It is, in many ways, a terrible time to be a black man in Libya. Too often during these uncertain and unstable days, African skin appears to be the mark of a wanted person — guilty or not.
According to some, so-called ‘Africans’ in Libya have long been falsely blamed for crime, violence and disorder. But Libya’s shift in power has apparently given rise to a far more worrying trend, sometimes violent, which has lead to black people being wrongly accused of supporting the repressive Gadhafi regime. And the consequences of these inaccurate accusations can be brutal, even deadly.
For many years, the former Libyan leader employed the services of soldiers from African countries like Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana to bolster his military — so-called “mercenaries”. A large but unknown number of them fought for him during the bloody revolution. Numerous reports suggested that groups of French-speaking Africans were hired in by the regime to be unleashed on its own people during the most desperate days of the conflict.
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Now, with Gadhafi defeated and his hold over Libya almost disintegrated, there are claims that many rebels and armed civilians, filled with an overwhelming sense of victory and vengeance, have been rounding up any black men they can find and subjecting them to aggressive questioning — with some people being beaten or even killed. There have been claims of abusive behavior by both pro and anti-Gadhafi fighters.
Many of the black men who have been arrested will certainly have been soldiers who came to Libya to fight wars, and are now living the gruesome consequence of being on the losing side. However, many of those being held in Libya’s grim jails were certainly innocent migrant workers who have traveled there from other Africa countries simply to make money, perhaps in Libya’s vast oil industry.
Television pictures broadcast by Britain’s Channel 4 at the weekend showed nine Nigerians rounded up and detained by rebel fighters. They appear to be in fear of being murdered by an armed group. One of the trembling captives mutters “stay here with us”, to the television crew, fearing that the presence of a news team might be their only way of escaping execution. ”
We are innocent”, says one. But although “these are Gadhafi fighters”, according to one of the captors, there appears to be little if any evidence that the arrested men are guilty of any wrong-doing. Eventually they are released — saved, possibly, because television cameras were rollingOne reason behind the high number of black Africans in Libya is the welcoming hand that Gadhafi showed towards people from across the continent. It may not seem like the behavior of a vicious dictator and probably had more to do with personal, political and economic gain, but this was certainly a distinctive characteristic of his time in power. He saw himself as much as an African leader as an Arab leader; “His heart pointed south” according to one Libyan exile.
If hallmarks of the Gadhafi regime are being thrown out in a lurch towards revenge rather than justice, it is feared that black Africans and ‘pan-Africanism’ might now be rejected by some Libyans.
One of the former dictator’s great political ambitions was to create a ‘United States of Africa’. In his blueprint the ‘King of Kings’ would be Gadhafi himself, of course – Libya would sit at the top of the continent in every way.
His pro-African rhetoric won him many friends in African capitals. Even now, with the Colonel in hiding, the company he used to keep tends to define him as an African. For instance, there is speculation that he may now have to call on his African friends in high office for salvation — enduring relationships which are a legacy of his love for the continent.
Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe is still supporting his fellow dictator and is rumored to be willing to offer him exile. Then, there’s Jacob Zuma, the South African president who has the credentials and personal relationship to act as a go-between with any other country that might offer him a new home. Like many of his compatriots, Zuma feels a sense of loyalty towards Gadhafi because of his unflinching support of the anti-apartheid movement during decades of minority white rule. Even Nelson Mandela is a friend and embraced the dictator as his “brother leader”.
Fellow leaders who walked into Gadhafi’s embrace can now chose whether to back him or walk away. Ordinary migrant workers who chose to travel to Libya cannot make such a retreat. Although the interim ‘National Transitional Council’ has urged fighters not to mistreat prisoners, there are fears of serious abuse.
These are confusing, chaotic times for a country which is in a period of post-revolution evolution. With law and order still yet to fully reform, there appears to be little doubt that innocent black migrant workers have been caught up in the aftermath of a war which had nothing to do with them.
