Libya parliament rejects UN-backed unity government

Tobruk-based parliament votes against unity government with rivals in Tripoli, and demands cabinet reshuffle.

25 Jan 2016 18:51 GMT | Politics, Middle East, Libya, UN

Representatives of Tripoli-based and Tobruk-based governments in a news conference after signing the agreement, December 2015 [Reuters]

Libya's internationally recognised parliament based in Tobruk has voted against the UN-backed unity government with rival authorities based in Tripoli, Libyan news agencies reported.

House of Representatives member Abu Bakr Beira said 89 out of 104 members who attended Monday's session rejected the cabinet formed by the UN-sponsored unity Presidential Council (PC).

He said the council would be dissolved if it failed to meet a 10-day deadline to form a new, smaller cabinet. 

The unity government, which was announced on January 19, aimed at bridging a political divide that has undermined the fight against armed groups.

Libya currently has two rival administrations and parliaments; the internationally recognised authorities based in Tobruk and a rebel-backed authority holding power in the capital, Tripoli.

The Tobruk parliament also approved the Skhirat agreement as a political deal provided that article number 8 - related to sovereign posts in the government, including military occupations - is deleted, giving the presidential council ten days to reshuffle the cabinet or replace the PC with another.

The Skhirat agreement was signed on December 17, 2015 in Skhirat, Morocco. The agreement was meant to lead to the establishment of a single Government of National Accord (GNA) and national institutions that will ensure broad representation.

The agreement calls for a 17-member cabinet, headed by businessman Fayez el-Sarraj as prime minister, based in the Libyan capital.

Under the agreement, a nine-member PC was named and tasked with selecting the national unity government.

However, the Tobruk parliament called for the boycotting of two PC members, Ali al-Gotrani and Omar al-Aswad. It suggests that they resume their positions once article 8 is deleted.

Al-Gotrani and al-Aswad suspended their membership from the PC of the UN-imposed government over demands and selection of cabinet members.

Many members of Libya's competing parliaments did not back the agreement, and critics say that the plan does not evenly represent all the country's groups and factions.

Some critics cite reports that the UN representative who helped broker the agreement, Bernardino Leon, was secretly negotiating a high-paying job with the United Arab Emirates, which backs the Tobruk parliament.

Since the 2011 overthrow and killing of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has slid into chaos. 

Source: Al Jazeera

Libya has been torn apart by a civil war started in the year 2011 with the overthrow of the government by rebel groups claiming political power. Since then, there have been numerous attempts to create a solution which will end the fighting and reunify the country under one nationally recognized government. Unfortunately, there has been setback after setback as no solution created has ever been fully accepted by each member of the now fractured government. The writer of this article quickly goes through the number of problems that the newest peace plan is facing and what the chances are of that plan succeeding. There seems to be little bias that's noticed as this is a informational article, and so no personal opinions appear evident within the writing. 

"Aljazeera.com." 25 January 2016. Aljazeera Media Network. 26 January 2016. <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/libya-parliament-rejects-backed-unity-government-160125160858643.html>. 

Protesters demand closure of Guantanamo on anniversary

Rally outside White House comes day after Obama administration once again vowed to shut down detainee facility.

11 Jan 2016 22:38 GMT | Human Rights, US & Canada, Guantanamo Bay

Protesters from Amnesty International USA and other organisations rallied outside the White House [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

Demonstrators have gathered outside the White House in Washington DC, demanding the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detainee facility.

The protests, on the 14th anniversary of the opening of the prison in Cuba, come a day after the US administration once again vowed to shut down the controversial detention site before President Barack Obama's term ends this year.

The group included a coalition of human rights activists, torture survivors and attorneys.

There are still 103 detainees currently being held at the Guantanamo Bay.

Since the prison opened in January 2002, nine prisoners have died there.

Protesters outside the White House wore orange jumpsuits and plastic shackles. Some of them deployed a large inflatable doll meant to represent former prisoner Shaker Aamer, the Saudi national who was suspected by US authorities of being associated with al-Qaeda but was never charged with any crime.

Aamer was released in October after 13 years of detention and has since returned to Britain where his wife is from.

Obama pledged during the 2008 presidential election campaign that he would close the military prison [Reuters]

Denis McDonough, Obama’s chief of staff, told Fox News on Monday that the president was determined to close the detention centre before his presidency ends in 11 months.

"He feels an obligation to the next president. He will fix this so that they don't have to be confronted with the same set of challenges," McDonough said.

Obama pledged during the 2008 presidential election campaign that he would close the military prison, which housed foreign terrorism suspects after the September 11 attacks.

The detention centre is a source of controversy as the treatment of the prisoners at the centre has been described as torture by human rights groups, involving methods such as force-feeding and sleep deprivation.

Source: Al Jazeera

Since the attacks on 9/11, even being suspected of terrorist activity can land you in one of the worst prisons in the US. The government has stated that they will close down the facility and free or move the current prisoners being held there. However, little has been done to complete either of those tasks and instead the prison continues to operate and prisoners continue to suffer, innocent or not. This article seems to be written from a bias of the opposition to the prison, describing it as a human rights violation. I personally believe that while holding actual terrorists is perfectly fine, detaining suspected terrorists for indefinite periods of time without ever charging them is unacceptable.

"aljazeera." 11 January 2016. Aljazeera Media Network. 11 January 2016. <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/guantanamo-protests-160111211618538.html>.