Why does libya protests

Migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees in Libya—including thousands intercepted at sea while trying to reach Europe and returned by the European Union-supported Libyan Coast Guard—faced arbitrary detention, during which many experienced ill-treatment, sexual assault, forced labor, and extortion by groups under the GNA Interior Ministry, members of armed groups, smugglers, and traffickers. The agreement stipulated the departure of all foreign fighters and trainers from the country for a minimum of three months, the re-opening of land and air routes that had been practically shut for many months, and the exchange of prisoners between the parties.

The armed conflict in Tripoli and the surrounding area that had started on April 4, , ended on June 4 when GNA-linked armed groups and their foreign backers, mainly Turkey, pushed the LAAF and its affiliates toward the central city of Sirte and to Jufrah in the south. The conflict resulted in at least 1, civilian casualties as of July and over , internally displaced people, according to the UN. Private military companies, including the Kremlin-linked Wagner Group, also provided support.

Internal and external conflict parties largely ignored an arms embargo ordered by the UN Security Council in and renewed multiple times. No entity had been held to account over violations of the Libya arms embargo since Between April and June , the LAAF and its affiliates conducted indiscriminate artillery, air, and drone strikes that killed and wounded hundreds of civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure.

Videos posted on social media in May showed LAAF-affiliated fighters torturing opposing fighters and desecrating corpses after apparent summary executions. GNA authorities said they also found 29 bodies in 18 other locations in the southern suburbs of Tripoli.

The GNA also said it discovered at least bodies in the general hospital of Tarhouna after the withdrawal of Al Kani militias, who had controlled Tarhouna since GNA-affiliated armed groups were responsible for indiscriminate shelling and air and drone strikes, and often failed to ensure that no civilians were near targeted military facilities, which resulted in civilian casualties.

A January 5 attack on a military cadets training facility , apparently carried out by a UAE-supplied drone in support of the LAAF, killed 26 cadets and wounded dozens. The same type of drone had been used by the UAE in support of the LAAF in a November attack on a biscuit factory in Tripoli outskirts, an apparent violation of the laws of war that resulted in the killing of eight civilians and wounding of 27 more.

The criminal justice system remained dysfunctional due to impunity, insecurity, and armed conflicts. Judges and prosecutors were subject to harassment, threats, assaults, abductions, and even killings.

Where civilian and military courts conducted trials, mostly in Tripoli and Benghazi, there were serious due process concerns. Prison authorities continued to hold thousands of detainees in long-term arbitrary detention without charge.

Detainees included those held on security-related charges because of their participation in a conflict, terrorism suspects, and others held for common crimes such as murder or theft. Justice, interior, defense, and intelligence ministries linked with the respective governments in Libya all run detention facilities.

Prisons nominally run by authorities but often controlled by armed groups are marked by overcrowding, poor living conditions, and ill treatment. Prospects for their release remained dim because of the reluctance of their governments to repatriate them. Both men remained fugitives. In September, two families brought lawsuits in the United States against Khalifa Hiftar, accusing his forces of atrocities during the months-long siege of Ganfouda in Benghazi in in which their relatives were killed.

Previously, two families brought similar lawsuits against Hiftar for extrajudicial killings and torture of their relatives in eastern Libya by his forces. Like those in Tripoli, protesters in Sebha raised white flags denouncing poor living conditions in southern Libya under the control of the LNA. Across Libya, citizens have struggled with daily problems such as the extended electricity outages for as long as 20 hours per day , water and fuel shortages, Internet and telephone service deterioration, corruption, insecurity, and the increased cost of living amid an economic crisis partly prompted by a collapse in oil production.

Summer months in Libya exacerbate these ongoing issues. Phone and Internet network is dead all day. The August protests have shown that Libyans, regardless of whether they are in the east or the west, have become increasingly frustrated at the entire political spectrum and official corruption.

Protesters have demonstrated a clear expression of public dissatisfaction, expressing that the current political elite lacks popular legitimacy. Already perceived as a government chosen by the international community with no local mandate, the GNA has failed to gain legitimacy due to its inability to resolve even one of the countless day-to-day problems. When the shooting started it was directed above the heads and not at the protesters, and only when protesters responded with swearing did the armed groups start to shoot directly at protesters.

I saw injured people being taken away to the Tripoli Medical Center, but then they were transferred to another hospital. Human Rights Watch could not verify the identity of the body or the cause or circumstances of death. Human Rights Watch also reviewed four photographs posted on social media that show an unidentified man with an injury to his right thigh that is consistent with an entry wound from a projectile fired from a firearm.

The photographs were first uploaded on August 23 at p. In these videos, gunfire, including from machine guns, can be heard. In the video posted at p. In the video posted on August 26 at p. International standards stipulate that security forces should use the minimum necessary force at all times.

In dispersing violent assemblies, firearms may only be used when other less-harmful means are not practicable, but even then must only be used to the minimum extent necessary. Law enforcement officers may only intentionally make lethal use of firearms when strictly unavoidable to protect life.

Live ammunition should not be used unless required to protect life or prevent serious injury. The use of heavy machine guns and medium caliber projectiles, such as the Given that shotguns firing multiple pellets, rubber or metal, are inherently inaccurate in nature with an indiscriminate impact, their use against demonstrators at any range should cease immediately, Human Rights Watch said.

Armed groups should also cease the use of machine guns, shotguns, and other heavy weapons, including anti-aircraft weapons, against protesters. Metal pellets, such as those fired from shotguns, should never be used.

Since August 29, there have been no more demonstrations in Tripoli. On August 28, the Interior Ministry announced that it had apprehended one person allegedly responsible for using firearms against protesters. On September 3, the Presidential Council re-instated Bashagha after conducting an investigation but did not release any details. The GNA announced cash handouts under a family benefit program, mandated a committee to audit Health Ministry expenditures in , and ordered the Labor Ministry to review the status of unemployed people and create more public sector jobs.

On September 1, the GNA also established a new ministry for housing and construction. Governance in Libya remains divided between two entities engaged in an armed conflict since April with the support of their respective foreign backers: the internationally recognized and Tripoli-based GNA and the rival Interim Government based in eastern Libya, affiliated with the armed group Libyan Arab Armed Forces under the command of General Khalifa Hiftar.

Hiftar has received military support from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, and Russia, including weapons and foreign fighters. Turkey is the main military backer of the GNA, which also has substantial foreign fighter support. The conflict parties and foreign backers largely ignore a two-way arms embargo ordered by the UN Security Council in and renewed multiple times, with the tacit consent of the Security Council.

Despite intensive international mediation efforts, Hiftar rejected on August 23 a temporary truce negotiated between the GNA Presidential Council and the Speaker of Parliament. There are currently no armed confrontations between the parties. Get updates on human rights issues from around the globe.