(Author: Libyan Gazette Editorial Staff)
Outraged residents held a protest in Tripoli on Friday after a video of a woman attacked and gang-raped by a local armed group spread on social media.
Protesters also took to the streets on Saturday, along with human rights groups, promising to continue protesting everyday for the whole week until measures are taken to ensure justice is served to the criminals. Protesters are also calling for Libyan authorities to take measures towards preventing this crime from happening again.
The group that raped the woman called themselves teh Al-Awashr Brigade. In the video, the members of the brigade are seen raping the woman as she cries for mercy in the presence of her traumatized young daughter.
The video was posted on Facebook on Wednesday evening by the Tripoli Revolutionaries Brigade (TRB), who say they found the video on Al-Awashr Brigade commander, Salah Hubaishi, who TRB claim to have killed a week earlier in a raid.
No information has been released about the fate of the victim and her young daughter.
The UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) responded to the protesters demands and vowed to bring justice to the rapists and those involved in the attack on the woman. The GNA described the criminals as “human wolves”.
A militia from Tarhouna, the city where the victim came from, said it will attack the capital if the GNA does not give them the criminals involved in the rape attack.
The civil unrest after the 2011 uprising left the country, which had been under the corrupt leadership of dictator Muammar Gaddafi for over four decades, in absolute chaos and instability.
During Gaddafi’s rule, Libya’s judicial system was known for its corruption which prompted the Libyan people to take matters into their own hands by engaging in civil disobedience in the 2011 uprising. A precedent was set and Libyans became used to seeking their own retribution instead of relying on a judicial system in the face of increasing political turmoil and overall instability in Libya.