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Global Ethics Corner: Vigilante Justice: Have Libyans' Demands for Retribution Gone Too Far?

From: Carnegie Council
Series: Global Ethics Corner
Length: 02:06

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Libya's civil war is over, but many victims of the Qaddafi regime are still violently meting out justice to their former oppressors. Will this just lead to a vicious cycle of abuse in the North African state? How can Libya balance the victims' needs with the perpetrators' basic human rights? Read the full description.

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Global Ethics Corner is a weekly 2 minute segment devoted to newsworthy ethical issues. It presents both sides of an issue, asking viewers to weigh the information and make up their own minds.

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Piece Description

Global Ethics Corner is a weekly 2 minute segment devoted to newsworthy ethical issues. It presents both sides of an issue, asking viewers to weigh the information and make up their own minds.

Transcript

Libya's civil war may be over, but the country has still not attained true peace.

It's been six months since rebel forces liberated Libya and yet the country has no unified army or government. Instead, armed militias control the country's towns and villages. Unfettered by the rule of law, they take justice into their own hands.

Their first targets? Loyalists of former Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi, who led the decades-long assault on Libya's civilian population. In meting out vigilante justice, some analysts say Libya's militias are delivering punishments that meet the definition of torture.

Thirty thousand Libyans died during the country's eight-month civil war. Thousands more were tortured, killed, and oppressed throughout Qaddafi's three-decade-long rule. No one expected that emerging from such a violent history would be easy. Post-conflict transitions are inevitably painful and slo...
Read the full transcript

Additional Credits

Deborah Carroll – Executive Producer
Marlene Spoerri – Contributing Writer
Julia Kennedy - Content Editor
Robert Smithline - Editor
Terence Hurley - Editor
Gusta Johnson - Production Assistant

Related Website

www.carnegiecouncil.org