Persecution of Non-Muslims (Libya)

Note that the persecution of apostates and the persecution of homosexuals are covered in separate pages

Lybia plans to execute 220 Nigerians, caught while trying to cross into Europe, for immigration violations. Nigerians say 30 have already been executed

Nigerians all over the world have reacted to alleged plans by the Libya plans to execute 220 Nigerians for immigration violations. To save the Nigerian from death, Nigerians in the diaspora have therefore asked the country embassy in Lybia as well as the federal government to intervene saying that already, 30 have been executed by the Libyan authorities.

They have also sent out email accounts of Nigerian embassy officials in Lybia for people to force the embassy to intervene. Already, Sudanese embassy officials are aid to have protested to Lybia against the execution of their citizens. Nigerian government is yet to act.

Reports came yesterday that by today, over 220 illegal immigrants in Libya mostly Nigerians may be executed. It said that out of this number, 30 were allegedly executed in the early hours of Thursday in the prison yard in Tripoli, the Libyan capital.

Among the Nigerian illegal immigrants awaiting execution in Libya is a 37-year-old Benedict Ukoma Jude from Imo State who was arrested along with other Nigerians for entering the country without valid documents.

The arrested Nigerians are said to be kept separately from other nationals from Ghana, Niger, Cameroun ,Algeria and Mali just as the Nigerians are said to being dehumanized before their alleged execution. An official of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja however was said to have reported that the Nigerian government was not aware of such development.

But the Benedict Ukoma Jude who spoke from his prison cell in Libya Thusrday said most Nigerian illegal immigrants were arrested in the desert while trying to cross to Europe. Benedict, denied being involved in any criminal activity in Libya, adding that the illegal aliens were arraigned before a court after the arrest, and that the charges against them were read to them in the language they could not understand while the judicial officers feigned not to understand English.

He alleged that the Libyan authorities have been killing illegalaliens in batches since last week, stressing that the remaining prisoners would be executed tomorrow as over 10 Nigerians were among those executed Thursday.

Nigerians protest Lybia’s plan to execute 220 Nigerians
Uduma Kalu, Vanguard, August 7, 2009

Muslims "protest a movie" by violently rioting, murdering 4 Americans and injuring 32 others, attacking the US consulate with guns and rocket-propelled grenades, setting it on fire, burning most of it and looting it

A movie attacking Islam's prophet Muhammad sparked assaults on U.S. diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt on Tuesday. A Libyan security official reported an American was shot to death as protesters burned the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, and in Cairo, protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy walls and replaced an American flag with an Islamic banner.
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In the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, a large mob stormed the U.S. Consulate, with gunmen firing their weapons, said Wanis al-Sharef, an Interior Ministry official in Benghazi. A witness said attackers fired automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades at the consulate as they clashed with Libyans hired to guard the facility.

Outnumbered by the crowd, Libyan security forces did little to stop them, al-Sharef said.

The crowd overwhelmed the facility and set fire to it, burning most of it and looting the contents, witnesses said.

One American was shot to death and a second was wounded in the hand, al-Sharef said. He did not give further details, and there was no immediate U.S. confirmation of the death.

Hours before the Benghazi attack, hundreds of mainly ultraconservative Islamist protesters in Egypt marched to the U.S. Embassy in downtown Cairo, gathering outside its walls and chanting against the movie and the U.S. Most of the embassy staff had left the compound earlier because of warnings of the upcoming demonstration.

"Say it, don't fear: Their ambassador must leave," the crowd chanted.

Dozens of protesters then scaled the embassy walls, and several went into the courtyard and took down the American flag from a pole. They brought it back to the crowd outside, which tried to burn it, but failing that tore it apart.

The protesters on the wall then raised on the flagpole a black flag with a Muslim declaration of faith, "There is no god but God and Muhammad is his prophet." The flag, similar to the banner used by al-Qaida, is commonly used by ultraconservatives around the region.

The crowd grew throughout the evening with thousands standing outside the embassy. Dozens of riot police lined up along the embassy walls but did not stop protesters as they continued to climb and stand on the wall - though it appeared no more went into the compound.

The crowd chanted, "Islamic, Islamic. The right of our prophet will not die." Some shouted, "We are all Osama," referring to al-Qaida leader bin Laden. Young men, some in masks, sprayed graffiti on the walls. Some grumbled that Islamist President Mohammed Morsi had not spoken out about the movie.

A group of women in black veils and robes that left only their eyes exposed chanted, "Worshippers of the Cross, leave the Prophet Muhammad alone."

Anti-Islam film sparks Libya, Egypt protests
Maggie Michael & Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press, September 12, 2012

A mob enraged by a film ridiculing Islam’s prophet killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans in a fiery attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. President Barack Obama strongly condemned the violence, vowed Wednesday to bring the killers to justice and tightened security at diplomatic posts around the world.

The attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens — the first U.S. diplomat to die in the line of duty since 1979 — came on Tuesday’s 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist strike and presented a new foreign policy crisis for the United States in a region trying to recover from months of upheaval.
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Details of how the Americans were killed were still being pieced together Wednesday. But according to al-Sharef’s account, two distinct attacks took place.

