World Book and Copyright Day
Four-year-old Xima Awada Yakub (left) and her sister, Zamai, reading books in the library at the Cultural Centre in El Fasher, North Darfur. UN Photo/Albert González Farran
Today, April 23 of each year, is the World Book and Copyright Day[i], which was adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), starting in 1995 in appreciation of books and their authors, and spreading the culture of reading and acquisition of books. Through advocacy of books and copyright, UNESCO defends creativity, diversity and equality in the benefits of knowledge[ii].
The book market, events and activities related to book and authorship in Libya since the summer of 2011 witnessed great demand from all ages, since the right of freedom of expression and creativity was one of the main demands of the popular uprising. Immediately, various types of books were available that were not easily accessible or available during the period of the Qaddafi regime, which imposed tight control over publications, and placed numerous restrictions on freedom of expression and creativity[iii]. Before the February 2011 uprising, it was not possible to publish a novel or print a short story, for example, except after it passes censorship, once before printing, and again before publication, under to the provisions of the Publications Law[iv] No. 76 of 1972.
The Transitional National Council (NTC) responded to the demands for freedom of opinion and expression, which is considered one of the fundamental human rights[v], by including this right in the Constitutional Declaration[vi], Libya’s transitional Constitution since August 3, 2011. The Ministry of Culture at that time abolished the Department of Publications, to open the way for printing and publishing books with only a registration number from the National Library. As a result of these human rights gains, the years 2011 and 2012 witnessed a boom in printing and publishing, so many books and novels were printed without restrictions, bookshops imported titles that were prohibited during the Qaddafi regime, and cultural events were organized to celebrate the book, and the number of book clubs and markets for new and used books increased significantly[vii].
However, this momentum did not continue and began to diminish, and numerous obstacles to freedom of expression and creativity emerged on the surface, in some cases were imposed by State institutions, other cases by none-State armed or religious groups. Groups taken advantage of the weakness of the State and its inability to protect its citizens. In March of 2015, the famous el-Ferajani bookshop in Tripoli was raided by heavily armed criminal police and tampered with its contents, confiscated some of its books, and took an employee into custody. He was interrogated twice by followers of a “Salafi” group. The police said they raided the bookshop after receiving a citizen’s complaint against the bookshop for selling a novel by the Turkish writer Nedim Gürsel[viii]. Al-Tejwal Library, a mobile library, condemned, in a press statement, the confiscation of literary novels and books at a military checkpoint near Ajdabiya, 160 Km South of Benghazi. The armed group, affiliated with the so-called “Operation Dignity”, claimed the books were espousing disbelief, atheism, porn and Shiism[ix].
On January 23, 2017, the General Authority for Culture issued a statement[x] condemning and strongly denouncing the confiscation of a truck, in al-Marj (100 Km East of Benghazi), carrying a load of books, claiming that they were books advocating terrorism and sectarianism[xi]. The General Authority for Culture described the incident as a violation of the freedom of opinion and expression. Libyans were angered when a visiting Saudi Sheikh, Osama bin Attaya Al-Otaibi[xii], praised the seizure of the shipment of books[xiii] by al-Marj Security Directorate. A Friday Prayer sermon, circulated by the Islamic Endowment Authority in eastern Libya, on secularism, also received angry reactions from Libyans. The sermon called for the need to “confront the advocates of secularism, confiscate their books, and monitor their personal accounts [on Social Media Networks”, according to a statement by this authority on its official account on Facebook. The title of the sermon[xiv] was: “The role of secularists in corrupting the society through publishing books of falsehood and vice.”
In the same context, a civil society organization, the Tanarout Group for Creativity (TGC) announced[xv] early September 2017 the suspension of its activities for the sake of safety of its members due to the repeated attacks on the headquarters of the group and its members in Benghazi. TGC statement stated: “It became clear to us after the closure of Dar al-Faqih Hassan in Tripoli[xvi], and these attacks on Tanarout, that the culture in our country is going in one direction, and it is not resonating with the society, because the society is responding with violence to culture. It is not a coincidence that we find this war on culture everywhere and simultaneously”. However, TGC resumed its activities after relocating its offices. Further, an armed group in Tripoli, called the “Special Deterrent Force” closed an exhibition of comic stories called “Libya Comic Con” in the capital, because of what it described as a violation of “public decency” in the country[xvii].
The campaign was not limited to books that some of the followers of the Madkhali[xviii] group consider “secular and atheist” books, it also targeted religious and history books written by authors considered by the same group as deviant. A video posted on Facebook, June 2017, showed police officers, in Benghazi, burning more than six thousand books[xix] which were confiscated from the home library of Sheikh Mohamed al-Tayeb, who was an elected member of the first elected Local Council of the city of Benghazi after the February 2011 revolution. Hundreds of books of Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence), Tafseer (interpretation of the Quran) and history were also confiscated from Public libraries in the cities of Benghazi and Derna by forces loyal to “Operation Dignity” of Haftar[xx]. Also, in Ajdabiya, the Security Directorate of the town announced that it confiscated a collection of books intended for sale by a book distributor[xxi]. The list of confiscated books included several names alongside renowned Muslim social scientist and historian Ibn Khaldun, among them two titles written by the Libyan historian al-Taher el-Zawi, “The History of the Arab Conquest in Libya” and “The Struggle of Libyans in Diaspora” were confiscated. The latter book chronicled the Libyan rebel effort in diaspora against Italian colonialism.
