NATO refocuses on Libya to counter Russia’s growing influence

Libya

Published on Wednesday, 18 October 2017 Back to articles

The EU and other Western actors have come under even greater pressure about Libyan human rights, by relevant organisations, regarding their policies toward Libya. To cope with the migrant crisis, European leaders have seemingly turned a blind eye to the daily human rights violations that occur across Libya in migrant detention centres. As Western nations become increasingly amenable to working with Haftar on counter-terrorism priorities in Libya, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and US lawyers have become increasingly critical of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s potential involvement in war crimes. This includes crimes by one of his Libyan National Army (LNA) commanders, Mahmoud Werfalli, who was accused of yet another string of summary executions last week.

But on 10 October, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein became the first in his position to ever visit Libya. The purpose of his unannounced visit was to increase co-operation between the UN and the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in order to improve respect for Libyan human rights. During this visit, Zeid focused on the issues of: violations that are often committed by unaccountable militias; arbitrary detention; and torture. Although the GNA representatives emphasised their willingness to work with the UN on these issues, they have no control over the actions of these militias. Zeid met GNA Prime Minister Serraj, the minister of justice and the minister of interior as well as members of the Tawerghan community that is still displaced by the conflict. He did not meet any militia commanders who might be able to exert more control over their fighters occupying detention centres.

While Libya has become an issue of greater focus to a variety of UN agencies, it has also increasingly become a priority for NATO. The organsiation has pledged to provide defence institution building support for Libya since 2013; however — despite claims that it was reviving these assistance plans — there has been little overt action to implement them in 2017. During a press call in Bucharest, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated that his institution sought to avoid in Libya the ill-effects of Russian influence seen in Syria, where he argued that Russian influence has made matters worse.

Stoltenberg recently met Prime Minister Serraj in New York during the UN General Assembly meetings and re-iterated NATO’s commitment to helping build a modern ministry of defence for Libya. But continued disagreements over how to approach the Libyan political crisis among NATO’s member states, the EU, and the UN have inhibited the implementation of such assistance. In the meantime, Russian officials are able to move forward, relatively unfettered, in bolstering relations with: Haftar, the eastern authorities, and the GNA.

This article was taken from our weekly Libya Politics & Security publication. If you would like to discuss the content with our consultants further, or ask about the publication then please contact us.

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