Summary: Non-signatory Libya has expressed interest in the convention, but has taken no steps to join it. Libya has participated in meetings of the convention, most recently in September 2016. It voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution on the convention in December 2018.

Libya is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions, but it imported them and possesses a stockpile. The Monitor has not able to independently confirm alleged use of cluster munitions in Libya this year.

Policy

Libya has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Libya has expressed interest in the convention, but has taken no steps over the past decade to join it.[1]

A Government of National Accord (GNA) resulting from a 2015 UN-facilitated political process has continued to function in Libya despite continued hostilities between two major factions to the agreement, namely the House of Representatives allied with General Khalifa Hiftar in the east of Libya, who commands the Libya National Army (LNA), and the alliance of militias known as the Libyan Dawn coalition that controls most of western Libya. Other parts of Libyan territory are controlled or contested by smaller militias.

Under the former government of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya participated in three regional conferences held during the 2007–2008 Oslo Process that developed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but attended the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008 only as an observer and did not join in the consensus adoption of the convention.[2] Libya did not attend the Oslo Signing Conference in December 2008.

Libya has participated as an observer in meetings of the convention, but not since September 2016.[3]

In December 2018, Libya voted in favor of a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that urges states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[4] Libya has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

Libya is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also has not joined the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production, transfer, and stockpiling

Libya is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions, but it imported and stockpiles them.

The current status and composition of Libya’s stockpiled cluster munitions is not known, particularly comprehensive information on the types, quantities, and storage locations.Stockpiled cluster munitions were seized by anti-government forces and civilians in 2011, after storage facilities at arms depots were abandoned by government forces and subjected to NATO airstrikes. There has been no systematic or coordinated stockpile destruction effort by successive interim governments or international actors.

From the use of cluster munitions in recent years, it is clear that Libya has stockpiled air-dropped bombs (RBK-series bombs containing AO-1SCh and PTAB-2.5M submunitions), ground-fired munitions (MAT-120 mortar projectiles containing submunitions), and an unidentified type of submunition contained in Grad-type 122mm surface-to-surface rockets.[5] Additionally, in the past, Jane’s Information Group listed Libya as possessing KMGU dispensers (which deploy submunitions) and RBK-500 cluster bombs.[6]

Spain confirmed transferring 1,055 MAT-120 cluster munitions containing 22,155 submunitions to Libya in 2006 and 2008.[7]

Use

There have been allegations and some indicators of new use of cluster munitions in Libya in the past year, but the Monitor has not been able to independently confirm this or identify who may be responsible. Continued conflict limits access to strike sites and there is a lack of independent media and local reporting from inside the country.

In May 2019, LNA forces loyal to General Hiftar were accused of using cluster bombs in attacks in and around Tripoli.[8] GNA’s “Volcano of Wrath” released more than 30 undated photographs—that were not geolocated—showing the remnants of Soviet/Russian RBK-250 cluster bombs and various submunitions reportedly “discovered in greater Tripoli and other areas (Ras al-Lufa, al-Sawani, al-Aziziyah, al-Tugar Mosque and Bir al-Ghanem).”[9]

LNA forces may have used cluster munitions in air attacks on opposition forces in the period since 2015.[10] An aviation-focused blogger has documented cluster munitions loaded on to LNA aircraft that were subsequently used to conduct air attacks on opposition forces in 2016–2017 and through to June 2018.[11] Investigations by international human rights organizations found evidence of LNA cluster bomb use in late 2014 and early 2015.[12]

Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) provide air support to the forces of Khalifa Hiftar. Both states possess cluster munitions and have not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Previous use

Government forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi used three different types of cluster munitions at various locations during the 2011 conflict: MAT-120 cluster munition mortar projectiles in Misrata in April, RBK-250 PTAB-2.5M cluster bombs in Ajdabiya in March, and DPICM-like submunitions delivered by 122mm cargo rockets in the Nafusa Mountains near Jadu and Zintan on an unknown date.[13] At least 10 states and the European Union expressed concern over or condemned the use of cluster munitions in Libya in 2011.[14]

There is no evidence of cluster munition use by the countries involved in the NATO military action in in Libya in 2011, including by the United States (US) and other states that have not yet joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In its formal response to the UN Commission of Inquiry on Libya, NATO confirmed that it did not use cluster munitions in the Libya operation.[15] However, NATO airstrikes on ammunition storage facilities created hazards when munitions stored by Libya, including cluster munitions, were ejected into the surrounding environment.[16]

Previous use before 2010

Libyan forces used air-delivered cluster munitions, likely RBK-series cluster bombs containing AO-1SCh and PTAB-2.5 submunitions, at various locations during an intervention in Chad during the 1986–1987 conflict.[17]

The US Navy used Mk.-20 Rockeye cluster bombs during an attack on Libyan ships on 25 March 1986, while US Navy aircraft dropped 60 Rockeye bombs on Benina airfield on 14–15 April 1986.[18]

In 2009, a commercial oil company survey crew in Libya found the remnants of a German World War II-era SD-2 “butterfly bomb” (an early version of a cluster bomb) and destroyed the remnants of another six such cluster bombs.[19]

Policy

The State of Libya has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty.

