Militants target civil activists in Libya
Rebel militias have killed at least 35 prominent civil society figures and kidnapped countless others this year as part of a greater campaign of violence in the absence of any central police force in many parts of Libya.
Nader Elgadi has captured the outcry against militia violence through his camera lens. Elgadi, a 27-year-old Libyan activist, attended his last demonstration in Tripoli on July 26, 2014. After documenting residents contesting the rule of militias vying for control of the country, he headed home to secure his photos and drop off his camera. When he left again late that afternoon, he was abducted and taken to the outskirts of the city.
“I couldn’t see anything,” Elgadi told Al-Monitor, “but I knew from their accent that my abductors were from Tripoli.”
Accused of being an Operation Dignity supporter — a pro-government military operation launched against Islamist brigades united under the name Dawn of Libya — he was kept in a makeshift prison for further questioning until his release the next evening. He was one of the lucky ones.
According to activists monitoring the death toll from outside the country, at least 35 prominent civil society figures have been killed this year. Rebel militias have enforced their own systems of justice following the collapse of the judiciary during Libya’s 2011 revolution. While kidnapping is commonplace, armed gangs are also assassinating civil activists as part of a greater campaign of violence, according to activists and Libya analysts.
