The frightening memories of gallows erected for university students during the Gaddafi era were never forgotten, long leaving students too intimidated to speak up. Today, the new political climate in Libya since the revolution has prompted university students to engage politically with some of the highest authorities in the country.

The frightening memories of gallows erected for university students during the Gaddafi era were never forgotten, long leaving students too intimidated to speak up. Today, the new political climate in Libya since the revolution has prompted university students to engage politically with some of the highest authorities in the country.

This past August, university students in Tripoli, as a part of the ”Peace Movement’, held a demonstration under the slogan ‘Those who besiege legitimacy cannot protect it.’ Demonstrators marched from Tripoli University to the headquarters of the General National Congress (GNC) with the participation of many activists and those interested in political activism.

Delivering a message

“With this march, students wanted to deliver a message to the congress, the government and to political parties that the youth will have an active role in the national movement, they have their weight and they can pressure and influence the political scene in the country,” according to Ayman Bahih, a university student and one of the organizers of the demonstration.

Bahih, who is also the media spokesman for the ”Peace Movement” added that the students were advocating for the formation of a national army and a national police apparatus. “This is because of our awareness of the dangerous and deteriorating security conditions in the country and because we understand the requirements of the transitional phase from revolution to state building.”

The demonstration of Tripoli students came within a broad spectrum of the Libyan peoples’ reactions to the poor security and political situation, namely in response to the decision taken by Nuri Ali Abu Sahmain, the Congress President, to mandate the Supreme Revolutionaries’ Council (SRC) and its armed militias to secure the capital city.  These are the same militias that  besieged sovereign ministries in the past to impose the Political Isolation Law.

This decision was denounced by the people of Tripoli. In response, students peacefully demonstrated to signal to authorities that they refuse to give the security responsibility of their city to illegitimate parties that are not under government control and who do not represent the state.

A moment of anger

The protests in Tripoli were preceded by student protests in Benghazi universities, which were organized by the student unions. Alyaa Qarquom, a member of the Benghazi University students’ union, said:

“After the recent events in Benghazi, my colleagues and I were disillusioned with the overall situation. One of our colleagues suggested that we organize a peaceful demonstration in order to denounce the current conditions in the country, which have been characterized by bombings, assassinations and human rights violations.  Within one week’s time, we organized a gathering called “Students for the Nation,” and under its flag, we specified the date and the aims of the protest which we organized later.”’

Independent and effective

Alyaa expressed her disapproval of political parties’ attempts to give the protest an ideological identity. ”We were clear that we are not members of any party and that we do not belong to any stream other than our belonging to Libya. We wanted our movement to signal the start of actual students’ participation in guiding the political movement in the country as an independent and effective entity.  We wanted our voice to be heard by officials and other sectors of the society.”

The first meeting of Benghazi students outside the framework of the university was part of the demonstrations that came out to condemn the killing of Abdul Salam al-Mismari, a political activist, this past July.

A long path

The path initiated by the students for participating in the political landscape will be as long as the instability period witnessed in Libya, according to Alyaa. Their tasks of communicating with other pressure components and coordinating with them within the common goals are not simple or easy, especially since young people have little experience in this field.

“We have communicated with some civil society organizations and media channels, and they were present with us. They helped us in delivering our message and some of the journalists participated in our demonstration as independents.  We were able to achieve a good result by making our voices heard by the political circles in the country.”

“We were accused of being affiliated with a certain political stream but we do not care about these accusations.  We will continue with our activities and we will prepare other events that will be more organized and effective and which will make our voices heard by officials,” Alyaa announced.   

The capacities of young people

Ayman Bahih agrees with Alyaa. ”We rely on the capacities of young people, especially since these people were previously barred from political activism, as the penalty for any such political engagement then was the gallows. By involving young people in the political movement we want to form a political pressure group.”

Bahih said the Peace Movement would not stop as long as there were unmet demands. “We, as an independent movement, did not receive any financial support from any party.  Our movement was inspired by the opinions of young people after many meetings.” 

The Movement, according to Bahih, has a significant following and a diverse group of people, including men and women unified over one goal. “They all want a modern civil and democratic Libya,” he said. 

Less partisanship

Samir al-Sharef, a lawyer, a politician and a human rights activist, expressed great optimism about the movement. “The current student activism is the fuel of this popular movement in confronting the authority and its corruption.  Students, as a major component of the society, have a very important role to play,” he said.

“Student movements are born inside the universities and they are not affiliated with political parties saturated with prejudice and personal interests. Thus they are considered from among the most important components of civil society in pressuring the government because they are part of the trade union movement.”

“The student movement was at the forefront of the movements resisting and rebelling against the monarchy and the Gaddafi era that followed it,” Sharef continued. “Here it should be noted that Gaddafi, in his attempts to monopolize power, and knowing the importance and strength of the student movement, executed many rebellious students in Tripoli and  Benghazi over the long years of his rule— even showing executions on TV in an attempt to kill the spirit of struggle and to thwart the development of any youth movement against him. “

Sharef hopes the movement will decrease partisanship, “In order to maintain the purity of its demands away from the whims of politicians.”