabilize the kingdom's security. The newspaper added thattwo of the participants in the assassination plot, Abdel-Rahman al-

Amoudi, one of the leaders of the Muslim community in the United

States who is currently detained in the US, and Mohamed Ismail, a

Libyan intelligence office detained in Saudi Arabia, gave detailed

information about the operation to investigators. They confirmed

that Qaddafi personally approved the plot. Libya responded

through denial of the accusations on part of Said al-Islam al-


34/41

Qaddafi who said that it was "mere nonesense." (47)

In its comment on Italy's declaration that it intended to return some

immigrants to Libya on the occassion of Qaddafi's visit to Italy in

June 2009, Human Rights Watch said that this represented "a

celebration of a dirty deal by virtue of which the two countries

agreed to disregard the rights of refugees and immigrants." This

description may have jeopardized the life of any Arab journalist or

cost him his freedom or money at the best of cases. (48)

Amnesty International told Sarkozi he was receiving a "dictator",

the same expression for which Moroccan journalists were

sentenced to a fine when they used to describe Qaddafi. (49)

Qaddafi's Charity Institution and Human Rights The massive

volume of funding given to the center called The InternationalCenter for the Green Book Studies and Research may only be

matched by the massive funding given to what is called the

Qaddafi International Institution for Charity Associations and

Development. Some estimate the institution's budget to be

equivalent to a small state or extending water and basic utilities to

all Libyan citizens deprived of these services despite the huge oilrevenues the country receives.

Iraqi poet Mudhaffar al-Nuwab's saying: "He attempts to address

all of the issues in the universe while running away from his own

issues," applies to Qaddafi's attitude.

Browsing the institution's activities on its website, one finds


35/41

financial assistance to citizens and activities in Chad, the

Philippines, the Sudan, Thailand, Singapore, . Pakistan, Burkina

Faso, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, etc.. However, Saif al-Qaddafi

who feels proud of him, is happy to make declarations -only

declarations- about his father's practices. He doesn't move a

muscle when a newspaper is closed, a jouranlist detained, a

channel nationalized or a citizen coercively disappears, while the

institution hosts human rights activities promoted by the lie of the

Qaddafi human rights award. It seems that this institution cares

only for non-Libyan human rights, while its role in Libya is

restricted to criticizing Libyan human rights organizations abroad

and attacking their reports.

Qaddafi's Titles

During the most recent Arab leaders' summit in Doha in 2009,Qaddafi criticized the Saudi king saying: "I am the dean of the Arab

leaders, king of Africa's kings and Imam of the Muslims. My

international standing prevents me from stooping to any other

level. Thank you."

However, the titles that Qaddafi called himself in the mentionedphrase do not include his unique titles. He collected and chose to

grant himself many titles, whether related to events organized by

one of the revolutionary committees, according to his whim or

those that denote a feeling of grandiose and uniqueness. The titles

include the following:

King of African kings


36/41

Brother leader of the revolution

Defender of Arab Nationalism

Imam of Muslims

President of the Coast and Desert Countries Gathering.

Leader of the Islamic People's Leadership

Intellectual and Leadership

Leader of the Tuareg

The Leader

Brother Moammar al-Qaddafi, Leader of the Libyan

Revolution

The Great Libyan Arab Socialist People's Republic It would not

have been logical for Qaddafi to give himself all these titles while

controlling a small country like Libya. Thus, he changed Libya's

name from the Arab Republic of Libya to the Great Libyan Arab

Socialist People's Republic to be compatible with his feelings of

leadership and genious.

Conclusion

Qaddafi's regime succeeded in 40 years in silencing any voices

that may dare criticize him and his policies, as well as any voices

calling for a real country of institutions rather than the dictatorial

forms Qaddafi invented. His silencing policy followed all available

paths and forms, starting with legal pursuit, through imprisonment

and torture, and reaching assassinations. He was helped by

Libya's huge oil revenues which he treated as his own wealth.

These policies resulted an almost complete elimination in Libya of

independent or opposition media. Libyan opposition abroad


37/41

became the biggest competitor to Iraqi opposition during the rule of

Saddam Hussein in terms of volume and influence, despite Libya's

smaller population compared to Iraq.

While Qaddafi turned into a demi-god demi-dictator, his sons

control Libya's power and wealth in a way similar to feudal heirs in

Europe of the Middle Ages.

Despite the existence of modern institutions in appearnce, such as

research institutions and ministries called "secretariats", as well as

Libya's having ratified most international human rights agreements,

the truth is that the only laws enforced in Libya are Qaddafis

desires and the only obliging constitution is the Green Book which,

at best, does not exceed primary school book level.

The role of the international community, whether by sanctionsimposed on Libya for long years, or hypocrisy to Qaddafi's regime

in exchange for the billions of dollars in compensation for terrorist

operations committed by Qaddafi's regime for long periods, in

addition to large numbers of writer, journalists and academics who

have contributed to feeding Qaddafi's sense of grandiose for sums

of money paid from the Libyan people's funds. These writers,journalists and academics prepared fake studies about the

greatness of the Green Book or established branches abroad, in

addition to advertisements about Qaddafi's and his imaginary

achievements in Libyan, Arab and international newspapers. All

this contributed to the difficulty of Libya become a real country

ruled by institutions rather than Qaddafi and his sons.


