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Libya

The file of the Libyan dialogue is still what occupies the political arena in Libya in light of its hampering after the end of the first rounds in Tunisia and the online meetings which were organized by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya. And so far the (75) committee has not reached a clear vision about the mechanism for choosing the executive authority and highlighting the conflicts that It was present two years ago in Libya among the members of the dialogue committee, which made the scene more complicated.

As usual, the “conflict of interests” between the Libyan rivals is a stumbling block to the success of the negotiations. This is confirmed by Stephanie Williams’ recent statement in which she indicated the number of foreign fighters in Libya:

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foreign fighters in Libya

Actually, the observers concerning the Libyan issue are not optimistic about the current political moves to solve the crisis of the country mired in chaos since 2011 due to reasons including the role of the United Nations, which has been managing the file for years, and the intervention of the international powers, which continue to send equipment and fighters to the Libya.

Although the path of dialogue continued based on the reference of the Berlin conference, which was adopted by the Security Council in accordance with Resolution No.2510, the Tunisian rounds ended in a limited achievement by announcing a date for the upcoming elections without practical measures to achieve them.

The unified vision of the governance framework and arrangements, which paves the way for holding national elections within a short period of time to restore Libya’s sovereignty and the democratic legitimacy of the Libyan institutions, remains unachievable on the ground in light of the lack of trust among all the powers which are participating in the dialogue.

The dialogue in Tunisia was launched on the basis that the negotiators abandon private and narrow interests, but the results of the meetings proved the opposite. In the meantime, the Libyan parties received calls from the intervened countries’ capitals in the Libyan issue. Despite attempts to unlink the relationship between Cairo and the Emirates which still supports the military option, besides an unannounced visit by representatives of the Government of National Accord (GNA) to Egypt, the path did not take positive directions.

It is mentioned that several names sought to disrupt the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in Gammarth, and others sought to buy the votes of the delegates to the conference. This matter confirms that the negotiations took place in an atmosphere of undisclosed tension with an prevailed of mistrust among all.

On this basis, some readings become fully reasonable: “The UN vision which seeks to end the Libyan crisis, with the elections of the 24th of December of 2021 … It wouldn’t be applicable, especially that the dialogue faces a difficult struggle to reach an agreement concerning the figures of the Presidential Council and the Prime Minister. Although it is an initial step in a broad and comprehensive agreement that must be guaranteed to be maintained and obliging the losers to not revolt in order not to fail the restructuring of the political system of the state as the failure that took place after Skhirat. As what is published in the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar.

In the same context,the Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Stephanie Williams said that the international community and the Security Council which is affiliated with the UN should support Libyans through adopting a joint method in order to achieve stability in Libya. But stability remains far due to the strategic stakes for each party.

Williams added, during an online symposium about ( a sea for all: A joint security method in the Midetranean region), during the Italian Forum for the Midetranean Dialogues, that “the situation is still fragile in Libya, despite the achieved great progress in the recent months during the joint military talks and the ability to put a road map which leads the country to elections. Williams seems optimistic concerning making a change in Libya, indicating that the Libyans themselves “sat together in the same room with the same ambition”. She concluded that there is a lot of work that should be done, however the International Security Council, and the International and Regional active parties should support the will of Libyans.

The Libyans dialogue remains stalled despite the loopholes that are opened by the UN, as the field is moving under a military apprehension from the moves of each party. As the dialogue in Tunisia was with tension that affected it. The Libyan dialogue continues by prainsing the efforts of Tunisia, same as every dialogue that praises what’s previous, however this time, it chose the return to Ghadames.

At the end of the dialogue round in Tangiers, in northern Morocco, the Libyan House of Representatives and the Supreme Council of State announced the formation of a mini-working group from the two dialogue teams to discuss unifying the sovereign institutions in a matter of days. Representatives of the two parties held a two-day round of dialogue in the format (13 + 13) in Tangiers, Morocco.

A final statement which was issued at the end of this round stated that during this round of dialogue between the two councils of the State and the House of Representatives, a discussion was made on how to implement the consensus which were reached by the two chambers during the last period regarding the implementation of Article No.15 of the Political Agreement, in a way that could unify the sovereign institutions. And the statement, which was read Aisha Shalabi who is a member of the Libyan House of Representatives, said that a small working group has been formed from the two dialogue teams, which would start its work within days for this purpose. She added that during the meeting, the suggestions that were referred by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya regarding mechanisms for assuming senior positions in the executive authority during the preliminary stage were discussed.

