Libya

Libya is a North African country of an estimated 6.9 million inhabitants, of which 90-95% are Sunni Muslims.[ref]https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/libya/[/ref] The Amazigh ethnic minority counts some Ibadi Muslims and there are small Christian communities among sub-Saharan African and Egyptian migrants. Libya is the fourth largest African country by area and holds the world’s tenth-largest proven oil reserves. The country has been through tumultuous years since the Libyan uprising in 2011 and the civil war that followed.

This country is found to be in flux. Continuing political strife between secular and Islamist blocs means the constitution remains suspended. The rating conditions below reflect the state of the law prior to further dispute in 2014. The rating reflects that the situation for the non-religious is not improved, and discrimination is maintained by social inertia during the political turmoil.

Constitution and government Education and children’s rights Family, community, society, religious courts and tribunals Freedom of expression advocacy of humanist values
State legislation is largely or entirely derived from religious law or by religious authorities
Prohibitive interreligious social control (including interreligious marriage bans)
Religious control over family law or legislation on moral matters
Expression of core humanist principles on democracy, freedom or human rights is severely restricted
There is systematic religious privilege
There is an established church or state religion
There is state funding of at least some religious schools
Religious or ideological instruction is mandatory in at least some public schools (without secular or humanist alternatives)
Discriminatory prominence is given to religious bodies, traditions or leaders
Blasphemy or criticism of religion is restricted in law and is punishable by a fine
Constitution and government
State legislation is largely or entirely derived from religious law or by religious authorities
There is systematic religious privilege
There is an established church or state religion
Education and children’s rights
There is state funding of at least some religious schools
Religious or ideological instruction is mandatory in at least some public schools (without secular or humanist alternatives)
Family, community, society, religious courts and tribunals
Prohibitive interreligious social control (including interreligious marriage bans)
Religious control over family law or legislation on moral matters
Discriminatory prominence is given to religious bodies, traditions or leaders
Freedom of expression advocacy of humanist values
Expression of core humanist principles on democracy, freedom or human rights is severely restricted
Blasphemy or criticism of religion is restricted in law and is punishable by a fine
Use of Conscientious Objection clauses resulting in the denial of lawful services to women and LGBTI+ people
Religious or ideological instruction is mandatory in all or most state-funded schools with no secular or humanist alternative
Insufficient information or detail not included in this report
Insufficient information or detail not included in this report

Countries: Kazakhstan

The state is secular, with separation of religious and political authorities, not discriminating against any religion or belief
Insufficient information or detail not included in this report
No fundamental restrictions on freedom of expression or advocacy of humanist values
Insufficient information or detail not included in this report

Countries: no countries relate to this boundary condition

No condition holds in this strand
No condition holds in this strand

Countries: Andorra

No condition holds in this strand
Religious courts or tribunals rule directly on some family or ‘moral’ matters; it is legally an opt-in system, but the possibility of social coercion is very clear
No condition holds in this strand

Countries: no countries relate to this boundary condition

Localised or infrequent but recurring and widespread social marginalisation or prejudice against the non-religious

This condition is unusual in that it is applied in cases where there is some social discrimination, but it is not pervasive or nationwide. This condition is applied when there is sufficient background evidence to warrant the assertion that discrimination is not anomalous but widespread, and this condition may be applied for example even where if there is no legislative discrimination or where the non-religious may have legal recourse against such discrimination. However, societal discrimination (i.e. discrimination by peers, as opposed to state or legal discrimination) is not easily measured, and for this reason the Report does not currently have similar more severe boundary conditions to capture higher levels of social discrimination per se. In principle these may be introduced in future. However, we consider that countries with actual higher levels of social discrimination against the non-religious will generally already meet other higher level (more severe) boundary conditions under this thematic strand.

Countries: Botswana, Greece, Serbia, United States of America

The dominant influence of religion in public life undermines the right to equality and/or non-discrimination

Applied when the influence of religion on public life undermines others’ rights, such as SRHR, women’s rights, LGBTI+ rights.

