Libya | IHL in Action

New | Libya, Canada’s Operation Mobile and the Principles of Proportionality and Precautions in Attack

In March 2011, during Canada's Operation Mobile in Libya, two Canadian fighter jets aborted an airstrike that they had been authorized to carry out: they did so because of their assessment that the collateral damage would be too high. Their actions, which demonstrated respect for the principles of proportionality and precautions in attack, may have been influenced by military ethics and also by military interests, particularly the wish to preserve political support for Operation Mobile.

New | Libya/Türkiye, Evacuation and Treatment of the Wounded

In 2011, during NATO-led Operation Unified Protector, Türkiye evacuated and treated seriously wounded from the besieged Libyan towns of Misurata and Benghazi. The wounded were cared for onboard a Turkish ship and, upon arrival at the Turkish port of Çeşme, were transported to medical centers for further care.

Libya, IHL Dissemination amongst Non-State Armed Groups

During the 2011 armed conflict in Libya, the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) launched a frontline manual on the fundamental rules of armed conflict and distributed it in various forms, including sending extracts as text messages on mobile phones and broadcasting non-stop radio and TV messages.

Libya, Removing Mines and Securing Explosive Remnants of War

In 2011, the Libyan Ministry of Defence mandated the Libyan Mine Action Centre (LMAC) to manage demining. In 2013 the first ammunition shelter was built in Misrata, under the Libyan and UN supervision, thanks to the funding of the Swiss government, coupled with further actions.

An image from the ICRC video, "Libya: thousands search for missing relatives".

Libya, a Step Forward on the Identification of Dead Bodies and Missing Persons

According to the Ministry for the Families of Martyrs and the Missing (MFMM), about 10,000 persons were reported missing in Libya by 2017. In 2012, the Libyan government signed an agreement with the ICMP (the International Commission for the Missing Persons) and realized a series of measures to facilitate search for and collection of dead bodies.

Libya, Humanitarian Assistance Delivered in South Libya

An agreement facilitated by the humanitarian organisation “Community of Sant’Egidio” and concluded in Rome on 18 June 2016 by leaders of different ethnic and political groups from the southern part of the country led to the distribution of medicines and other humanitarian aid in the Fezzan area, South Libya.

Libya, ICRC Visits to Detainees

In Libya, after social unrest escalated into armed conflict in 2011, the detaining authorities permitted the ICRC to visit different detaining facilities and detainees of their choice.

Archaeological Site of Leptis Magna, Libya

Libya, Protection of Cultural Heritage

During Operation Unified Protector in 2011, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in cooperation with the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield and the International Military Cultural Resources Work Group, distributed a list of cultural sites in Libya that were not to be targeted by the armed forces: all the military forces involved followed this recommendation during the conduct of hostilities. Their behaviour seems to have been influenced by the multidisciplinary expert support they were given during military activities and by the involvement of other states and of actors such as UNESCO and various non-governmental organizations.