The two parties expressed their support for the efforts of the United Nations Mission to end the conflict and division in Libya, in order to allow the implementation of the constitutional entitlements and the holding of general elections to end the transitional phase, enter the permanent phase and achieve stability under the state of justice and law. They called for the need to intensify direct meetings and adopt them as an effective and transparent way to address the issues that impede the unification of state institutions, ending the division, and stopping foreign intervention. They stressed the need to “launch national reconciliation, transitional justice, and the return of the displaced persons inside and outside the country in dignity and safety, with the right of all those persons who are affected to obtain reparation and prosecution in accordance with the law”. And the statement added that this round of dialogue between the State  Council and the House of Representative falls within the framework of implementing the Libyan political agreement to overcome the state of political division and its impacts. It also seeks enhancing the success of the political dialogues that are under the auspices of the UN Support Mission in Libya.

The holding of this new round comes after two previous rounds in the Moroccan city of Bouznika near Rabat during September and October, in which “comprehensive understandings were reached about the controls, mechanisms and criteria for assuming leadership positions for sovereign institutions stipulated in Article No.15 of the Libyan Political Agreement which was signed in December 2015 in Skhirat”. Last week, the Moroccan city of Tangier hosted the consultative meeting of the Libyan House of Representatives, which ended with the issuance of a statement stipulating holding a session of the House of Representatives  immediately after returning to Libya, to end the state of division in the House of Representatives and other institutions, holding presidential and parliamentary elections in accordance with a constitutional framework and ending the transitional phase in a date that doesn’t exceed one year from the date of the meeting  of the House of Representatives. Once again, the stake remains the transition with an agreement on the ground and the preparation for the unity of the Libyan institutions and people.

The Libyan file: Between the changes inside and outside

In a related context, the changes of the international arena due to the loss of Trump in the USA Presidential elections, seem that they would lead to changes in the policies of the USA towards the Libyan file.  Igor Subbotin wrote in “Nezavisimaya Gazeta ”, about the possibility of the collapse of the camp of Field Marshal Haftar’s opponents due to  Biden’s rise to power and concerning his situation with Erdogan. And the article included: The lobbyists of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA)  are launching a comprehensive campaign to influence the new US presidential administration. The US-Libyan coalition legal group is preparing a report, to Joe Biden and his team, about the activities of the Libyan National Army Commander, Khalifa Haftar, which aims to convince the White House that this military commander is no longer part of Libya’s future.

William Lawrence, a former State Department official who advises Libyan politicians, told reporters: In Tripoli, they hope that Biden, who during his tenure as vice president, opposed the NATO military intervention against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, would be more interested in the Libyan conflict than it has recently.

According to Lawrence, the Tripoli lobbying groups do not want to waste time, in their efforts to raise the priority of the Libyan issue on Biden’s agenda and to pave the way for working with the new US presidential administration. The former diplomat said: “They really need to do this during the transition of power. This is the reason why all the attempts of the intense pressure have started now. In an interview with “Nezavisimaya Gazeta”, a researcher at the Clingendael Institute for International Relations, Jalil Harchawi, said that the new American leader could be tougher against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who provides military assistance to the Government of National Accord (GNA). And this situation would undoubtedly affect the situation in Libya. He added: “This would, indirectly, increase the pressure on the Tripoli camp. While many observers believe that the Biden’s administration would be tougher against the United Arab Emirates (one of Haftar’s main sponsors), these expectations may not be fulfilled”.

الحوار خارج ليبيا والإختطافات داخلها

On the human rights level, unidentified gunmen in Tripoli abducted Al-Siddiq bin Dallah who is the head of the orthopedic department at Al-Khadra Hospital, , while he was heading to his home on Tuesday, the 1st of December of 2020. One of Bin Dallah’s friends said in a call to “Al-Wasat Gate”, quoting eyewitnesses that two cars with dark windows forced Dr. Bin Dallah to stop on the June 11 road in the capital, Tripoli, armed men with masks got out and took him with them, to an unknown destination, and left his car on the side of the road, without turning off its engine. Dr. Al-Siddiq Bin Dallah is among the famous orthopedic surgeons in Libya, and in July 2010, the Queen of the Netherlands, Beatrix honored him by awarding him a medal in appreciation of his role in saving the Dutch child Robin, the only survivor in the crash of the Afriqiyah Airways plane, near theInternational Airport in Tripoli, on the 12th of May of the same year.