May be applied when the influence is overt (i.e. when religious laws are applied to undermine others’ rights) or covert (i.e. where religious pressure groups exert influence to affect policy)

Countries: Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brunei Darussalam, Congo, Democratic Republic of, Croatia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eswatini, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Liberia, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Oman, Paraguay, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, Zambia

The non-religious are persecuted socially or there are prohibitive social taboos against atheism, humanism or secularism
Complete tyranny precludes all freedoms of expression and thought, religion or belief

Applied when overriding acts of oppression by the State are extreme, to the extent that the question of freedom of thought and expression is almost redundant, because all human rights and freedoms are quashed by authorities.

Countries: North Korea

Expression of core Humanist principles on democracy, freedom and human rights is brutally repressed
Expression of non-religious views is severely persecuted, or is rendered almost impossible by severe social stigma, or is highly likely to be met with hatred or violence
There is significant social marginalisation of the non-religious or stigma associated with expressing atheism, humanism or secularism
Religious or ideological indoctrination is utterly pervasive in schools
There is a nominal state church with few privileges or progress is being made toward disestablishment

Countries: Bulgaria, Norway, Peru, Rwanda

The non-religious are barred from some government offices (including posts reserved for particular religions or sects)
‘Apostasy’ is outlawed and punishable with a prison sentence

Countries: Bahrain, Comoros, Jordan, Kuwait

‘Apostasy’ or conversion from a specific religion is outlawed and punishable by death
Some religious courts rule in civil or family matters on a coercive or discriminatory basis
Religious authorities have supreme authority over the state

Countries: Iran

State legislation is partly derived from religious law or by religious authorities
Preferential treatment is given to a religion or religion in general

This condition is applied where there are miscellaneous indicators that organs of the state offer various forms of support for a religion, or to religion in general over non-religious worldviews, suggesting a preference for those beliefs, or that the organs of that religion are privileged.

Countries: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burundi, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Tunisia, Turkey, Tuvalu, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zimbabwe

There is a pattern of impunity or collusion in violence by non-state actors against the nonreligious
State-funded schools provide religious education which may be nominally comprehensive but is substantively biased or borderline confessional
Religious or ideological instruction in a significant number of schools is of a coercive fundamentalist or extremist variety

This condition highlights countries where schools subject children to fundamentalist religious instruction with no real opportunity to question fundamentalist tenets, or where lessons routinely encourage hatred (for example religious or ethnic hatred). The wording “significant number of schools” is not given a rigid quantification (sometimes the worst-offending schools are unregistered, illegal, or otherwise uncounted); however the condition is not applied in cases where only a small number of schools meet the description and may be anomalous, as opposed to being indicative of a widespread problem.

Countries: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia

State legislation is largely or entirely derived from religious law or by religious authorities
Anomalous discrimination by local or provincial authorities, or overseas territories
Religious or ideological instruction is mandatory in at least some public schools (without secular or humanist alternatives)
‘Blasphemy’ or criticism of religion is outlawed and punishable by death
Government figures or state agencies openly marginalize, harass, or incite hatred or violence against the non-religious
Government authorities push a socially conservative, religiously or ideologically inspired agenda, without regard to the rights of those with progressive views
It is illegal to advocate secularism or church-state separation, or such advocacy is suppressed
Prohibitive interreligious social control (including interreligious marriage bans)
Quasi-divine veneration of a ruling elite is enforced, or a single-party regime holds uncontested power, subject to severe punishment
Legal or constitutional provisions exclude non-religious views from freedom of belief
It is illegal to register an explicitly Humanist, atheist, secularist or other non-religious NGO or other human rights organization, or such groups are persecuted by authorities
There is a religious tax or tithing which is compulsory, or which is state-administered and discriminates by precluding non-religious groups
The non-religious are barred from holding government office
Some concerns about children's right to specifically religious freedom

This condition may apply if specifically religious education, religious materials, or specific religious denominations are so tightly controlled that children are in fact over-protected from exposure to religion and are likely unable to explore or construct their own worldview in accordance with their evolving capacities. This condition helps us to classify states (perhaps with secular constitutions) which have criminalized specifically religious beliefs or practices. This condition is not applied if the restricted beliefs or practices are found to be outlawed due to their being of an extremist variety. While this condition does not directly reflect discrimination against non-religious persons or non-religious ideas, it does represent an overall threat to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief; such restrictions could spill over to affect non-religious beliefs later; and they pose a risk of backlash against over-zealous secular authorities or even against non-religious individuals by association.

