Libyan women protesting. GETTY IMAGES[/caption]Last February, Libya’s defense ministry detained four Christians—an American, an Egyptian, a South Korean and a South African—for allegedly distributing Christian materials and literature in the eastern city of Benghazi. Later that same month, the Office of Preventative Security, a division of the defense ministry, detained forty-eight Egyptian Coptic Christians for carrying religious paraphernalia and proselytizing, outraging Copts in the neighboring country.
When questioned about the harsh arrests, preventative security commander Abdul Salam Bargathi blithely repeated a quote he attributed to UK Prime Minister David Cameron: “Concerning the homeland security, don’t ask about human rights.”
[inset_right]One could argue that human rights for people of all colors, creeds and religions are the hallmark of a democratic society. [/inset_right]
One could argue that human rights for people of all colors, creeds and religions are the hallmark of a democratic society. Post-revolutionary Libya still touts the ideals of a free and fair democratic society, but with no constitution to enforce those ideals and a disparate network of militias imposing law, they have been pushed aside. Worse yet, a polarized General National Congress (GNC) has hindered the constitutional process, delaying the creation of a constitutional committee and bickering over the details of the process.
In particular, the GNC has been unable to reach a decision about Article 30 of the Transitional Constitutional Declaration, which was devised last August by the National Transition Council (NTC). Article 30, which outlined the constitution-forming process and transition of power to the GNC, stipulated that the GNC would be responsible for selecting the sixty members who make up the Constitutional Committee.
Last year, on the eve of GNC elections, the NTC made an amendment to the article that would instead have the committee of sixty elected by the general population. This move was seen as an effort to appease a contingency of members and voters in Cyrenaica in the east, who felt that the region had been politically marginalized. The new NTC amendment would divide the sixty members evenly into three groups—twenty members would be elected by the East, twenty by the mountainous area known as Fezzan, and twenty by the west. The amendment would not only delay the constitutional process, it would also incite the GNC to harangue the issue months later—long past the due date on a constitutional draft.
The Constitutional Court, however, declared the NTC amendment unconstitutional. On April 2, GNC spokesperson Omar Hamaidan told reporters at a press conference that the GNC was still divided on the issue. The vote to decide a process for forming a constitutional drafting committee was delayed even further.
The delays in the process have frustrated Libyans. Without a constitution, the rule of law has been shaky, and marginalized groups like women and the Amazigh (Berbers) fear a regression in their rights, especially as religious extremists gain military power. In an act of desperation, the GNC turned to the Salafi extremist group Ansar Al-Sharia to take control of the militias and fight crime. Ansar Al-Sharia is the same group believed to have been responsible for the attack on the US Embassy last September. They are also believed to have been behind the destruction of several Sufi shrines, including a Tripoli mosque last summer and the mausoleum of Sidi Mohammed Al-Andalousi a few weeks ago. It was hardliners of the same ilk that set fire to a Benghazi Coptic church this past month.
These are all threats to Libya’s idealistic democratic vision. The Transitional Constitutional Declaration mentions in passing the rights of people of all religions, but there is no real infrastructure to enforce it. Plagued by constant threats of violence and division within their ranks, the GNC has so far been ineffective at protecting the Libyan people.
Unless the GNC is able to mobilize effectively and make steps towards a constitution, it will not only be impossible to ask about the human rights of Coptic Christians, but the basic rights of all Libyans will also be tenuous. The GNC loses legitimacy in front of the Libyan people every day they drift further from the constitutional deadline—and this casts doubt on whether a GNC-selected committee would be a legitimate one in the eyes of the Libyan people.
