Human Rights solidarity intendent participation in the dialog on the third item on the regular session No. (43) of the Human Rights Council
Global Institute for Water, Environment and Health – Geneva (GIWEH) & Human Rights Solidarity (HRS)
Mr. Vice President, we at the Global Institute for Water, Environment and Health – Geneva and Human Rights Solidarity express our concern about the growing influence of an extremist religious group[1], the Madakhila, in eastern Libya, with support and employment by the unrecognized government, the “interim government”.
In February 2017, the “military ruler” in Eastern Libya, under the influence of this extremist religious group issued a decree[2] banning Libyan women from traveling without a mahram, a male relative. This decision is a violation of the right of Libyan women and a discrimination against them.
In July 2017, the Supreme Fatwa Committee, controlled by the Madakhila, the religious authority of the interim government in Eastern Libya, issued a religious fatwa (edict)[3], in which it described the followers of the ‘Ibadi Madhhab, a School of Islamic Jurisprudence as a “misguided and deviant sect … and they have infidel dogmas … and no dignity [for them] ] “.
This fatwa targeted a specific constituent of Libyan society, the Amazigh[4], and is considered an incitement to hatred and a religious and ethnic discrimination, and an attack on freedom of belief.
On numerous occasions, this Supreme Fatwa Committee has issued fatwas inciting war and violence and describing opponents of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar as Kharijites[5] and violating their lives and possessions.
Madam President, we call on your esteemed Council to issue a resolution requesting the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief to prepare a report on the violations committed by this Madkhali group in Libya and across the region.
Thank you
[1] “Madakhila” (المداخلة) is an extreme group of Salafis, named so because they are followers of a Saudi clerk, Sheikh Rabia al-Madkhali” (الشيخ ربيع المدخلي) based in Jeddah. They formed “al-Tawheed” (كتيبة التوحيد) battalion, and other battalions, which are fighting alongside Haftar. Reports & recordings of al-Madkhali himself supporting Haftar.
[2] Human Rights Watch: “Libya: Discriminatory Restriction on Women, Order in Eastern Region Requires Male Guardian for Travel”, 23rd February 2017.
[3] Human Rights Watch: “Libya: Incitement Against Religious Minority”, 20th July 2017.
[4] Followers of the `Ibadi Madhhab number between 300,000 and 400,000 in Libya and are members of the Amazigh community. The Amazigh are mainly in the Nafussa Mountains, Tripoli, and the western coastal town of Zuwara, and constitute 5 to 10 percent of the Libyan population.
[5] Kharijites is used to describe Muslims who rebelled against the 4th Caliphate in the early ages of Islam