Countries: China, Congo, Democratic Republic of, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guyana, Italy, Kazakhstan, Laos, Madagascar, Mexico, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe

It is illegal or unrecognised to identify as an atheist or as non-religious
It is made difficult to register or operate an explicitly Humanist, atheist, secularist or other non-religious NGO or other human rights organization
Legend
 
Grave Violations
Severe Discrimination
Systemic Discrimination
More information about rating table

Constitution and government

Libya has been in the grip of an ongoing civil war since Nato-backed forces overthrew Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011. Since mid-2014, political power has mainly been split between two rival governments in Tripoli and in Tobruk. The Tripoli government is the internationally recognised government, known as the Government of National Accord (GNA), and controls parts of the country’s western territory. The Tobruk administration, consisting of members of parliament elected in 2014, is the House of Representatives (HoR). The HoR refuses to recognize the GNA because it was installed by the international community and allegedly supports Islamists.[ref]https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/whos-who-libyas-war[/ref]

A third player is the Benghazi-based Libya National Army (LNA), a force of some twenty-five thousand fighters, which is led by General Khalifa Haftar. The LNA launched an assault on Tripoli in April 2019, but his campaign to capture the city collapsed in June 2020.[ref]https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/libya-khalifa-haftar-200523142442684.html[/ref] The LNA attack on Tripoli over the last year has had a devastating impact on civilians. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 200,000 people have been internally displaced and approximately 1.3 million people need humanitarian assistance.[ref]https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/libya.html[/ref]

Though it has lost significant territory since 2016, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) remains a persistent threat in a fractured Libya. The group is the most powerful ISIS affiliate outside of Syria and Iraq as well as the most powerful extremist group operating in Libya.[ref]https://www.counterextremism.com/countries/libya[/ref]

Beside the anti-Islamist Tobruk government and the Islamist Tripoli government the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) Libya Province established itself as a third power. In February 2015, IS-Islamists beheaded 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians. Hundreds of individuals have been killed in politically motivated assassinations by Islamist armed groups. Further, Islamists carried out public executions and floggings and established an Islamic court and Islamic police (hisba unit). Armed forces affiliated with both the GNA and the Interim Government have carried out extrajudicial executions, and have abducted, tortured and held civilians as hostages in both state and militia prisons.

In general, access to lawyers and basic process rights is not granted by the government. Militia attacks on judges, lawyers, prosecutors, and witnesses caused the closure of courts, the breakdown of law and order, and a prevailing climate of impunity. The government has failed in protecting religious minorities or religious (Sufi) sites against violent extremist groups.

Interim Constitution

The Constitutional declaration of 2011 functions as the interim Constitution. Article 1 of the interim Constitution provides that Islam is the state religion and Islamic law the principal source of legislation. The interim Constitution also states that the State is under a duty to “guarantee for non-Muslims the freedom to practice their religious rituals.” This wording offers a limited form of protection for freedom of religion or belief. Notably, the 1951 Constitution contained a more comprehensive right of freedom or religion or belief which encompassed all citizens, rather than limiting it to ‘non-Muslims’. Article 21 of the 1951 Constitution of Libya reads:

“Freedom of belief shall be absolute. The State shall respect all religions and faiths and shall ensure to Libyans and to foreigners residing in its territory freedom of belief and the liberty to practice religious rites so long as this does not prejudice public order and morality.”[ref]https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/57ee86814.pdf[/ref]

Article 6 of the interim Constitution states that “there shall be no discrimination among Libyans on the basis of religion or sect” with regard to legal, political, and civil rights. But other laws and policies restrict these rights.  There is no law providing for an individual’s right to choose or change his or her religion or to study, discuss, or promulgate one’s religious beliefs. There is also no law prohibiting apostasy or proselytizing; however, in practice the government has been prohibiting proselytizing to Muslims.

Further, Article 291 of the Penal Code of 1953 prohibits insulting Islam or the Prophet Muhammad and the maximum penalty for blasphemy is the death sentence.