Egypt

Concerning the parliamentary matter, the Senate approved finally its bylaws’ bill and referred it to the President of the Republic, during his plenary session in which the Senate rejected a proposal to delete the word “the Islamic Sharia” from Article No.47 which stipulates that proposals of the representatives for law must conform with the principles of the Egyptian Constitution and the “Islamic Sharia” The Senate also reduced the travel’s conditions of any member abroad by deleting “a prior permission to travel” from the Speaker of the Senate, to only notifying him. The regime continues in this level his guardianship that was declared previously announced as being the custodian of the national, religious and moral values of the Egyptian people. While the Public Prosecution practices its guardianship over the morals to imprison the internet users under the pretext of protecting morals, decency and the Egyptian family, the regime claims adopting the national and religious values, although it violates all of them after proving its control and domination over the recent elections.

On a related context, Counsellor, Lasheen Ibrahim, the Head of the National Elections Authority and Deputy Head of the Court of Cassation, declared on Monday the result of the runoff round for the first phase of the elections of the Parliament, which was held abroad on Saturday, Sunday and Monday the21st, 22nd and 23rd of November, and inside on Monday and Tuesday the 23rd and 24th of November

The Authority announced that the percentage of the participation of the voters in the runoff round reached:

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The number of the registered voters in the database reached 52 million, 239 thousand and 393 voters, of whom 5 million, 51 thousand and 4 voters attended the electoral committees. And the number of valid votes reached 4 million, 728,300 votes, while the number of invalid votes reached 322,704 votes. 

Regarding the governmental work, the executive authority continued its controversial decisions. The Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Dr. Mustafa Madbouly, agreed to extend the period for reconciliation in building violations, until the end of the year.

The counsellor, Nader Saad, the official spokesman of the Cabinet, said that the approval has come as a response to the requests of a number of citizens who flocked to the administrative units designated to receive reconciliation requests in the last days. And it also came in response to the demands of a number of NGOs that are currently undertaking the payment of the value of reconciliation to our people from the more villages In need.  It is noteworthy that the penalties for building violations that the regime was keen to implement have been imposed strongly on a large number of citizens who are not financially able to pay the costs. while the construction sector is known to be one of the most corrupt areas that the regime turns a blind eye to.

The Human Rights Bulletin: A counting with the violations against rights in Egypt, while the activists of civil society are honored internationally

The news about ending temporairly the joint investigations between Egypt and Italy related to the murder of the Italian student, Giulio Regeni, occupied an important area of the news concerning the rights’ situation in Egypt. Those investigations, which lasted for more than four years, into an incident that shook European and Egyptian public opinion. “Regeni” was a postgraduate student in Cambridge university and had conducted a PhD research in Cairo, before he disappeared for nine days, in January 2016, and his corpse is later found.

At this level, the Egyptian Public Prosecution and the Republic Prosecution In Rome have issued a statement concerning the latest development. Firstly: The “Prosecution of the Republic in Rome” announces its intention to end the investigations into the incident with the suspicion of 5 individuals belonging to security services by their individual actions, without any connection to any Egyptian governmental bodies or institutions, and presenting this suspicion in accordance with Italian judicial procedures to the preliminary investigation judge in Rome for evaluating and taking a judicial action in his regard. .

And the “Egyptian Public Prosecution”, despite its briefing and appreciation of the Italian legal procedures, nevertheless completely reserves this suspicion and does not support it; Considering that it is based on lack of firm evidence, and confirms its understanding of the independent decisions that will be taken by the “Prosecution of the Republic in Rome”.

second: The Egyptian Public Prosecution said it has solid evidence supported by some eyewitness accounts that gang members had “coercively stolen” Regeni’s belongings, which were found in the apartment of one of the gang members.


The investigation proved that the gang members had committed similar crimes against foreigners including an Italian citizen other than Regeni. The gang committed their crimes using forged documents that falsely identified them as belonging to an Egyptian security agency, and the Egyptian Public Prosecution Office will act in this manner.


 

Third:  “The Egyptian public prosecution affirms that the perpetrator of the murder of the Italian student is still unknown, and accordingly it will temporarily close its investigation, while instructing investigative authorities the police to continue taking all necessary measures to reach the perpetrator of the crime, and the Intalian Public Prosecution understandts the decision of the Egyptian Public Prosecution”. 

