Making Up With the Enemy
by Aisha Gawad
After more than three decades of international condemnation, Libya is finally emerging from beneath the umbrella of disgrace. Like a bully being allowed to sit at the cool kids' table at lunch, Libya is taking tea with France, lunching with Spain, and touring the White House with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Except this bully hasn't entirely reformed its wayward practices, and shouldn't be allowed to sit at the lunch table of progressive nations until it does so.
Libya has long been labeled a pariah state by the West, and has been largely isolated since its current leader, Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi came to power in a 1969 coup that overthrew the monarchy. Al-Qaddafi swept Libya with his own brand of Islamic socialism. Technically, the country is governed by "people's committees," but in practice, authoritative rule lies solely with al-Qaddafi, who is largely seen as eccentric and unpredictable by Western and fellow Arab leaders alike.
Libya has an abysmal human rights record, but recently started to make a new name for itself in 2003 when it renounced terrorism and gave up its nuclear and chemical weapons program. It also accepted responsibility for the 1988 Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. The United States and several European nations have been slowly normalizing relations with Libya ever since. Libya was removed from the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist-sponsoring countries in 2006, and assumed the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council in January 2008. And it seems like Libya is eager to remain in good graces. Colonel Qaddafi made official visits to France and Spain, and the Libyan foreign minister met with Secretary Rice to sign a science and technology agreement.
While Libya has made significant improvements since 2003, and the West is right to encourage such changes, it would be irresponsible to ignore the remaining human rights violations that occur in that country daily. Human Rights groups are urging the European Union, for instance, to hold off on negotiations over future trade agreements with Libya until it meets specific human rights standards. And a Jan. 5 New York Times editorial argued that the United States should not send Secretary Rice on a diplomatic visit to Libya until it improves its humanitarian record.
Like many of its Arab neighbors, Libya still continues to practice torture methods on prisoners, although torture is officially illegal under Libyan law. The State Department's 2006 human rights report on Libya notes instances of "applying corkscrews to the back, pouring lemon juice in open wounds, breaking fingers and allowing the joints to heal without medical care," and scores of other violations.
Due process rights are also continually violated. The Libyan justice system allows coerced confessions as evidence in court, and many people languish in jails without any promise of a court date. Human Rights Watch accuses Libya of holding two former Guantanamo Bay inmates, returned to Libya by the U.S, without charge and with no access lawyers.
The media and freedom of expression in Libya are extremely limited, and it is punishable by law to express criticism against the government, Colonel Qaddafi, or any of the views espoused by his revolution. Dissidents are either arrested or "disappeared." Even internet writers face censure and possible incarceration, and in February 2007, fourteen men were arrested for planning a peaceful demonstration against an attack by Libyan police on civilians, according to Human Rights Watch.
Women in Libya are not protected against domestic violence, as no law exists to punish offenders. Many rapes go unacknowledged, and judges are even permitted to suggest marriage between the rapist and the victim as a socially acceptable way of glossing over the transgression, says Human Rights Watch. Women and girls who are suspected of immoral conduct can be sent to "social rehabilitation" centers, which operate under essentially prison-like conditions.
Al-Qaddafi was smart to back away from terrorism and nuclear programs when he did, and the West was smart to encourage him to move Libya away from its rogue status. The United States, especially, could always use another Arab ally to help in its very precarious Middle East situation. But with Libya making the first gesture of friendship, the U.S. and Europe were too quick to take it without first ensuring that certain promises were met. Libya has yet to pay reparations to the families of the Pan Am 103 victims as it promised, and has made few attempts to improve humanitarian conditions for its citizens. The West now faces a unique opportunity to forge a new kind of alliance with an oil-rich Arab nation—one that, unlike agreements with countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, insists upon higher human rights standards before being allowed back into the fold of diplomatic relations.
