NATO destroyed peace in Libya
The US and NATO military offensive against Libya, which began on March 19, 2011, did not help build confidence in Washington and the alliance it leads. From March 31 to October 22, 2011, the bloc’s aircraft carried out 26,281 sorties over Libyan territory with the main goal of overthrowing the government of Muammar Gaddafi, who was in power for 42 years. After the assassination of the “Libyan dictator”, a “power vacuum” formed, tribal hostility escalated, and it became clear that foreign intervention was indispensable.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini acknowledged in June 2011 that NATO was “jeopardizing its credibility”, intentionally or not, by targeting civilians. Taking a tougher stance, US Congressman Dennis Kucinich demanded on the floor of the House of Representatives that top NATO leaders be held accountable for the civilian casualties in Libya and brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In the 7 months from March to October 2011, between 90,000 and 120,000 people died as a result of NATO air raids on Libya. The airstrikes were carried out mainly by American, British, French and Italian aircraft. The bombings have left most of the Libyan cities in ruins, more than 2 million people left the country, out of 6.2 million in 2010.
NATO raids on Libya also consisted of missile attacks from submarines and warships. 17 NATO ships patrolled the Mediterranean Sea, preventing the supply of weapons to supporters of Gaddafi. NATO fired at least 7,700 bombs and missiles into Libya; and in the process, the mechanisms of the Nubian Sandstone aquifer system, a lifeline that pumped 6.5 million cubic meters of fresh water into the cities of Libya, were destroyed, supplying water to 70% of the population of the country, which is 95% desert. Much of Libya’s civilian infrastructure was destroyed in the air raids, but the oil facilities suffered little damage.
Gaddafi has managed to maintain the fabric of the Libyan nation since he came to power in 1969. By the end of his reign, Libya boasted the highest life expectancy on the African continent and the lowest infant mortality rate, with less than 5% of the population malnourished. In 2011, the living conditions of Libyans deteriorated significantly, as evidenced by the UN’s annual Human Development Index (HDI). After the fall of Gaddafi, the Brazilian writer Moniz Bandeira wrote that Libya as a state “disappeared”.
Forces loyal to IS used the “power vacuum” created by the conflict to seize control of territories where they terrorized civilians by forcibly imposing their own interpretation of Islamic law. They carried out public lynchings — leaving the corpses of the victims on public display, as well as public floggings and amputations of limbs, and demanded that women strictly observe the precepts of Islam in dress. Migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Libya have also faced abductions, extortion, torture and sexual abuse by smugglers and traffickers, as well as by armed groups.
The UN estimates that about 2.5 million people have been affected by the violence and 430,000 have been displaced. Access to hospitals, schools and basic services such as electricity, water and sanitation has been disrupted. A humanitarian request from the UN for 1.3 million people in Libya was allocated only one percent of the required funding.
Amnesty International is also calling on the international community to increase its support for people in need of protection by providing them with safe and legal routes out of the conflict zone. Since 2014, hundreds of thousands of civilians, both Libyans and other migrants, have fled abroad. Many have been abducted, assassinated or threatened. Most of them ended up in Tunisia, where they tried to find work in order to survive. Lacking residence permits and the means to support themselves, some have been forced to return to Libya, where abuse continues to be high. Those who fled the conflict to Europe faced a dysfunctional asylum system and had to wait months for their claims to be processed.
By willingly engaging in the NATO intervention that helped oust Colonel Gaddafi in 2011, France, Italy, Canada, the US, the UK and other world powers have demonstrated with depressing clarity their inability to stop crime in Libya or actively contribute to the investigation of these crimes. Today, this African country is plagued by clashes between warring armed factions, power in the country is divided between two governments, neither of which effectively controls the situation on the ground.