by Seth Rutledge
Dead links can be viewed under the tag Libya at: http://www.evernote.com/pub/sniffingratty/sniffingrattysnotebook/
The recent Libyan
elections have been praised by the western media. Apparently Libya has
finally set off on the path towards prosperity. But how free and open
were the elections, and what can we expect for the future of this proud and
wealthy nation?
No democracy can
function without an open media. Yet the National Transitional Council has
passed laws prohibiting free speech, article 37 says that Libyans can be jailed
for “Speech that glorifies Kaddafi, insults Islam, insults the revolution, and
lowers the moral of Libyan citizens”.1 News Anchors who stopped going to work in protest have been
forced to return to work at gunpoint and report news that they don’t agree
with. The Libyan television stations broadcast through NileStat have been
taken over by the NTC, Qatar, and western media outlets.2 A fair election with 3,000
candidates is impossible without free media and an open public discourse.
Aside from the
restrictions on media there have also been severe restrictions placed on who
can qualify for office. The NTC reserves the right to arbitrarily deny
any candidate.3 Additional restrictions include:
members of local councils, leaders of the people’s congresses, people’s
committees and related groups. The people’s congress was open to all
Libyans as the foundation of their system of direct democracy, 4 so denying participation to members of
the people’s congress basically denies all politically active people in Libya.
Anyone who had taken
part in protest against the revolution is also restricted. Considering
the massive pro-Gaddafi demonstrations in Tripoli, Sabah, Al Ajaylat, Ziltan,
Zawiya, Azizia, Sirte, and elsewhere 5 this eliminates millions of Libyans
from eligibility. In a country of only 6 million this represents a huge
percentage of the population.
Even if there were a
free press and inclusive process it would be challenging for Libyans to hold
informed elections under current conditions. An estimated 30,000 people
were killed during the Libyan conflict, less than a thousand of those during
the fighting before the NATO intervention.7 The number of civilian
casualties from the 6,000 NATO airstrikes 9 is unknown, but a Human Rights Watch
investigation of only eight strikes revealed 72 civilian casualties, mostly
women and children. 10 NATO also bombed vital infrastructure
such as hospitals, powers stations, gas facilities and government buildings leaving
many Libyans in a struggle for survival.11
Subsequent to the
NATO intervention and civil war Libyan society broke into factions and saw
extreme reprisal killings and ethnic cleansing, most notably the persecution of
the black Libyans falsely accused of being mercenaries. The town of
Tuarega was cleansed of its 30,000 residents who were forced to flee or be
killed.12 5,000 people are still being held in militia run detention
centers. 13 Election day
saw violence and protest, along with and armed militia presence in the street.14
Given the
circumstances of the election it is not surprising that Libya is on a fast
track towards neo-liberal exploitation. Mahmoud Jabril has been elected
leader of the majority party the National Forces Alliance. They are
openly in favor of globalization, privatization, foreign ownership of oil
resources, the creation of “special economic zones” for the location of
international corporations, and other neo-liberal policies. It seems that
once again the weUStern powers have exported democracy of and for the
international corporations, and already the plundering has begun.15
***
Seth Rutledge is from New York, his
blog can be read at Alchemicalnursery.org and he can be followed on
twitter @sniffingratty.
***
1 Al Jazeera Listening Post, “Covering Libya’s
first post-Giddafi elections”, 16 July 2012.
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/
http://warincontext.org/2012/07/16/video-covering-libyas-first-post-gaddafi-elections-2/
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/
http://warincontext.org/2012/07/16/video-covering-libyas-first-post-gaddafi-elections-2/
2 Mathaba, “Libya: First ‘Dimacratic’ Elections in 42 Years”, July
2012. http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=630759.
“Mahmud Shammam, a
well-known Libyan expatriate journalist who edits Foreign Policy’s Arabic
edition.” Foreign policy is a division of the Washington Post http://www.foreignpolicy.com/about_us
3 “Draft Libyan Electoral Law 2012” The National Transitional
Council.
http://www.libyanprogress.org/articles/draft-libyan-electoral-law-2012-english-translation/
4 “Popular Conferences”
http://wiki.greencharter.com/index.php?title=Popular_Conferences
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2009/03/200933183343913989.html
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2009/03/200933183343913989.html
5 Foreign Policy Journal, “France Says NATO Bombing Has
Failed”, 12 July 2011. http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/07/12/france-says-nato-bombing-has-failed/
Al Ajaylat demonstration 14/07/2011
Zlitan Demonstration 15/07/2011
Zawiyah - demonstration - 16/07/2011
http://vimeo.com/26790960#at=0
7 Lecture to the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus
University Rotterdam, in The Hague, Netherlands, May 29, 2012, by Prof. Alan J.
Kuperman, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin.
8 Human Rights Watch, “Unacknowledged Deaths”, 14 May 2012.
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/05/13/unacknowledged-deaths
9 Al Jazeera, “NATO ‘ignoring civilian deaths in Libya’”, 14
May 2012.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/05/201251416321904479.html
11 Global Research, ““Blanket of Darkness” over Tripoli. NATO
Targets Electricity Generation. Launches Psychological Attacks”, 7 August
2012.
12 Amnesty International, UK Libya: Tawarghas being targeted in
reprisal beatings and arrests, http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=19674 (September 2011).
Uruknet, “Libya:
Ethnic cleansing, genocide and the Tawergha”. http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m81833 (27 September 2011).
13 Libya Herald, Five Thousand Still in Militia Controlled
Detention Centers as Deadline for Handover Passes, http://www.libyaherald.com/?p=11081 (July 2012).
14 The Guardian, Libyan militia storm election office in Benghazi
as violence spreads, 1 July 2012.
15 Land Destroyer Report, All candidates are neo-imperial
candidates- Wall Street proxy Jibril of “National Forces Alliance” presumed
winner, 9 July 2012
Dead links can be viewed under the tag Libya at: http://www.evernote.com/pub/sniffingratty/sniffingrattysnotebook/