Steps to Achieve Reconciliation: Stalled Initiatives and Pending Recommendations
Over the past years, Libya has witnessed numerous local and international initiatives to achieve reconciliation, the latest being the “Weapons and Reconciliation Charter” signed in Addis Ababa under African auspices. However, these initiatives have often encountered obstacles and challenges that prevented them from achieving their goals.
In 2012, the Truth and Reconciliation Conference in Tripoli concluded with a set of recommendations, including issuing a transitional justice law, forming a fact-finding commission, focusing on victims, and learning from the experiences of other countries. The conference also emphasized the role of civil society in the reconciliation process, the need to create security conditions for fact-finding, settle the status of detainees without charges, and the return of displaced persons and refugees.
However, most of these recommendations were not fully implemented and remained on paper
Reconciliation Meeting with the Government of National Accord: Coordination Efforts Face Significant Challenges
In 2017, the first preparatory meeting for national reconciliation and social peace was held, hosted by the office of the Deputy Minister of Justice of GNU. The meeting concluded with the need to establish a comprehensive strategy for reconciliation and social peace, aimed at coordinating various efforts, governmental and civil, working in this field. It also emphasized the importance of communicating with elders and notables accepted by all parties to the conflicts, linking reconciliation with comprehensive reform, and preventing the recurrence of attacks.
Obstacles to Reconciliation: Multiple Channels and Lack of Financial Support Hinder Progress
The head of the Reconciliation Committee in the General National Congress in 2013, Othman Ekrem, says that National reconciliation in Libya faces numerous obstacles and challenges, including the multiplicity of channels working on this file, which scatters efforts and ideas, the lack of financial support to pay compensation and redress damages, the failure to build trust among Libyans, and the failure to hand over those involved in crimes to justice.
Despite reconciliation remaining a key item in the discourse of the political elite, it has not been transformed into a real project nor has been activated on the ground, remaining limited to initiatives to settle local conflicts.
Project to Build a State of Institutions: A New Vision for Comprehensive Reconciliation
In 2020, a delegation from the south presented a “Building a State of Institutions” project, which included a national reconciliation project aimed at releasing political prisoners, the return of displaced persons and refugees, disarmament, the formation of a transitional government, the establishment of a supreme reconciliation commission, and accelerating the referendum on the constitution.
Presidential Council Forms a Reconciliation Committee: Parallel Efforts and Escalating Challenges
In 2018, the Presidential Council formed a preparatory committee for the national reconciliation conference containing 15 members and headed by Abd Allatif Alshwerif, and in 2022, it announced a strategic vision for reconciliation.
In November 2024, the Speaker of Parliament announced his intention to launch the transitional justice and national reconciliation law, which sparked a dispute with the Presidential Council, which has been sponsoring this file since 2022.
Reconciliation Law: Political Disputes Hinder the Legislative Process
In November 2024, House Speaker Aguila Saleh announced his intention to launch the transitional justice and national reconciliation law, but this move upset the Presidential Council, which has been sponsoring this file since 2022, without achieving positive progress due to the depth of political differences and the division between two executive authorities.
In response, Menfi, in a letter addressed to the office of the Parliament presidency, called for the approval of the national reconciliation law, which he submitted in February 2024, emphasizing the need to approve the law without making any amendments to it.
Al-Siddiq Haftar’s Initiative: A Call for Active Participation in the Reconciliation Project
The head of the National Reconciliation Committee, Al-Siddiq Khalifa Haftar, affirmed in November 2024 the importance of the national reconciliation project, calling on all Libyans to actively participate in this project and cooperate to achieve its noble goals.
Addis Ababa Reconciliation Charter: African Efforts Face Challenges on the Ground
The African Union has not been absent from reconciliation efforts in Libya, the latest being the meeting held in Addis Ababa, which resulted in the signing of a national reconciliation charter by a few parties. However, national reconciliation has not succeeded so far, due to its limitation to dialogue and negotiation between elites, and the neglect of active parties on the ground