Education and children’s rights

Religious instruction in Islam is required in public schools and in private schools that admit citizens, but there was no in-depth instruction on other religions available in the curricula. Attendance at religious instruction is mandatory for all students. However, many schools in Libya remain closed due to the ongoing conflict.[ref]https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/libya/[/ref]

In April 2014, a militia group in Derna insisted that the sexes should be segregated at university and constructed a wall, limiting female students’ access to education.

Family, community and society

Sharia law governs family matters for Muslims, including inheritance, divorce, and the right to own property. Under this body of law, a non-Muslim woman who marries a Muslim man is not required to convert to Islam, although many do so; however, a non-Muslim man must convert to Islam to marry a Muslim woman. Marriages between Muslim men and women of non-Abrahamic faiths are illegal.[ref]https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/libya/[/ref]

The Ministry for Awqaf and Islamic Affairs administers non-Muslim family law issues, although without a parallel legal framework and draws upon neighboring countries’ family law precedents for non-Muslims. The ministry provides imams with political and social messages for Friday sermons.

Women face discrimination and are inadequately protected. Sexual harassment is prevalent, male relatives are reported to have killed several women in “honour killings” and unveiled women may be stopped and threatened at checkpoints. Women travelling without a male guardian may be challenged. The law also fails to protect women from acts of sexual violence: the penal code allows for a reduced sentence for a man who kills or injures his wife or a female relative because he suspects her of having an affair, and rapists can avoid prosecution if they marry their victim.[ref]https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/libya[/ref]

Freedom of expression, advocacy of humanist values

There was a blossoming of free media, and open public debate after the overthrow of Gaddafi. In June 2012, Libya’s Supreme Court struck down a law that would have restricted any speech deemed insulting to the country’s people and institutions.

However, media freedom advocacy groups have reported an increase in restrictions on journalists since the early days of the revolution. On-going sectarian and political turbulence has seen rising violence, and murders of journalists and other public figures. While freedom of assembly has also increased since Gaddafi, the continuing street violence, and threats from more organized militias, often deter peaceful assemblies and the public expression of dissenting views.

Libyan atheists and agnostics are threatened and intimidated due to their writings on social media.

Blasphemy

Libya’s 1953 Penal Code outlaws blasphemy and prescribes a two-year prison term.

Article 291 (Insult of the State Religion) states: “Whoever publicly abuses the Islamic religion — that being the official religion of the State under the Libyan constitution — with verbal terms not befitting for the Divine Being, the Messenger, or the Prophets, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.”[ref]https://selfscholar.wordpress.com/2012/10/12/libyas-blasphemy-law/[/ref]

In November 2012, the office of the Libyan National Party were raided and, two politicians, Ali Tekbali and Fathi Sager, were charged with blasphemy (amongst other offences) for an election cartoon that was deemed to be insulting to Islam. The cartoon in question showed a group of men discussing the role of women in society. The prosecution claimed that one character in the drawings resembled the Prophet Muhammad depicted in the French magazine Charlie Hebdo. They were acquitted in March 2014, after a 15-month investigation.[ref]https://www.libyanjustice.org/news/127-lfjl-applauds-court-ruling-on-blasphemy-case-and-urges-the-state-to-repeal-oppressive-legislation[/ref]

Other than this incident, the blasphemy law does not appear to have been used in other cases in recent years.

Testimonies

“I am a Libyan atheist woman in a deeply Islamic country and suffering is just a tiny word for all that what I have been through. Years ago I was an admin of a Facebook Page for Libyan female atheists and you can not imagine how many threat messages and insults I got every day in my inbox. A woman in Libya is suffering, especially if she is different! I am wearing the Hijab against my will since I was young. My phone has been taken away many times and I have been beaten. I am living as a ghost and hiding my ideas. I have accepted to be a slave rather than to lose my head.

I can not imagine what my parents would say about my atheism. Even if could avoid the criticism of my mother, I couldn’t avoid it from the others. They would call me a prostitute. People would say you are an unbeliever and you don’t deserve to live and Sharia law should be applied on you. As soon as you have a different point of view they think you do not deserve to live. Even the one that loves you the most becomes an enemy and would not hesitate to behead you.”

— Aisha