Libya had the highest GDP per capita and life expectancy on the continent by the time of the NATO operation. Housing, education and medical care was free for all citizens under Gaddafi’s leadership in Libya. Less people lived below poverty line than in many European countries. But as always the West needed chaos in Libya to create an opportunity for domination and profit.
7 years ago NATO began its “humanitarian bombing” on March 19, 2011. The Western intervention in Libya was not about human rights, just as other interventions in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. As similar interventions it failed and led the country to devastation and endless chaos.
What’s the situation in Libya after 7 years?
Armed conflicts
There are three rival governments in Libya. They continue to fight for power and control over territory, trade routes and strategic locations. Also there are dozens of rival armed groups escalating the chaos in Libya. In the absence of a central state authority fighting groups shell civilian areas and destroy civilian properties. Hundreds of civilians abducted, tortured and killed. According to Amnesty International’s latest Libya report, “a number of mass graves were uncovered in Benghazi between February and October, on at least four occasions, groups of bodies were found in different parts of the city with their hands bound behind their backs, and in some cases blindfolded with signs of torture and execution-style killing.” Source
Justice system
The collapse of the criminal justice system in Libya caused the lack of freedom of expression and association. Many journalists, activists and human rights defenders have been systematically harassed and attacked by rival groups. Thousands of people have been internally displaced and none of them returned by the end of 2017.
According to Human Rights Watch 2017 report “prison authorities and militias continued to hold thousands of detainees, including some women and children, in long-term arbitrary detention without charges or due process.” Most prisons lacked a functioning medical facility and hygienic sanitary installations in Libya. Source
Amnesty International told “none of the parties to the conflict implemented any of the human rights provisions in the UN-brokered Libya Political Agreement of December 2015, including those obliging them to release detainees held without legal basis.”
Migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers
Migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers were subjected to systematic human rights violations and abuses at the hands of detention centre officials, the Libyan Coast Guard, smugglers and armed groups. According to UNHCR, an estimated 1.3 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Libya. Libya hosts 48.485 refugees and asylum-seekers who are registered with UNHCR. Source
Women’s rights
Under Gaddafi’s leadership Libyan constitution granted women equal rights with men under the law. Women became more active in education and many other professions. After NATO’s “humanitarian bombing” of Libya, women are forced to retreat from society to the shadows. In February the military in eastern Libya issued a decree restricting Libyan women under the age of 60 from travelling abroad without a legal male guardian.
Following a public outcry and calls from civil society for its removal, the decree was replaced on 23 February with another decree, which stipulated that no Libyan male or female between the ages of 18 and 45 could travel abroad without prior “security approval”. The decree failed to specify the procedure required to obtain such approval or the criteria that would be used to grant or deny it. Source
After NATO’s “humanitarian bombing”, endless chaos has become the reality of today’s Libya. Many Libyans feel there is no future for them and there is no way out. The Western intervention destroyed the future and dreams of a nation with bombs and led the country to a desperate situation.