The most important rulings: Within them the re-imprisonment, enforced disappearance and the absence of fair trial conditions

The Prosecution accused Hamza of Inciting a terrorist crime which is the use of force, violence and threat after posting a tweet through Twitter on the 16th of July of 2017 in which he said that: “ to the people of Al Warrak: Protect your rights and do not submit to anyone who sells the land. We defended Al-Qursaya Island in 2009 against the attack of the occupation. Union is power “

Hamza’s tweet came after clashes occurred between the police and the people of Al-WarraK, during the implementation of a number of demolition orders for homes on the island.

Meanwhile, Ali said that referring the case to the Emergency State Security Court deprived his client of his opportunity to have a trial before his natural judge, including the possibility of appealing the ruling before the “cassation”. The matter became complicated now after the issuance of the ruling, as we would make a complaint to the military governor that would be accepted or rejected.

After the great pressure on hospitals decreased, which faced a major crisis in receiving the number of infected persons whose symptoms were complicated, it is required to isolate them or provide various medical services to them during the peak. However, it is noticeable that in the period of declining the infection, the death rate continued – according to official data – to rise. This could be explained by the strategy of the Ministry to decrease the tests of PCR to discover the infection. According to doctors and observers, the restrictions which were imposed by the Ministry on official examinations, and the exclusion of any tests that take place outside its laboratories, resulted in the absence of many infections from the official count, and the death rate greatly inflated.

Overall , the official Corona death rate in Egypt is 5.79%, which is an increase that exceeds twice the global rate (2.36%). From the start of the epidemic to its peak at the end of June, the death rate has reached 4.32%. Despite the decrease in daily infections, the death rate increased to 8% from the first of July until now, compared to a global rate of 1.82% for the same period.

Then these rates started to decrease with the decline of the rates of the infection’s spread in Summer. Since the first of August till now, the death rate increased to exceed 9% compared to a global rate of 1.73% for the same period, which makes the death rate in Egypt one of the greatest rates in the world. (These numbers are based on the data from the Department of Health and John Hopkins University, you could view the full database here.)

There is no reason to believe that the increase in the death rate to this extent is due to medical reasons In addition to reducing pressure on hospitals during the summer to allow better medical service, the government has allowed, since last May, private sector hospitals to provide medical service to Corona patients, which is supposed to have contributed to relieving pressure. Besides, the death rates decreased around the world for different reasons. 

According to the Egyptian Medical Syndicate page, the number of victims among doctors in combating Coronavirus has reached 215 martyrs. 

Tunisia

The Parliamentary work: The institution, speech and practice?

After the tension that took place in the Assembly last week due to the budget of 2020, the representatives of the Assembly of the People started this week discussing the budget of 2021which is presented by the Cabinet. But this tension is accompanied by another level of conflict that is reflected by the plenary sessions in a parliamentary institution which is considered the poorest in terms of the provided capabilities for the representatives to perform their work. Between the crisis of the management of the parliamentary work and the crisis of the speech and communication, the parliamentary action moves on the impact of the frequent trade accusations.

The representative, Abeer Mousa held the presidency of the Assembly the responsibility for her physical safety, accusing the representatives of the Dignity Coalition of inciting against her through an inflammatory speech inside the Assembly after a verbal clash during the plenary session on Tuesday, the 1st of December of 2020. The incitement speech is considered presenting in the past period and is criticized as the representative, Khalid Al Koraishy criticized, in the same session, the spread of the inflammatory, tough and expiatory religious speech in the institutions of the state. In addition to the spread of the expiatory speeches in some mosques that don’t comply with the rules and laws of the state, especially during the war of Tunisia against terrorism. The representative, Osama Al Khalify criticized “ the loose and irresponsible” speeches that incite against the state and call  for civil wars, calling on the Ministry of Interior to deal wisely with the protests of the demands of the public.

In the meantime, the Tunisian civil society has come to evaluate the work of the parliamentary institution. In a report presented by the Bowsla organization on the 30th of November of 2020 during an online press conference, “it described the parliamentary outcome as meager due to the lack of work on the priority projects, especially since the current parliament inherited from its predecessor 70 draft laws in addition to 71 new draft laws. Nessrine Jalaliah who is the executive director of Al Bawsla that the governance of the Assembly is weak, calling on the representatives to activate the administrative and financial independence of the Assembly and fill the vacancy in 35 seats in the committees and publish the reports of the committees. Al Bawsla recommended also in its report to improve the climate of work in the Assembly of the Representatives, and reject violence and hatred, calling for the necessity to complete the democratic institutions which are the bodies and the Constitutional Court in particular”.

