The Libyan authorities must not re-establish the “morality” police and must refrain from cracking down on women’s human rights any further, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said today.
On 6 November 2024, Emad Trabelsi, the Interior Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU) – the internationally recognized government in the west of Libya – announced that the Ministry of Interior planned to reactivate the “morality” police and carry out what would amount to a large scale crackdown on women’s and girls’ human rights, including their rights to equality and non-discrimination, to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, to freedom of expression, to freedom of association, to freedom of movement, to privacy, and to liberty. The Minister stated that: (i) the hijab – a garment worn by some Muslim women to cover their hair – would be imposed and women would be prohibited from leaving their homes without wearing the hijab; (ii) women would be prohibited from traveling without a male chaperone; (iii) men and women would not be allowed to mix in public places; and (iv) anyone violating these measures would be prosecuted.
“Instead of living up to Libya’s international human rights law obligations, the authorities prefer to institutionalize gender discrimination, violate women’s human rights and perpetuate prejudice against women and girls,” said Saïd Benarbia, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Programme Director. “Any plans to implement such measures and exclude women from public spaces and public life and to forcibly confine them to the private sphere must be immediately scrapped,” he added.
The “morality” police would be in charge of surveillance in the streets and on social media platforms, arresting and prosecuting individuals who purportedly contravene “Libyan society’s values and traditions”.
Wearing the hijab would become compulsory for women and for girls from the age of nine, and men and boys would have to be dressed “appropriately”. Hair salons not conforming to “social norms” would be closed. Such restrictions build on the launch, by the General Authority for Endowments and Islamic Affairs, in May 2023, of a “Guardians of Virtue” programme purported to combat “religious, intellectual and moral deviations”.
Trabelsi denounced personal freedoms and human rights as “European concepts” that, in his view, “violate Libyan traditions and the Islamic religion” and therefore cannot be adopted in Libya. He added that those who wish to enjoy such freedoms and rights should leave Libya and go live in Europe.
The ICJ condemns the abovementioned measures as blatant violations of Libya’s legal obligations under international human rights law to respect, protect and fulfil women’s and girls’ human rights. The organization calls on the Interior Minister and the Libyan authorities to withdraw any plan in violation of the right to equality between men and women and of the non-discrimination principle, as well as to protect women’s and girls’ human rights and freedoms.
Background
Women and girls in Libya are already facing pervasive gender discrimination and violence, detention and killings and are being pushed out of public life, including online spaces, solely for exercising their human rights.
The male guardianship system in Libya already obliges women to seek approval from their guardian (“mahram”), their father, brother or son, to, for example, get married or travel. The authorities have repeatedly imposed restrictions on women travelling alone. In May 2023, the Internal Security Agency (ISA), operating under the GNU, introduced a mandatory questionnaire asking all unaccompanied female travellers from Mitiga Airport in Tripoli to justify their travel without a “mahram”. The questionnaire was later withdrawn but the ISA still questions women who travel alone.
As a result, women may decide not to travel to avoid harassment and intimidation they would face at the airport. The ICJ understands that women have already missed out on opportunities to participate in important events and trainings essential to their work and activism.
Contact
Saïd Benarbia, Director, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Program; t: +41 22 979 3817, e: said.benarbia(a)icj.org
Nour Al Hajj, Communications & Advocacy Officer, ICJ Middle East and North Africa Program; e: nour.alhajj(a)icj.org