Justice, Reconciliation, and State-Building in Post-Gaddafi Libya

Abstract

This article argues that the transitional justice (TJ) approach in post-Gaddafi Libya has failed because it lacked national reconciliation. Libya’s transition experience did not include reconciliation and agreement on a new social contract, and this not only perpetuated conflict, exclusion, and division, but also frustrated the pursuit of a peace, and made democratic transition a remote possibility. Taking stock from local and relevant comparative international experiences, the main argument is that the nexus between TJ and peacebuilding should be replaced, or at least coupled, with an inclusive national reconciliation process that yields an agreement on a new social contract. This implies the urgent need to go beyond the often externally promoted TJ and narrow state-centric processes in a country where the state itself has been destroyed and its future form remains highly contested with some actors such as Islamists with illiberal notions contesting the nation-state and its legitimacy, authority, and the issue of human rights.