A month of strikes and a general paralyzation in the entire country.

Tunisia lives in complete paralyzation in all sectors, pointing the fingers of blame at different structures. After a negotiation session of the General University of Electricity and Gas, the entire activities of the units of the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company resumed throughout the country while preserving the general strike which is scheduled for the 9th and 10th of December of 2020 and not canceled unless it is signed a final agreement on some of the demands related to promotions and advancements in the retirement age, at the reconciliation session which is scheduled for Wednesday the 2nd of  December of 2020.

In the judicial sector, judges are still on strike in light of the pandemic of Covid-19 and the overcrowding of prisons, rejecting “the disastrous working conditions in courts. In addition to the deteriorating material conditions of judges and the disruption of the judicial reform file, demanding to find final and serious solutions to legitimate demands to preserve the lives and dignity of judges, save the justice facility from the collapse and  reform the judicial system”. 

The employees of the educational sector also demand their right to revise the statute, integrate the common groups, activate the monthly grant with the exceptional promotion and give the contractors an activation of the minutes of the agreement that was issued on the 18th of May of 2018.

Meanwhile, the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT),  announced a general strike on the 10th of December of 2020  in the press and media sector, coincident with the  International Human Rights Day, protesting against the “procrastination that is practiced by the government, which became more evident as the government did not publish the agreement of the joint framework for journalists despite the Administrative Court’s decision to urgently publish this agreement, and more than a week has passed since the issuance of this ruling “. The journalists’ day of rage started with organizing a protest stand in the Kasbah Square and in various regions in the morning. Slogans, which call for the right of journalists and the fulfillment of the demands they are calling for are raised, such as “a fourth authority, is not a kneeling authority”, “Employment of the graduates from the Press Institute” ,“Freedom of the press is a right, not an advantage, and ” A fix for the public media; a solution for seized media file”.

Also, the employees of the Ministry of Justice entered a strike at the invitation of the Public University for the employees of the Ministry of Justice, State Property and Real Estate under the banner of the Tunisian General Labor Union, in which the university specified in its arrangements to refrain from providing administrative services and judicial work except for accepting requests for appeal and comment. The sit-in took place because the path of negotiating with the Ministry of Justice reached  a deadlock after five work sessions in which the ministry did not show any seriousness or any response. The demands of the employees of the Ministry of Justice could be summarized in the exceptional promotion, opening the door for inclusion and promotion in the grant of procedures and the generalization of the continuation grant. In addition to the creation of a grant concerns the burdens of implementation and also the structural reform of the Ministry of Justice by reviewing the orders related to the contents and organization of the Ministry of Justice towards the creation of a general secretary for the Ministry and the creation of a central administration concerned with the affairs of court’s writings and the Office for the Coordination of Supervision of Regional Administrations. The open sit-in continues with its arrangements that are announced by the Public University since the 24th of November . On the social level, on the 1st of December of 2020, a number of the residents of Tozeur carried out a protest in front of the state headquarters, demanding security protection for the distributing trucks for domestic gas bottles.

 The governorate of Gafsa may live on the impact of a general strike which is called by the civil society, the coordination of the unemployed persons, and the local labor union in the Sened region. Although the Regional Labor Union in Gafsa did not support this move, the people are still heading towards adopting the strike to demand the development and employment.

The strike is a right, the security is a necessity .. Which policy in light of the capability of the Army’s intervention?

Regarding all these continuous protests, the Minister of National Defense Ibrahim Al-Bartaji mentioned on the 30th of November of 2020 during the plenary session to discuss the ministry’s budget, that the army forces only intervene to protect facilities if the situation goes out of control of the security forces, as they are not responsible for maintaining public order in preparation for terrorist threats .

The strike: The reformation demand is facing the domination of  the exploitation of influence in the name of the profession

While judges are calling for developing the judicial facility, some of them exploit their influence by punishing the marginalized groups, as on Friday, the 27th of November of 2020, a judge had attacked a worker in a cafe verbally and this matter reached to arrest her pending investigation by the Justice Police Force in Tunis that are assigned to follow her with an official file by the Public Prosecution in a few hours.

With regard to the latest developments in the spread of the virus in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya :
Last Update : 03/12/2020 - 15:00
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This post is also available in: Arabic

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