In October 2017, a representative said that Libya “supports the concerns of the international community about the humanitarian impact of anti-personnel mines and their destruction and the fact that they hinder sustainable development. We need only look at the effects of anti-personnel mines since the Second World War. We are also well aware of the damage caused by occupation. However, the Convention does not make reference to the responsibility that occupying States bear for repairing the damage they have caused and assisting the countries they have colonized.”[1]

In October 2011, two Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials informed the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) that there was support for joining the Mine Ban Treaty, but that the matter must wait until the new government was established and for the legislative body to consider accession.[2] Libya’s signature of the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty on 9 July 2013 indicated that the government is ready to join international treaties.

On 5 December 2018, Libya voted in favor of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 73/61 supporting the universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, which it has done consistently since 2012. Libya had previously abstained from the annual resolution between 1998 and 2011.[3]

Prior to being deposed in 2011, the government of Muammar Gaddafi showed interest in the Mine Ban Treaty but made no effort to join it; Libyan officials often criticized the treaty and called for it to be revised.[4] On 28 April 2011, the National Transitional Council (NTC), then the opposition authority in Libya, issued a statement formally pledging that “no forces under the command and control of the [NTC] will use antipersonnel or anti-vehicle landmines.” The statement also said that “any future Libyan government should relinquish landmines and join the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.”[5] The current, UN-recognized Government of National Accord voiced similar concerns in its 2016 Explanation of Vote.[6]

Despite not joining the Mine Ban Treaty, Libya has participated as an observer in many of the treaty’s Meetings of States Parties as well as the first and third Review Conferences.[7] Libya last attended the Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November–December 2015 as an observer, but did not make any statements.

Libya is not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It is also not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Production, trade, and stockpiling

As the Gaddafi government progressively lost control of the country in 2011, massive weapon depots containing landmines and other munitions were abandoned by government forces and left unsecured.[8] Local and international mine action organizations have worked with Libyan authorities and the UN since mid-2011 to collect and destroy abandoned ordnance, but it is unclear how many landmines were removed by anti-government rebels, civilians, and others.

Prior to 2011, Libya consistently stated that it had never produced or exported antipersonnel mines and that it no longer stockpiled the weapon.[9] Yet abundant evidence subsequently emerged showing how Libya accumulated a stockpile of hundreds of thousands of antipersonnel and antivehicle mines under Gaddafi’s leadership, and that his forces used tens of thousands of these mines during the 2011 conflict.

In December 2016, Chinese-made Type 84 scatterable antivehicle mines appeared in Benghazi in the possession of the Libyan National Army. Mine marking indicated they were manufactured in 2009. Use of this mine was first reported in 2011. Although this mine is designed as an antivehicle mine, it is equipped with a sensitive magnetic influence fuze that can function as an anti-disturbance fuze.[10]

The post-Gaddafi government in Libya began to destroy landmine stocks in early 2012, but no information is available on the numbers or types of landmines destroyed and it is still not clear if systematic stockpile destruction efforts are being undertaken as of October 2019.[11]

Use

There have been no confirmed reports of new landmine use in Libya in the reporting period (October 2018 to October 2019).

Sporadic reports of landmine use by militias active in Libya have emerged from time to time since the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime.[12] In May 2018, it was alleged that the Shura Council of the Mujahideen in Darna laid landmines while fighting forces loyal to Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar.[13] Civilians seeking food and fuel were also reported to have been killed by landmines during the conflict.[14]

A spokesman for the eastern Libyan National Army said 68 soldiers were killed and 45 injured by landmines in 2017.[15]Reports of civilian deaths and injuries continue to be reported in the local media.[16]

Previous use

Human Rights Watch (HRW) confirmed the use of five types of mines in six separate locations by pro-Gaddafi forces during the 2011 conflict, first in the east of the country, then in the Nafusa mountain range in the northwest, and finally around Tripoli and coastal towns in the west. This included the use of low-metal content antipersonnel mines that are particularly challenging for detection and clearance efforts, such as the Brazilian T-AB-1 mine.[17] Three types of mines were also found abandoned at three other locations.

