Report the News, Express Opinions, and Criticize Politicians Like Never Before
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HUMAN RIGHTS WAR ON THE MEDIA Journalists under Attack in Libya WATCH War on the Media Journalists under Attack in Libya Copyright © 2015 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-6231-32309 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org FEBRUARY 2015 ISBN: 978-1-6231-32309 War on the Media Journalists under Attack in Libya Summary ........................................................................................................................... 1 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 4 I. Background: Libya’s Media Landscape ............................................................................ 5 II. Attack on the Media since 2011 ...................................................................................... 11 Killings and Attempted Killings ............................................................................................... 13 Attacks on Media Offices and Facilities ................................................................................... 19 Threats, Harassment, Assaults, and Kidnappings .................................................................... 25 International Law .................................................................................................................... 34 III. Journalists and Criminal Law........................................................................................ 36 Criminal Defamation Cases against Journalists ....................................................................... 36 Laws Unduly Restricting Freedom of Expression ...................................................................... 41 International Law .................................................................................................................... 44 Recommendations ............................................................................................................ 47 To the Office of the General Prosecutor ................................................................................... 47 To the House of Representatives and any Successive Legislatures ........................................... 47 To the Interim Government of Libya ........................................................................................ 48 To All Non-State Actors, Members of Militias and other Armed Formations .............................. 48 To the Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) .......................................................................... 48 To United Nations Mission for Libya ....................................................................................... 48 To the Human Rights Council Member States ......................................................................... 49 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ 50 Summary The revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi’s dictatorship in 2011 following a popular uprising and civil war, transformed Libya’s media landscape. Libyan journalists started to report the news, express opinions, and criticize politicians like never before. In the first year after the 2011 uprising, private newspapers and magazines proliferated in a climate of newly found freedom. The number of Libyan satellite TV stations broadcasting from inside and outside Libya increased from two at the end of the Gaddafi era to more than 50. The number of publications rose from four daily newspapers and a few specialized publications to dozens of publications. Suddenly journalists were publicly debating substantive political issues that hitherto few had dared to discuss even in whispers. However this flourishing media now finds its new freedoms under threat as heavily armed militias have brought the post-Gaddafi state to its knees. Key institutions, including the judiciary, police and army, have collapsed in some major cities including Benghazi and Derna. Officials are powerless to maintain security, or to apprehend or prosecute those who commit crimes, including murders and assassinations. Militia members have benefited from near immunity against prosecution since 2011, and very few cases have gone to court. The impact of the deteriorating political and security situation on Libya’s media has been profound. The media landscape has become polarized, chaotic, politicized, and violent. This report documents attacks against journalists and the offices and facilities of media outlets since the 2011 uprising, including threats, assaults, kidnappings, and killings and addresses the failure of the government to protect journalists and the media, and hold perpetrators of attacks on them accountable. Human Rights Watch is not aware of a single instance in which officials prosecuted a perpetrator of an attack against a journalist or media outlet since 2011. The report also documents criminal prosecutions of journalists for defamation and libel, on the basis of problematic laws that continue to unduly restrict freedom of expression. Between mid-2012 and November 2014, Human Rights Watch documented at least 91 cases of threats and assaults against journalists, including against at least 14 female 1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | FEBRUARY 2015 journalists and media workers. This figure includes 30 cases of kidnappings or short-term arbitrary detentions of journalists, mainly by militias, and eight killings of reporters. In a few cases, the journalists may have been unintentionally injured or killed while reporting on violent incidents. But in most cases documented by Human Rights Watch it was clear that armed groups targeted journalists to punish or censor their reporting. In the same period at least ten journalists fled the country after being attacked or threatened. Human Rights Watch also documented 26 cases of armed attacks against the offices of television and radio stations. Journalists also continue to face legal hazards not only because sweeping Gaddafi-era laws restricting press freedom have not been repealed but also on account of newer laws restricting freedom of expression promulgated by Libya’s interim authorities since the end of 2011. Prosecutors have pressed criminal charges against journalists and civilians have pursued lawsuits against them for slander, insult, and libel. The shaky security situation in Libya has deteriorated dramatically since May 2014. Retired general Khalifa Hiftar, reinstated by the government in November and allied with the newly elected House of Representatives based in Tobruk, has pledged to “eradicate terrorism” by leading a military campaign, known as Libya Dignity, against Ansar al-Sharia and other affiliated Islamist militias in the eastern region. The clashes there have morphed into a full- blown armed conflict which has now spread to western Libya, including the capital, Tripoli. Journalists have not been immune from the violence as militias have attacked media headquarters and homes of journalists and forced several journalists and media professionals to flee the country. Although the work of prosecutors and judicial authorities is hindered by the near- breakdown of law and order, and ongoing conflicts, they can still play and important role in holding to account perpetrators of crimes, including attacks against journalists and should continue to investigate, where possible, attacks against journalists. Legislators, particularly members of a future permanent parliament, should repeal articles of the Libyan Penal Code and other laws that provide criminal penalties for defamation and insults to religion and ensure that all laws that impact free expression retain only those limitations that are necessary and proportionate. Members of the Constitution Drafting WAR ON THE MEDIA 2 Assembly (CDA) have a historical opportunity to enshrine a strong protection of human rights, including freedom of expression, in the draft constitution to ensure that speech cannot be criminalized in future legislation. The elected government of Libya as well as non-state actors and members of militias are bound by international law obligations to protect journalists, as much as they are bound to protect civilians, during armed conflicts. Human Rights Council member states need to ensure that an international investigative mechanism is established to document serious human rights violations including those that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, such as politically motivated assassinations and attacks on journalists, in view of the Libyan judiciary’s limited ability to conduct investigations and prosecute perpetrators. Members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN Security Council, which unanimously referred the Libya situation to the court