Country: Libya

Group: Tebu

Date: 08/01/2021

Team: Alicia Hernandez (Lead) and  Vianney Mancilla

Content Warning: homicide, physical violence

Approximate Time Period: 1970-present

            We rate the data quality of lethal violence against the Tebu in Libya a 3 because of the quantity and consistency of data.

The Tebu are located in Libya, Chad, Sudan, and Niger. There are 12,000-15,000 Tebu in Libya. Even though the Tebu lived in Libya, they lived in isolated areas where they could not receive civil documents, rendering them stateless. The Tebu have been discriminated against for years (Minority Rights, 2018). Beginning in the 1970s, the Libyan military forced Tebu to register for citizenship. In 2007, this campaign was reinforced by banning the Tebu from accessing state healthcare and education. The Gadaffi administration attempted to silence the Tebu. However, the Tebu began to protest in order to improve their conditions (Minority Rights, 2018). Then in November of 2008, government security forces killed 33 Tebus, destroyed Tebu homes, and evicted, beat, and arrested other Tebu (Minority Rights, 2018). For the next couple of years, the Tebu staged uprisings. In turn, the government evicted, destroyed Tebu homes, arrested and beat the Tebu (State Crime, 2014). In 2014-2015, clashes between the Tuareg militias over trade began a civil war, leaving over 18,500 people displaced and over 100 people dead (Harvey K, 2011). In 2018, the two competing governments continued to brutally fight for control, not allowing the Tebu to renew passports. Tebuwere also prevented from registering children’s birth, leaving them with no birth certificates. During this time the Tebu were left with no job and reported a poor quality of life (Christensen K,2011). The clashes between the Tebu and Arab militias have left over 100 civilians dead (Human Rights Watch,2019). Conditions remain constant as the Minority Rights Group Peoples Under Threat organization lists the Tebu in Libya as one of the communities at risk for 2020 (Minority,2020).

Sources

  1. Minority Rights Group. (July, 2018) Tebu. Retrieved from  https://minorityrights.org/minorities/tebu/ on July 28th,2021.
  2. Murray R. (June 22 2015). Tuareg and Tebu fight proxy battle in southwest Libya Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/6/22/tuareg-and-tebu-fight-proxy-battle-in-southwest-libya  on August 1st,2021.
  3. Christensen K. (February 25th 2011). Libya’s Ethnic Groups. In Ethnic Groups Worldwide. Berskhire Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.berkshirepublishing.com/2011/02/25/libyas-ethnic-groups/#post-1950 on  August 1st,2021
  4. Harvey K (2021). Libya’s near-Genocide. Retrieved from https://www.ijr.org.za/2018/04/25/libyas-near-genocide/ on July 29th, 2021.
  5. State Crime (2014). Tuareg accuse France of promoting Libya’s latest post-NATO war. Retrieved from http://statecrime.org/tuareg-accuse-france-promoting-libyas-latest-post-nato-war on July 30th,2021.
  6. Human Rights Watch(January 17, 2019) Libya: Civilians Under Threat from Militias. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/01/17/libya-civilians-under-threat-militias on August 1st, 2021
  7. Minority Rights Group (2020)Libya. Retrieved from https://peoplesunderthreat.org/countries/libya/  on August 1st, 2021.