Mine types identified in Libya during the 2011 conflict

Prior to 2011, Libya last used antipersonnel mines during its 1980–1987 war with Chad. Libya is contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance from World War II, as well as from wars with Egypt (1977) and Chad (1980–1987). Minefields are said to exist in desert, port, and urban areas; however, no nationwide survey has ever been conducted. Previously, some facilities were protected by minefields, such as an ammunition storage area outside of Ajdabiya that HRW then confirmed was partially surrounded by a minefield marked solely by a deteriorating fence.[18]

In 2018, Libya received US$27.5 million in international assistance from eight donors; this is similar to the 2017 level of funding.[1]

In addition to financial support, Switzerland provided in-kind assistance to support clearance activities in Libya (valued at $255,000).

International contributions: 2018[2]

Note: N/A = not applicable.

Since 2014, Libya has received more than $75 million in international assistance for mine action, of which nearly two-fifths was provided in 2018 alone.

Summary of international contribution: 2014–2018[3]

The Libyan Mine Action Center (LibMAC) and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) collected information on casualties. However, due to the ongoing conflict the national casualty surveillance system was not fully functional.[2] It is therefore likely that casualties went unreported. Notably, almost all the data collected from the three sources— LibMAC, UNSMIL, and the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)—was unique. Monitor analysis showed little duplication of mine/ERW casualties reported.

The 184 casualties identified in 2017 represents a significant decrease from the 1,610 casualties reported for 2016. However, the ICRC, which provided most of the data for 2016 (1,465), did not provide information on mine/ERW casualties for 2017. It was also a decrease on the 1,004 casualties identified in 2015. Moreover, Handicap International (HI, now Humanity & Inclusion), which provided most of the data for 2015 (935 casualties), was unable to collect data in 2016.[3] The 2015 and 2016 figures are both significant increases on the 10 casualties identified in 2014. Due to the security situation, many operators were forced to leave Libya, therefore mine/ERW casualties in 2014 went largely unrecorded. In addition, some casualty data was lost. Limited data was available in 2014 and was known to be incomplete.[4] It is likely that many more casualties occurred. The previous highest annual total was recorded in 2011 when 222 mine/ERW casualties were identified.

*The total number of casualties over time in Libya is not known as many estimates predate the 2011 conflict. The Libyan Demining Association (LDA) and the Libyan Civil Defense Department had registered 1,852 mine casualties by the end of 2006.[5] Previous estimates were approximately 12,000, with the Libyan police reporting 11,845 casualties between 1940 and 1995 (6,749 killed; 5,096 injured) and the Libyan Jihad Center for Historical Studies reporting 12,258 (3,874 killed; 8,384 injured) between 1952 and 1975.[6]

Cluster munition casualties

The total number of cluster munition casualties in Libya is not known. There were no cluster munition casualties reported for 2017. Three casualties from unexploded cluster submunitions were reported in 2016. No casualties from unexploded submunitions or cluster munition attacks were reported in 2015, and one casualty from a submunition was identified in 2014. There were unconfirmed reports of unexploded submunition casualties in 2011.

It is possible that some unexploded submunition casualties were reported as mine/ERW casualties, due to a lack of disaggregated data or because it was not possible to distinguish the specific types of explosive remnants that caused those casualties.

There was no available information on cluster munition casualties during cluster munition attacks in Libya.

Survivor assistance action points

• Develop a strategy and action planning to respond to the needs of survivors and other persons with similar needs.
• Increase financial resources for healthcare and physical rehabilitation as well as human resources in the health sector.
• Establish psychosocial service delivery for mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors.

Survivor assistance planning and coordination

Laws and policies

The 2011 Constitutional Declaration addresses the rights of persons with disabilities and requires the state to provide monetary and other types of social assistance but does not explicitly prohibit discrimination. In 2018, the government did not effectively enforce these provisions.[6] In Libya, persons with disabilities face “multiple barriers and discrimination.”[7] Article 1 of Law 4 of 2013, related to persons with disabilities “from the liberation battle,” created a new category of persons with disability for those who sustained permanent impairments while fighting in the 2011 uprising and against the previous regime and also for those persons who sustained injuries as civilians from attacks by that regime. This new category received more benefits as compared to other persons with disabilities. The NGO Lawyers for Justice in Libya noted that the disparity “highlights inequality in the treatment of people with disabilities as well as discriminating between them on the basis of political association.”[8]

The draft constitution of July 2017 includes a specific article (Article 60) on the rights of persons with disabilities. The article commits Libya to guaranteeing the health, social, educational, economic, political, sports, and entertainment rights of persons with disability on an equal basis with others and to make facilities accessible.[9] On 24 September 2018, the House of Representatives passed the constitution referendum law.[10]

Libya ratified the CRPD on 13 February 2018.

