Uprising in Libya.

[PointTracker]

In late 2010, a wave of revolutions began to spread across the Arab world. They started in Tunisia, a country in Northern Africa, after a young man lit himself on fire (immolation) in protest of the political corruption and ill treatment by a government that was hampering his life as a modest street vendor (Mohammed Bouazizi). Bouazizi's display was symbolic of years of repression by the government, something the people could no longer stand for. They protested far and wide against the government of Tunisia, which became a signal for other countries - Egypt, Algeria, Lebanon, Syria, and others - to do the same. The "Arab Spring" as it came to be known, resulted in a series of incredible accomplishments for the people of the Arab world, from the release of political prisoners in Syria and Bahrain to the Presidents of Tunisia and Egypt stepping down entirely.

But in a few countries, one being Libya, the people's protests erupted into a massive civil war. The number of dead is unconfirmed but it likely lies in the multiple thousands (Al-Jazeera, a television network based in Qatar, has reported 13,000 dead as of mid-June 2011).

What happened in Libya? 

Uprising
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was the current head of state of Libya, a position he obtained in a military coup in 1969. For 42 years, he ruled Libya with an iron fist. His security personnel is known to have committed acts of torture and abuse on prisoners (chaining prisoners to walls for hours on end, suffocating them with plastic bags, depriving them of sleep, food, and water). Prisoners have been held incommunicado without access to legal representation. Political opposition to Gaddafi's government is banned. The government has heavily restricted academic freedom and freedom of speech; individuals are subject to government 'reprisals' if politically sensitive issues are ever discussed openly. And despite Libya's thriving oil-based economy, much of the country's population is plunged in unemployment (estimated between 20% and 30%), leaving the country's massive youth population frustrated.

February 15, 2011 marked the start of the Libyan protests after a human rights lawyer (representing many the relatives of hundreds of prisoners allegedly killed in one incident in 1996), Fathi Terbil, was arrested. The protests started in Libya's second largest city, Benghazi, but spilled over quickly into neighboring cities including the capital, Tripoli, where government buildings were set alight by protesters. Gaddafi responded by ordering his troops to open fire on the crowd, killing unarmed protesters. The government also restricted access to social media sites in order to prevent communication between activists planning online on Facebook and Twitter. Within five days, the government sent in snipers, helicopter gunships and artillery to crush the protests, even to the point where women and children were jumping off bridges into water - where many died from impact or by drowning - just to escape mercenaries that were heavily equipped with weaponry. Within two weeks, many major landmarks and cities were caught in a tug-'o-war between Gaddafi's forces and the people of Libya. Senior aides and officials of the government began stepping down from their posts including the country's justice minister Mustapha Abdeljalil, who resigned due to the "excessive use of violence" against protesters. Soldiers and armymen defected to the side of the protesters.

International Relations
By late February, countries started pulling relations with Libya and calling for action against Gaddafi's regime. Italy officially suspended its "friendship" treaty with the country, while Canada and France shut down and evacuated their embassies in Tripoli. The United Kingdom froze Gaddafi's assets in London, including a multi-million pound mansion. The United States called for Gaddafi to step down to quell the violence, including an offer by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to offer whatever assistance possible to Libyan opposition groups to overthrow Gaddafi. The United Nations Security Council voted to impose sanctions on the Libyan state, while the International Criminal Court began an investigation into war crimes committed by Gaddafi's regime.

Meanwhile, Libyan opposition formed the National Transitional Council (NTC), establishing itself as Libya's sole representative over the interim period during which Gaddafi's regime is driven out of power. Many countries, including the United Kingdom, have accepted the NTC as the legitimate representation of the Libyan people.

In March, Gaddafi's regime launched heavy, widespread counteroffensives to reclaim the numerous cities lost to the opposition forces since the protests began. Airstrikes, naval shelling, tanks and other artillery were used by Gaddafi loyalists to grip territory back from the hands of the protesters/rebels. The National Transitional Council was able to launch airstrikes against government posts using aircraft taken from the government by militarymen that had defected from Gaddafi.

No Flying Allowed
The United Nations Security Council acted on March 17, approving a no-fly zone over Libya through Resolution 1973. The purpose of the no-fly zone was to prevent aerial attacks against civilians by Gaddafi's air force, but also to prevent Gaddafi from flying in mercenaries from neighboring countries to support his army/loyalists against the rebels/protesters. The no-fly zone over Libya was enforced initially by separate countries banding together, including France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and Canada, collectively called the coalition members or states. Soon thereafter, a dispute arose between France and Turkey; France argued that the coalition should be led by France and the United Kingdom, while Turkey argued that full political control of the mission should rest with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (more commonly referred to as NATO), as Turkey was suspicious of France's ulterior motives concerning Libya's healthy oil supplies. Within a few days, enforcement of the no-fly zone was transferred into the power of NATO; international support for combat on the ground, however, remained with individual coalition member states.

From March to August, NATO (under the mission name 'Operation Unified Protector') and the coalition states surged onwards alongside the rebels to disarm the Libyan army by air, land and sea. While there were indications of a stalemate (a deadlock) in the earlier months, by late July it became clear that Gaddafi's regime was on its way out. On August 23rd, rebels seized Gaddafi's main compound, Bab al-Azizia, located in the southern suburbs of Tripoli, after it was bombarded by NATO jets.


Where to from here?
Gaddafi was killed in his hometown of Sirte, Libya, by rebel forces with the assistance of NATO strikes on October 21, 2011. The NTC remains the legitimate governing body of Libya. Libya faces a daunting task ahead - rebuilding from scratch. An open, democratic government remains the ideal goal, but the first task is to bandage the torn country - collecting the garbage that lines the streets, bringing food back down to normal, affordable prices, and ushering in water and medical supplies to name but a few tasks. Perhaps the most heartbreaking one will be to formally lay to rest the bodies of civilians and fighters that line the streets - those of the many that gave their lives in the fight for Libya.

Some questions to ponder:
* Is it acceptable for the international community (NATO and the coalition states) to intervene in the affairs of a country? When and why?
* What do you think of the arrest warrant for Gaddafi? Is the International Criminal Court a credible arm for justice, even if many states in the world do not recognize it?
* How involved should the international community be in the reconstruction of Libya?

Works used for this article, and more information:
[US Department of State Report on Human Rights Practice in Libya, 2007]
[Mother Jones' live, real-time updates on ground events in Libya, with video]
[BBC News - 'Libya Crisis' bank]
[Guardian - 'Libya - World News' bank]