World leaders have this week slowly pushed for taking urgent actions against the Libyan regime, which has already killed untold numbers of protesters and made promises for further violence. However, as officials and experts admit, any measures could be challenging and not bring immediate effect.
International words of condemnation of the situation increased after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi addressed the nation on Tuesday asserting that he would not step down and called upon his supporters to attack demonstrators.
Many rights groups have criticized the slow and mild international response to the growing humanitarian crisis. In response to a European Union resolution, the Geneva-based United Nations Watch criticized it for “studiously” avoiding naming the Libyan government or Gadhafi as the perpetrators of the atrocities.
The focus of criticism has also somewhat switched to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to help protect civilians because of his close longstanding relationship with Gadhafi.
Human Rights Watch blames the Italian government for being “unconscionably slow” to condemn the violence in Libya, regardless of the government’s concerns over the possible arrival of Libyan refugees, the rights group said in a statement.
On Thursday, the European Union said that possible sanctions could include freezing assets of Libyan top officials abroad, arms embargoes, travel bans, as well as imposing a no-fly zone.
President Barack Obama has also asked his administration to prepare “the full range of options,” yet has not specified them.
The International Crisis Group also suggested offering safe haven for Libyan aircraft pilots and other military personnel who refused orders to attack civilians.
“His [Gadhafi’s] murderous police state created bitter resentment and fierce opposition, while his erratic regime wasted billions of dollars on white elephant projects and massive oil revenues monopolized by a corrupt elite,” wrote James Phillips, from Washington-based Heritage Foundation in an analysis.
Successful overthrows of longstanding leaders in Tunisia and Egypt inspired Libyans to take to the streets last week demanding that Gadhafi give up his 42-year dictatorship.
The death toll of the protesters in Libya could be as high as 1,000, according to Italian officials’ assumptions, while other human rights groups like International Federation of Human Rights put the number at 300 or 400. However, with fighting occurring in many parts of the country now, the exact figure is impossible to determine.
Building an international consensus over how to deal with Libya is essential, say some analysts.
“Consensus is important, particularly for the U.S., which appears to have assumed a low profile multilateral approach,” said Audra Grant, a political scientist with the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit institution helping improve policy and decision-making.
“The U.S. is mindful of how its actions bear not just on its relations with Libya, but also other countries in the region and the message this sends,” she added.
Besides uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, Libya has presented a critical test for Western countries that have long condoned authoritarian regimes in the Arab world, either due to oil interests or the goal of maintaining calm in the Middle East.
However, Grant points out that any sanctions are always risky, because “those most likely to feel the impact first will be Libyan civilians,” not the regime.
Governments the world over are currently focused on the difficult task of evacuating their own citizens, which may also be slowing the process of taking action to protect Libyans.
Further actions on the Libyan crisis will be addressed at U.N. Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva on Friday.
Refugees
According to Human Rights Watch, Italian officials predicted that more than 300,000 migrants and asylum seekers from Libya might flow over to Italy and other EU countries soon.
Italy is already dealing with more than 5,000 migrants from Tunisia who have recently landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Meanwhile, Tunisia and Egypt, in solidarity of those who are following their example of revolt, have opened their borders to people fleeing Libya of various nationalities, according to the U.N.’s refugee agency (UNHCR).
UNHCR says it expects about 10,000 people to cross into Tunisia from Libya over the coming weekend.
