Why is Libya in the news?
Talks are to be begin on the future of the beleaguered North African state at the UN in Geneva today, slated to continue until Wednesday. The country has been in turmoil since the toppling of dicatator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, and experts and international organisations have described it as a "failed state." Libya's plight is lended an extra urgency on the UK political scene because it is one driver of the ongoing migrant crisis. The breakdown of law and order in the country allows people traffickers to flourish, who help migrants cross the sea to the EU in dangerous vessels.
What has gone wrong there?
From 2012-2014, Libya was ruled by the General National Congress (GNC), a parliament run by then-Prime Minister Ali Zeidan and established by Libya's first free elections in six decades. But amid questions over the Congress's legitimacy and mandate, in 2014 the country descended into conflict as armed struggles broke out in Benghazi, Derna, Tripoli, Warshafana, the Nafusa Mountains and other areas. A new government was formed, which then fled to Tobruk in the east of country, amid fighting with militias loyal to the GNC. Power in Libya is now split between this elected administration in Tobruk and an islamist-backed new GNC in Tripoli, whose supporting political coalition is known as "Libya Dawn." French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius summarised the situation in Libya this spring as: “there are two governments, two parliaments and complete confusion.”
What is the situation like for citizens?
An Amnesty International report found that civil life in Libya was paralysed and human rights under serious threat as a result of the conflict and the political split. The pressure group said that hundreds of individuals, including security officials, state employees, religious leaders, activists, journalists, judges and prosecutors have been assassinated by islamist groups. Investigations into human rights abuses and other crimes have been hampered by a barely-functioning court system. Alleged crimes and human rights abuses carried out under the Gaddafi regime have gone uninvestigated and unpunished. Some foreign nationals, particularly Egyptian Copts, have been unlawfully killed for their beliefs, and Libyan atheists and agnostics have faced intimidation by militias.
What hope is there of resolution?
International presence in Libya has been limited since UN staff and embassies pulled out in 2014 as fighting intensified. In June this year, a UN plan for a national unity government faltered as talks between Libya's two administrations in Morocco collapsed. The plan to be discussed at these new talks would see a government of national accord established for a year, where a council of ministers headed by a prime minister and two deputies would have executive authority. UN officials insist a political solution can be found, but diplomats say both sides—each of whom is backed by different factions of former anti-Gaddafi rebels—will face pressure from hardliners who want to see more military action.
