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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH CALLS FOR URGENT REFORMS

The Libyan government has taken important steps to improve human rights in recent months, but freedom of expression and other rights continue to be severely restricted, said Human Rights Watch in a report released last week.

The media is strictly controlled by the government, the report notes. Private radio or television stations are not allowed, and government authorities publish the country's most influential newspapers. Authorities monitor and control all content, and do not allow any unsanctioned criticism of the government.

The only sources of uncensored news are satellite television programmes and the Internet, both of which have increased in popularity in recent years.

The government has imprisoned journalists and others who have expressed critical views, notes Human Rights Watch. Libya's best known dissident, Fathi al-Jahmi, has been detained since March 2004 after critising leader Muamar Qadhafi in interviews with foreign media.

In January 2005, Internal Security Agency forces arrested an Internet writer named `Abd al-Raziq al-Mansuri, apparently due to his critical postings to a website based in the U.K. He has been sentenced to one-and-a-half years in prison.

Last April, Human Rights Watch conducted a fact-finding mission to Libya where it investigated the state of press freedom, prison conditions, methods used in Libya's anti-terrorism campaign, women's rights and the rights of migrants and refugees.

Human Rights Watch's report contains several recommendations for improving free expression conditions, including releasing all individuals imprisoned or detained for speaking out, repealing provisions in the penal code that criminalise free expression, and allowing for the establishment of private media outlets.

Read the full report, entitled "Words to Deeds:
The Urgent Need for Human Rights Reform", here: http://hrw.org/reports/2006/libya0106/
Visit these links:
- IFEX Alerts on Libya: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/1447/
- International Press Institute: http://www.freemedia.at/wpfr/Mena/libya.htm
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/country-43.php3?id_mot=160&Valider=OK
- Freedom House Report: http://tinyurl.com/e2wbw
- Clandestine Radio: http://www.clandestineradio.com/crw/crw.php?id=279
(Photo: Muamar Qadafi)