Major Developments

In 2018, violent clashes continued to take place and fighting escalated in the cities of Derna, Sabha, and Tripoli, which led to hundreds of people being injured or killed.[11] The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that there was “a concerning lack of provision of specialized assistance to survivors of explosive hazards.”[12] Attacks on healthcare facilities and medical personnel continued across the country.[13] During 2018, health services and health infrastructure steadily deteriorated.[14]

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is working on a new District Health Information System, to disaggregate data at a district level from health facilities.[15]

In 2017–2018, there was an increase in psychosocial services provided by international and local NGOs. However, local capacities were not sufficient to meet the needs, and the shortage of medication to address severe mental health issues remained a significant constraint to the adequacy of services.[16]

HI established victim assistance activities in Benghazi in early 2019 and continued to intervene in Tripoli and Misrata throughout 2019.[17]

Needs assessment

In 2019, no needs assessment survey of survivors was conducted.[18]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Public healthcare services in Libya have been heavily impacted by the ongoing crisis, and the public health system remains dysfunctional. There were shortages of resources, qualified staff, equipment, and supplies.[19] Access to healthcare was not commensurate with the needs.[20] There was a lack of first-aid providers, as well as a lack of referral and coordination between ambulance services and medical centers. Libya also reported the absence of specific inter-sectoral and inter-regional referral system.[21] The already fragile health system came under increasing pressure, with hospitals struggling to absorb the number of patients and to cope with the shortage of staff, essential medicines, and supplies. All persons with disabilities had insufficient access to essential services, regardless of the cause of the impairment.[22] Healthcare services available for persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, were grossly insufficient to match their critical needs.[23] A number of injured Libyans, including soldiers, were sent abroad for medical treatment by the government; although, the number of patients treated abroad and supported financially by the government decreased significantly in 2018.[24]

In 2018, the ICRC continued to provide medical supplies to hospitals and other medical facilities as well as trained first-aiders and doctors in emergency care.[25] Eighteen hospitals received regular supplies from the ICRC, while another 21 received supplies on an ad hoc basis.[26] The ICRC and the National Society were not able to deploy mobile health units in 2018.[27]

The physical rehabilitation sector lacked raw material for prosthetics, qualified staff in rehabilitation centers, qualitative prosthetics and orthotics, qualitative mobility devices, and inpatient/outpatient capacity.[28] Persons with disabilities, who needed assistive devices and wheelchairs, were generally required to purchase them with private funds. Alternatively, individuals had to approach local charity organizations for support or become registered with the Social Solidarity Fund (SSF) under the Ministry of Social Affairs to be eligible for a device. However, eligibility criteria of the SSF remained unclear, and not all persons with the same impairments would qualify.[29] In 2018, Humanity & Inclusion (HI) donated assistive devices directly to persons with disabilities and injuries and to the SSF for their own distribution, as their stocks have been limited for a number of years.[30] The health system lacked capacity in physiotherapy, prosthetics, and orthotics. Mobility aids were of low quality, and many centers lacked the equipment and materials necessary to provide services. As of August 2017, the Swani rehabilitation center, located some 30 minutes from Tripoli, was no longer functioning. In 2018, another rehabilitation center closed in Misrata city.[31]

HI provided physical therapy services to persons with disabilities and patients with conflict-related injuries, including from landmines and ERW, in Tripoli and Misrata.[32] In 2018, HI was supporting five rehabilitation centers in Tripoli and four in Misrata, providing materials for prosthetics and orthotics (in Tripoli only), rehabilitation equipment, mobility aid devices, and technical training for staff.[33]

In 2018, the ICRC supported physical rehabilitation in three centers in Janzour, Misrata, and Benghazi.[34] It covered transportation cost for six persons with disabilities from Sabha to access these centers. The ICRC was unable to cover transportation costs for additional patients due to logistical constraints.[35] Fifty-three personnel received technical support from the ICRC to develop their capacity to provide rehabilitative care, and students from Benghazi, Misrata, and Tripoli received an ICRC scholarship to study prosthetics and orthotics.[36] In 2018, the ICRC-supported centers delivered 38 prostheses to mine/ERW survivors.[37]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

The psychological and psychosocial sector is a neglected sector in Libya. Psychosocial service providers were scarce.[38] There was no official budget for mental healthcare. Health professionals identified psychosocial support training as a priority for capacity building. Strong stigma toward psychosocial disabilities and their treatment prevented some war-injured persons from accessing psychosocial support and mental healthcare.[39] Mental health services were available in only eight districts across Libya.[40] With its NGO partner PSS Team, HI continued to provide home-based psychosocial support to persons with disabilities, people with injuries and caregivers, and referral to specialized mental health and psychosocial support services.[41]

Cross-cutting

HI trained Community Focal Points to identify internally displaced persons with disabilities or persons in need of psychosocial support.[42]

While there was a good safety net for vulnerable people in Libya, including persons with disabilities and mine/ERW survivors, it did not apply to foreigners, including migrants.[43]

Survivor assistance providers and activities