Libya Post Gaddafi: Enslaved Women, Abducted Children and Illegal Oil Trade

Of all the Arab states engulfed by the so-called Arab Spring, Libya has become the first to fall into complete chaos. The murder of the head of state Muammar al-Gaddafi, carried out by the rebels supported by NATO air power, was to bring democracy and freedom to all the people who raised the new Libyan revolutionary tricolor with a crescent and a star.

 But Libya, once the richest country in Africa, did not receive democracy and freedom, instead it fell head first into turmoil, chaos and destruction following the death of its leader.

Human rights activists in Libya and other countries have repeatedly voiced their concern because of the impunity with which the armed rebel factions, each of which calls itself ‘true revolutionaries,’ operate in the country. These illegal armed groups that emerged after Muammar Gaddafi was killed are not only fighting each other for territory and property, but also from time to time perform paid orders for murder or kidnapping.

The kidnapping of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan in 2013, by armed individuals was one such example. This is the only example that the media decided to highlight only because of the high position of the victim. After this event, the activists regularly raised the question: if the rulers can be kidnapped so easily, then what to speak of Libya’s ordinary citizens?

According to human rights organizations, the total number of kidnapped and missing persons during the civil war ranges from 10.5 thousand to 11 thousand men. The report also suggested that in a small Libyan town named Sabha topped the list of the most criminal cities of the world.

In big cities such as Misrata, the number of abductions reached 850 cases, according to the coordinator of the ‘Libyan Committee for finding kidnapped people’ Tarek Abdel-Hadi.

He further said that among the abductees there are 20 children and 25 elderly people. The kidnappers usually attack entire families.

The former press secretary of the Libyan Association of Tribes and activist Bassem al Sol spoke to Sputnik regarding the number of women that are kept in illegal prisons of such armed groups.

“In Benghazi, Misrata and Sirte there are rundown buildings which have been turned into illegal prisons by rebel gangs, there are women who are accused of ‘supporting the Gaddafi regime’. All these women ever did was hold positions in public institutions. Only in the city of Misrata the number of women prisoners who are tortured reaches 4,300,”Bassem al Sol told Sputnik.

According to the Red Crescent in Libya, due to the events of the ‘Arab Spring’, in 2014, 72,682 families in the country were left homeless and were forced to leave their homes because their villages were subjected to massive attacks by militants.

According to the Libyan Ministry of Internal Affairs, at the moment about 16,000 people in the country have illegal weapons and belong to various criminal groups. The source of the weapons was NATO air operations. NATO forces threw these weapons to the so-called ‘revolutionary fighters’ for the war against the legitimate government of Gaddafi in 2011.

So far, the new Libyan authorities have not managed to disarm these illegal groups. Moreover, even uniting those armed groups under one banner and carrying out negotiations with them has not been possible until recently.

Children have also become unfortunate victims of this chaos. They are kidnapped for ransom and since the formation of Daesh (Islamic State) around 20,000 children have been brainwashed into joining the militants.

“Children in Sirte are kidnapped and converted to real Daesh militants who kill, rape and commit terrorist acts. They are changing their way of thinking,” Bassem al Sol said.

Regarding the financing of the Daesh group, the information provided on social media on the militant’s pages suggest that the ‘emirs’ (ruler) of Daesh receive around $6,000. The lowest ranking fighters receive about $265, but this amount increases over time.

Libya, which is one of the most oil-rich countries in Africa and the Middle East, is experiencing an oil crisis due to the events in the country. Oil rigs, pipelines and depots have been the reason for clashes between the rebels in Libya, each of which is trying to get access to a source of income.

In 2010, according to the state National Oil Corporation of Libya (The National Oil Corporation (NOC), the average oil production in Libya amounted to 1,500 000barrels per day. In 2015, a similar figure was only 500 thousand barrels a day, accounting for a third of the amount of crude oil before the ‘Arab Spring.’

The rest of the oil is produced from ‘Daesh’ controlled territories or not produced at all due to equipment failure or vandalism.

According to Global Petrol Prices, the average price per liter of gasoline in Libya in 2015 ranges from 0.14 to 0.17 US dollars. Before the events of the "Arab Spring" during the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, Libyans paid from 0.10 to 0.12 dollars for gasoline. If you take the data before the financial crisis, the price per liter of gasoline in Libya in 2006 was 0.8 dollars.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151212/1031661492/libya-gaddafi-arab-spring-chaos-crime-rise-of-daesh.html#ixzz3u93kMz3r