Protests grow over the “non-democratic practices” of Libya’s new leadership

An anti-NTC demonstration in Benghazi’s Tree Square.

Since mid-December, demonstrations against the National Transitional Council (NTC) have been organised all over Libya, including Benghazi, the first town to rise up against the former regime. After the enthusiasm of the first few months, Libyans are now demanding that the new government become more transparent and that it dissolve the armed militias that were formed during the revolution.

The NTC was created on February 27, 2011, during the uprising against Colonel Gaddafi’s regime. It was officially recognised by France on March 10 and the rest of the international community soon followed.

An anti-NTC demonstration in Benghazi’s Tree Square.

"We’ve been very patient, but now we no longer have any reason to remain silent"

Naima B. lives in Benghazi and has participated in protests against the NTC.

Since December 12, people have gathered in Tree Square every day. Some of them are civil society activists, but there are also former soldiers who fought in the revolution as well as ordinary citizens.

 

These protests are particularly large in Benghazi, which was the birthplace of the Libyan revolution, but there is nothing ‘regional’ about them. We are defending the rights of all Libyans without exception. There are also protests in Misrata and Zaouia.

 

Anti-NTC demonstration in Benghazi’s Tree Square.

 

What we want most of all is the creation of a Libyan army to ensure the country’s security. It is completely unacceptable that a sovereign country only has militias. The fighters must choose: either they join a regular army or they lay down their arms. There are still too many weapons in circulation in Libya. [Editor’s note: On 25 December the NTC announced that a register was going to be created for combatants, with the aim of integrating them into the security forces.]

 

"We don’t even know all the members of the Council"

 

We are also critical of the NTC’s lack of transparency. Its meetings take place behind closed doors and we are only ever informed of the results, never of the decision-making process. This is not democratic! Furthermore, we don’t even know all of the members of the Council, only those who founded it. During the armed conflict the leaders of the NTC stated that they did not wish to reveal the names of the Council’s members for security reasons. But why hide them today? [Editor’s note: the President of the NTC, Mustapha Abdeljalil, traveled to Benghazi on December 26 and promised that a Web site providing the names of all NTC members, along with their CVs, would soon be online.]

 

We are not at all satisfied with the judicial system: the authorities are carrying out arbitrary arrests, even of former rebels. People are taken to prison and do not have the right to a trial. Sometimes it is a case of individuals settling old scores. At the same time, the leaders of the former regime continue to live in impunity. We are calling for equal justice for everybody.

 

"The government still hasn't done anything regarding the identification of the corpses

buried in communal graves"

 

The way public money is being managed is also a problem. Last April, Mustapha Abdeljalil, the President of the NTC, declared that some of the new leaders had been involved in dodgy deals and embezzlement. But since then, nothing more has been said about it. We don’t know who the people implicated in this scandal are, nor do we know what has happened to the money. In the meantime, we ordinary citizens have been forced to queue up outside the banks to get money out because the ATMs are empty.

 

Finally, there is the question of those who were killed or injured during the revolution. The government still hasn’t done anything regarding the identification of the corpses buried in communal graves. The families of the missing still don’t know what has become of their children, despite there being a ministry dedicated to the martyrs of the revolution. [When contacted by France 24, the representative of the local transitional council in Misrata, Ibrahim Beit Almal, acknowledged that the families of those killed were not being sufficiently supported by the NTC.]

 

The wounded are often very poorly taken care of. The most serious cases were sent abroad, mostly to Tunisia. But staff members in the Libyan embassies have not changed since Gaddafi’s departure and nothing has been done to support these patients or pay their hospital bills. [When contacted by France 24, the representative of the local transitional council in Misrata asserted that the wounded were being correctly looked after by the embassies. He did, however, recognise that there were insufficient funds to properly treat the injured patients who remained in Libya, due to the fact that overseas funds from the former regime remain frozen.]

 

"We demand the dissolution of the NTC"

 

Although the president of the NTC and the prime minister came to Benghazi on December 26, they did not come to Tree Square. They only met several protestors whom they themselves had chosen. If they really want to talk to us, they should come and see us where we are protesting.

 

We were patient while the country was at war but today we no longer have any reason to remain silent. We have taken a more radical position: we are now demanding the dissolution of the NTC and the creation of a new Council that is capable of responding to our demands.”

Demonstrations in support of the NTC

Demonstrations in support of the NTC have been organised in response to the emerging protest movement. This video, filmed in Tripoli on 27 December, shows a rally in support of the Local Council of Tripoli, one of the organs of the NTC:

One of the demonstrators introduces himself at 0’47. Here’s what he says:

“We support the Local Council of Tripoli. This Council was formed under very difficult circumstances and so far its work has been completely acceptable. There is no reason why we should withdraw our confidence in it. If people think that there are problems, we can propose reforms, correct certain decisions. It is better than protesting against the Council and calling for its dissolution. This risks causing anarchy and could stop the government from working. […]. Everyone can make mistakes; criticism is welcome."