These infringements on the freedom to circulate, sell and print books in Libya and attacks on cultural activities and events related to the book and author raise concerns and fears about the future of freedom of expression, opinion and creativity in Libya. Legislations and laws are not sufficient to protect rights, the authorities need to enforce these legislations.
Human Rights Solidarity
Tripoli – Libya
[i] 23 April is a symbolic date for world literature. It is on this date in 1616 that Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors, such as Maurice Druon, Haldor K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.
[ii] United Nations: “World Book and Copyright Day, 23 April”.
[iii] There are many examples of censorship during the 4 decades of the Gaddafi regime. One example is the Libyan poet Mohamed Shaltami, who was a frequent guest in Gaddafi’s prisons, imprisoned more than once for his revolutionary poems calling for the fall of tyrannical and despotic regimes and glorifying people’s revolutions. Novelist Mansour Bushnaf was imprisoned 14 years for writing a play titled “When the Rats Rule”, and his novel “In the Mirage of the Night” was banned in 2008. Hisham Matar’s novel “In the Country of Men” was also banned in Libya. The Libyan novelist Najwa bin Shatwan, was interrogated by the Office of Press Prosecution because of her novel “The Luxury of the Void”. In 2010, the Office of Censorship did not allow the printing of the novel “Sajeenat [Women Prisoners]” by Omar al-Kekli. It was a collection of narratives of life inside prisons. Al-Kekli himself, a writer and translator of literature, was a prisoner of conscious for almost 10 years during the Qaddafi era. Libya Tribune: “Freedom of expression, opinion and creativity in Libya: a legacy shackled by restrictions, an anxious present and an unknown future”, December 1, 2017.
[iv] Article (1) of Law No. (76) of 1972 “On publications”, stipulates “Press and printing are free. Every person has the right to freedom of expression of his opinion, and to broadcast opinions and news by different means in accordance with the constitutional right in accordance to this law and within the framework of society’s principles, values and goals”. So, it assured the freedom of the press and printing, and the right of every person to express his opinion and to publish those opinions, but restricted them by a general and vague expression “within the framework of society’s principles, values and goals”, to unleash the executive authority in its interpretation and use of this restriction as it wishes.
[v] Article (19) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”, and Article (19) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice“.
[vi] Geneva Centre for Security Sector (DCAF) Libyan Security Sector Legislation: “Constitutional Declaration of 2011- Consolidated”. Article (14): “Freedom of opinion for individuals and groups, freedom of scientific research, freedom of communication, liberty of the press, printing, publication and mass media, freedom of movement, freedom of assembly, freedom of demonstration and freedom of peaceful sit-in shall be guaranteed by the State in accordance with the law”.
[vii] Jazeera Net: “The book breathes freedom in Libya“, Mohamed al-Asfar, July 17, 2012
[viii] Al-Wasat: “In photos, “ibn Taymiyyah” saves “el-Ferajani bookshop” in Tripoli from closure”, Nahla Al-Arabi, March 19, 2015.
[ix] Libya al-Mostakbal news website: “A military check-point in Ajdabiya confiscated novels and literary books for a Mobile Library”, April 9, 2017.
[x] The General Authority for Culture: “Statement by the General Authority of Culture regarding the confiscation of books in Al-Marj”, 23 January 2017.
[xi] Among the confiscated books were novels by the famous Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho. He expressed, on his Twitter account, his strong anger at the confiscation of the truckload of books by al-Marj security authority in Libya, while it was on its way from Tobruk to Benghazi.
[xii] Sheikh Osama bin Ataya Al-Otaibi, a follower of Sheikh Rabee al-Madkhali, came to Libya in the winter of 2016/2017 at an invitation by retired Major General Khalifa Haftar. He toured the cities and areas under the control of Haftar’s militia, giving seminars and lectures. Haftar’s relationship with Osama Al-Otaibi dates back to the beginnings of the so-called Operation Dignity. There is a recording of a phone call between Haftar and Al-Otaibi on 28 Ramadan 1435 H, corresponding to 25 July 2014.
[xiii] Al-Wasat: “A Saudi sheikh praises the confiscation of books in a sermon in a mosque in Ajdabiya”, January 27, 2017.
[xiv] Al-Wasat: “Friday sermon by the “Endowment Authority of the Interim [Government]” provokes wide-spread criticism by Libyans on Facebook”, January 28, 2017. The Islamic Endowment Authority in East Libya is controlled by followers of the Saudi Sheikh Rabia al-Madkhali, and it reports to the self-proclaimed “Interim Government”, not recognized by the United Nations.
[xv] Al-Wasat: ““Tanarout Group” suspends its activities after coming under attack in Benghazi”, September 7, 2017.
[xvi] Al-Araby website: ““Dar Hassan al-Faqih” closed at gunpoint”, Abdullah Al-Sharif, September 4, 2017.
[xvii] BBC Arabic: “Libyan militia closes an exhibition of comics for” insulting public modesty“, November 5, 2017.
[xviii] The Madkhali group dominate the Islamic Endowment Authority, affiliated to the self-proclaimed Interim Government in eastern Libya, and hold sway in the security agencies affiliated with the Government of National Accord in Western Libya.
[xix] Jazeera Net: “Haftar police burn thousands of religious books in Benghazi” June 18, 2017.
[xx] Libya al-Ahrar TV Channel: “Pro-Dignity authorities launch campaign to confiscate books in Derna”, August 17, 2018.
[xxi] Al-Araby website: “Confiscation of Books in Libya: Ibn Khaldun on the List of Takfiris” Abdullah Al-Sharif, June 27, 2018.
