Legitimizing Impunity in Libya
Hearts and Minds
Libya has enacted a new law that effectively grants impunity to war crimes committed during the civil war. Though it is intended as a measure that will at the same time force the country to deal with its other numerous challenges, it appears to be a tactical move to appease the worries of militias who are concerned that they will lose everything they have gained if they lay down their weapons.
Zuwarah fighters inspect their ammunitions on April 4, 2012
The transitional government in Libya has faced a number of gargantuan challenges since it took power last year. In addition to rebuilding a war torn country, corralling rival militias to follow their orders and planning new elections they have also had to confront the emotional wounds that the victims of the previous regime and of the war now face. In recent days, however, the government has made an effort to further weaken any support the former regime may have had while at the same time legitimizing the conflict and the ousting of Colonel Qaddafi. This is an understandable aim given that the country has, for most of its recent history, been completed dominated by the former leader’s vision for the then called Jamahiriya. However, the manner in which the government is seeking to break from the past is problematic.
Last week the National Transitional Council passed a law that granted legal immunity to any action that was undertaken in the effort to rid the country of Colonel Qaddafi. The law covers both military and civilian acts, though it does not state whether the law applies after the NTC took power on October 23rd. The decision of the NTC to pass this law is problematic because both loyalists to the regime and the rebels committed crimes of war. This included persecuting individuals from towns and cities that were suspected to be pro-Qaddafi, not to mention the regular use of torture in detention centers.
In granting such acts impunity, the government is essentially undoing one of the greatest achievements the civil war could have accounted for—the establishment of just rule of law in the country, which in particular, would apply to all individuals equally. By granting immunity to those who killed civilians, who took hospitals hostage the government is effectively recreating the system of injustice that characterized Libya prior to the revolution, namely the complete absence of the rule of law.
Why then would the government aiming to break from the past be perpetuating its mistakes? Given the trouble the National Transitional Council has been having with exerting control over the numerous militias, and in particular, in persuading them to lay down their weapons it is likely that this interest group has (either directly or indirectly) persuaded the government to pass the immunity law. One of the major reasons why the militias have refused to lay down their weapons has been over their concern that they may lose their most important bargaining chip. For the time being weapons are a political tool, a means of guaranteeing that their interests (including immunity over their actions during the conflict) are protected.
The negative effects of this law however, undo any of the advantages that appeasing the militias might have. The NTC should be mindful of its approach to crimes committed during the conflict lest they recreate the mistakes of the former regime.
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