Al-Sharef said Stevens and a consulate staffer who had stayed behind in the building were killed in the initial attack on the consulate.

The rest of the staff successfully evacuated to another building nearby, preparing to move to Benghazi Airport after daybreak to fly to the capital, Tripoli, he said.

Hours after the storming of the consulate, a separate group of gunmen attacked the other building, opening fire on the more than 30 Americans and Libyans inside. Two more Americans were killed and 32 wounded — 14 Americans and 18 Libyans, he said.

Anti-Islam filmmaker in hiding after violent protests; 4 Americans killed
Maggie Michael & Osama Alfitory, Associated Press, September 12, 2012

Blast at Coptic church near the city of Misrata kills two people and injures another two, all of them Egyptians

An explosion rocked a Christian Coptic church near the western Libyan city of Misrata on Sunday, killing two people and wounding two others, all of them Egyptians, an Egyptian diplomat told AFP.

"Two Egyptians were killed and two were wounded," said the diplomat at the Egyptian embassy in Tripoli who declined to be named.

"The church explosion was in the town of Dafniya in Misrata (province). The consul went directly to Misrata to find out the details. We still don't have clear information," the diplomat said.

Earlier, a security official said one Egyptian was killed and three others were wounded in the blast at a Coptic church. The Egyptian diplomat said that one of those hurt in the explosion died later at the hospital.

Residents said the explosion took place in the early afternoon at a Coptic church in Dafniya, a Mediterranean town 30 kilometres (18.5 miles) west of Misrata, where brigades made up of former rebels hold a major checkpoint.

Libya church blast kills two Egyptians
France 24, December 30, 2012

Muslims driving Christians out of Libya, two religious communities leaving after pressure

Christians are being driven out of eastern Libya by Muslim fundamentalists, the Catholic Church’s main clergyman in the country told the Vatican missionary news agency Fides.

The situation was “critical” and the “atmosphere very tense” in the Cyrenaica region, the Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli said in the interview Thursday.

He said two religious communities are leaving “after being pressured by fundamentalists”, adding that the Apostolic Vicar of Benghazi was cautioned to take shelter ahead of a large-scale demonstration on February 20.

“In past days, the Congregation of the Holy Family of Spoleto who had been there for nearly 100 years were forced to abandon Derna,” east of the main eastern city of Benghazi, he said.

“In Barce (located between Benghazi and Derna) the Franciscan Sisters of the Child Jesus will leave their home in coming days.”

On Friday, Martinelli told Vatican Radio that for some time now fundamentalism has governed decisions in Libya.

Christians have voiced fear of a rise in sectarian sentiment in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation following the 2011 revolt that toppled dictator Moamer Kadhafi and in which hardline Islamists played a major part.

Before the uprising, three percent of Libya’s population of around 6.3 million were Christian. Now only a couple thousand of them remain, with the majority of them expatriates.

In December, two Egyptians died in a blast at a Christian Coptic church in the Libyan town of Dafniya, and two others were wounded.

Fundamentalists drive Christians out of Libya
Vanguard, February 1, 2013

Muslims desecrate Christian graves in Libya

In an interview with the Vatican missionary news agency Fides, the Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli, Giovanni Martinelli, claimed that Christians are being driven out of the eastern Libya area of Cyrenaica by Muslim fundamentalists Vicar Martinelli called the situation "critical" and the "atmosphere very tense". Martinelli said that two religious communities had already left after pressure from fundamentalists. The Apostolic Vicar of Benghazi had been advised to take shelter before a large-scale demonstration scheduled for February 20.

Martinelli said: "In past days, the Congregation of the Holy Family of Spoleto who had been there for nearly 100 years were forced to abandon Derna. In Barce [located between Benghazi and Derna] the Franciscan Sisters of the Child Jesus will leave their home in coming days."Derna is east of Benghazi the main city in eastern Libya.

Martinelli also told Vatican Radio that Islamic fundamentalism now governs decisions in Libya. Before the overthrow of Gadaffi about 3% of Libyans were Christians but many hard-line Islamists were active in the battle against Gadaffi. Now in many areas they wield considerable power. Only a few thousand Christians now remain in Libya and many of them are expatriates.

Christian Copts, many from Egypt, have also suffered. In December 2012 two Egyptian Copts were killed in a blast at a Coptic Church in the town of Dafniya, with two other people wounded.

An article on "Religion in Libya" in Wikipedia claims more than a few thousand Christians as being in Libya but perhaps the data is out of date:There are over 60,000 Egyptian Copts in Libya, as they comprise over 1% of the population alone. There are an estimated 40,000 Roman Catholics in Libya who are served by two Bishops, one in Tripoli (serving the Italian community) and one in Benghazi (serving the Maltese community). There is also a small Anglican community, made up mostly of African immigrant workers in Tripoli; it is part of the Anglican Diocese of Egypt.

Muslim Fundamentalists driving Christians from Libya
All Voices, February 4, 2013

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