Libya Security Highlights (September 26 – October 02, 2022)

NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES

• UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it has evacuated 179 vulnerable asylum seekers from Libya to safety via the Emergency Transit Mechanism in Niger.” The asylum seekers include women and children, according to UNHCR in Libya.
• Turkey’s naval forces have conducted a joint military exercise with their Libyan counterparts off the coast of the North African country, in the central Mediterranean. According to Turkish state-owned news agency Anadolu, the Turkish missile frigate TCG Gaziantep and the Libyan amphibious landing ship Ibn Ouf-132 participated in the maneuvers held off the Libyan coast, under the command of the Turkish naval forces.

• Libyan authorities and militias present in the country have been behind the killing of more than 580 civilians between January 2020 and March 2022, the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) has denounced, noting that the figure includes those executed in prisons and people tortured to death. “The cases we have been able to document represent only the tip of the iceberg,” said OMCT Secretary General Gerald Staberock. “Extrajudicial executions of defenceless civilians, often accompanied by horrific torture, are now endemic in Libya as government agents and armed militias unleash indiscriminate violence with impunity,” he said.

• 16,506 migrants have been disembarked back on Libyan shores in 2022, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). 242 migrants died and 811 went missing in the period from 1 Jan to 24 September, 2022 on the Central Mediterranean route, IOM said in a statement. In 2021, 32,425 migrants were disembarked on Libyan shores, while 662 died and 891 went missing, the Organization added.

• Four people were killed while 13 others, mostly civilians, were injured as a result of clashes that broke out overnight in the city of Zawiya, in northwestern Libya. According to press reports, among the victims killed was a young female child who died as result of indiscriminate shelling. She was identified by the press as 10-year-old Sabrine Wael Omran Al-Shtiwi. The violence reportedly erupted between rival armed groups, one of which was led by the commander of the Al Jisr Investigation Unit of the Zawiya Security District, Muhammad al-Sifaw , while the second would be led by commander of the so-called Sila Brigade, Othman al Lahab.

• UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said it “is greatly concerned” about reports that civilians were injured and killed during armed clashes in Zawiyah west of Tripoli. “We condemn the use of heavy artillery in densely populated neighborhoods and reiterate calls for the unconditional protection of civilians. Our hearts go out to the victims and their families,” UNSMIL tweeted.It is noteworthy that four people were killed while 13 others, mostly civilians, were injured as a result of clashes that broke out overnight in the city of Zawiya, in northwestern Libya. According to press reports, among the victims killed was a young female child who died as result of indiscriminate shelling. She was identified by the press as 10-year-old Sabrine Wael Omran Al-Shtiwi.

NATIONAL POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

• Thirty members of the Libyan Parliament demanded the Speaker, Aqila Saleh, to present the unamended 1951 constitution to the Parliament for deliberation regarding a return to the federal system in Libya. According to the text of the request signed by 30 deputies from Cyrenaica region, they demanded “to amend the unamended 1951 constitution, with the need to deliberate the matter in a private session broadcasted live to consider a return to the federal system in accordance with the three historical regions, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and Fezzan.”

• Fathi Bashagha, the Libyan premier designated by the House of Representatives, held a meeting with representatives of political parties at the headquarters of the Council of Ministers in Benghazi. During the meeting, Bashagha stressed the need for political parties to play “active role in evaluating the work of the government and institutions by proposing national initiatives” while promoting “culture of dialogue” and “cooperation between the political parties,” according to brief statement by Bashagha’s government. The representatives of the political parties presented to Bashagha “their vision on the current Libyan situation”.

• The Libyan High Council of State (HCS) members voted in their 79th session on Monday on the constitutional basis articles that are under discussion with the House of Representatives (HoR), as the media office of the HCS added that the session, headed by HCS Head Khalid Al-Mishri, picked up on the previous one. “The members voted on the articles and were allowed to discuss them so that a final vote could be made and a constitutional basis approved then sent to the HoR.” The media office indicated.

• Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), has called on the Libyan people to “take control of their affairs” after he accused the country’s political leaders of failing to end the deadlock. “We made room for political leaders to agree to end the political deadlock, but they failed,” he said in a speech during visit to the southern town of Brak al-Shati. “We sound the alarm in front of the people and call on them to take control of their affairs and move to build a civil state based on freedom, justice and equality,” he added. “We have spared no effort over the years for the sake of reconciliation, achieving a comprehensive settlement and prioritizing the nation’s interest over all considerations.”

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

• Libyan outgoing Prime Minister, Abdel Hamid Dabaiba, discussed in Tripoli with South Korean Ambassador Lee Sang-soo, possibility of the return of Korean companies to Libya and the resumption of their work, especially in the field of electricity. They also discussed the need to obtain visas for Libyans to improve the movement of the private sector, and ways to support cooperation between the two countries in the field of trade and to expand activity in the field of oil and gas.

  

• President of the Libyan Presidential Council (PC), Mohamed al-Menfi, arrived Wednesday in Tripoli coming from New York, after his participation in the United Nations General Assembly’s 77th session. Al-Menfi had an official reception at Mitiga International Airport, where he was received by PC’s deputies, Abdullah al-Lafi and Moussa al-Koni, in addition to the Chief of the General Staff – Western Region, Lieutenant General Muhammad Al-Haddad, and the Chief of Intelligence Agency, Lieutenant General Hussein al-Aib, said PC Media Office.
• British HMS Albion ship docked in Tripoli, making the first visit by the British Royal Navy to Libya in eight years, according to British Embassy in Libya. “The ship crew is looking forward to a great day with their Libyan Navy counterparts,” The Embassy tweeted. “Britain is committed to working with all Libyan partners for greater stability,” it added.

  
• Georgette Gagnon, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Libya, held talks with several political representatives and community leaders from Benghazi during her visit to the city. During her meeting with members of Benghazi’s Municipal Council, Gagnon discussed the city’s “development and humanitarian needs,” according to a statement by the U.N. official via Twitter. She also presented the UN’s priorities for the next 3 years “as detailed in our Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Libya.”

• The United Nations Security Council will convene on Thursday morning, September 29, to hold consultations on Libya, according to the council’s agenda. It was not disclosed what will be the specific subject of these consultations, which will take place behind closed doors. Earlier this month, the Security Council approved former Senegalese minister and U.N. diplomat Abdoulaye Bathily as the new U.N. envoy to Libya, ending a nine-month vacancy.