38/41

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information does not see an

alternative to Libyan citizens' peaceful and legal struggle to impose

the state of law and institutions where political parties, independent

media, the judiciary authority and the parliament are the main

tools, in addition to exposing all those who have illegally exploited

and plundered the Libyan people's wealth in Libya and abroad.

Western and European governments should stop the hypocrisy

they exercise with this regime in return for oil or commercial

contracts, as these contracts take place with a regime that lacks

the minimum credibility or legitimacy.

As for Arab governments, the Arab Network regrets to announce

that most do not differ much from the Qaddafi regime and thus it is

logical and natural for these governments to support him. Even the

secondary differences between the mentioned governments and

Qaddafi's do not change the common nature shared betweenundemocratic governments, be they kingdoms or republics.

Margins

1. Following the September 1st coup, Qaddafi gave himself the

title of .....

2. Libya's name before the September 1st revolution was the

United Kingdom of Libya

3. Human Rights in Libya: Limits of Change. Report by writer

Ahmed al-Muslaman. Cairo Center for Human Rights

Studies, 1999. Page 6.

4. Human Rights Watch Report titled "Conditions in Libya",

published on 12 September 2006, page 122.


39/41

5. Previous reference (3) page 18.

6. More on Libyan law on http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/

7. Libya website (Event in Libya: Repeal of the Libyan

Constitution) dated 6 March 2009 http://www.libya-al-

mostakbal.org/articles0309/

8. Website of the Libyan Union for Human Rights Defenders.

Article by the Union's secretary general Al-Sharef Al-

Gharyani. Published on 3 April 2008.

http://www.libyanhumanrights.com/bayan21.htm Visit dated

28 July 2008.

9. Previous reference

10. Website of the People's Justice Committee

http://www.aladel.gov.ly/main/modules/sections/item.php?ite

mid=33 Visit on 4 August 2009

11. The I Am Muslim Network for Islamic Dialogue. Article

titled "Libya's Tragedy and Qaddafi's Responsibility." Dr.Mohamed Youssef al-Maqreef, former head of the

Accounting Bureau and former Libyan ambassador to India.

Dated 4 August 2009.

12. Solidarity for Human Rights website: Journalism in

Libya: It's History and Significant Stages, 3 February 2006.

http://www.libya-watanona.com/liyba13. Previous reference

14. Statement issued by the Libyan National Opposition

Conference titled "International Freedom of the Press Day: In

Libya There is Press without Freedom," dated 3 May 2009.

http://www.libya-nclo.com/


40/41

15. Stubborn Opponent: The Internet and Arab

Governments, ANHRI report, December 2006.

http://www.openarab.net/ar/node/104

16. http://www.libya-watanona.com/adab/

17. Libya Watanona website. Article titled Red Lines: The

Constitution and the Laws, Fawzi Abdel-Hamid, dated 10

March 2008. http://www.libya-

watanona.com/adab/forfia/fo10038a.htm

18. Free Libya website. Article titled "The Libyan Regime

Continues to Misguide and Falsify Facts," issued by The

Libyan Salvation Front, 21 November 2008. http://www.libya-

alhora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37140

19. http://www.aljazeera.net/in-depth/

20. http://www.aljazeera.net/channel/archive

21. http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres

22. http://www.libyanfsl.com/ /tabid/59/mid/417/newsid417/656



25. http://www.bbc.co.uk/arabic/inthepress

26. http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/

27. http://www.greenbookstudies.com/ar/center.php28. Gamal Eid, director of the Arab Network for Human

Rights Information commenting on the US$500 he received

for a lecture he gave in Libya on 4 November 2007.

29. The Saudi Ar-Riyadh newspaper. Article titled "The

Green Book: Even Qaddafi No Longer Attends," 6 January

2005, issue 13345

30. http://www.greenbookstudies.com/ar/index.php


41/41

31. Amnesty International 1988 report, Libya, page 248


33. According to the Arab Organization for Human Rights

estimates on conditions in Libya, 1995, pgs 231-232

34. News agencies, 16 November 1996

35. Arab Organization for Human Rights 1995 report:

Conditions of Human Rights in Libya, page 233.

36. Please refer to reference (2)

37. Ar-Raqeeb Association for Human Rights report, 2004,

Political and Missing Prisoners in Libyan Prisons, published

on the ANHRI website.

http://www.anhri.net/libya/lw/pr041100.shtml

38. http://www.anhri.net/libya/lw/pr040700.shtml

39. http://www.gdf.org.ly/index.php

40. http://www.anhri.net/libya/lw/pr040700.shtml

41. Previous reference42. http://www.akhbar-libyaonline.com/index.php

43. http://www.anhri.net/press/2009/pr0422.shtml

44. http://www.arabtimes.com/Arab%20con/libya/doc16.ht

ml

45. http://www.taqrir.org/showarticlehl.cfm?id=590

46. http://www.alarabiya.net/save_print.php?save=1&cont_id=4236

47. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/arabic

48. http://www.aljazeera.net/News/archive

the long aged dictatorship

Documents