Country/entity

Libya

Region

Middle East and North Africa

Agreement name

Agreement of Social Honour for the Tribes of Tarhūnah, and the Tribes of Ghriyān, Mashāshiyyah, al-Qal’ah, Yafrin, Jādū, Kābāw, Nālūt and Wāzin

Date

8 Feb 2017

Agreement status

Multiparty signed/agreed

Interim arrangement

Yes

Agreement/conflict level

Intrastate/local conflict

Libyan Conflicts (1969 - 1994) (2011 - )

Agreements relate to two distinct conflict dyads.
Libya-Chad. Since the 1970s, Libya under Colonel Muammar Gaddafi had a tense relationship with its neighbour Chad, predominantly focused on the resource-rich Aouzou Strip in northern Chad. Libyan claims of the Aouzou Strip were held in an un-ratified treaty between France and Italy in 1935, similarly Chadian claims of the Strip were argued with support of a 1955 treaty between Libya and France. In 1973, Libya effectively annexed the Strip to gain access to natural resources. This spurred cross-border clashes between 1979 until 1987 until escalated to a brief war known as the Toyota War, wherein Chadian government troops succeeded in repelling Libyan forces. A brief and repeatedly violated ceasefire was held from 1987-88, followed by a series of unsuccessful negotiations, until an International Court of Justice ruling in 1994, which granted sovereignty of the Strip to Chad.

Libya post-Gaddafi. Gaddafi’s downfall following the Libyan Civil War in 2011-2012, led to several factions fighting for the country’s leadership. Since 2013, the country effectively split into three entities, with the National Army controlling the east including the city of Benghazi, and the New General National Congress and their militias such as the Golden Dawn controlling the northwest including the capital of Tripoli. Significant portions of the country in the south-west are currently held by Tuareg forces. The civil war and chaos continued into 2014 as the General National Congress refused to disband after the expiry of its mandate, resulting in eruption of mass protests. The UN efforts continue to broker peace between the Libyan Army and the Libya Dawn factions, and a partial ceasefire was declared in January 2015. A new interim-government (Tunisia-based) called ‘Government of National Accord’ is formed with the backing of UN despite the refusal of the other forces to recognise its authority and arrived to Tripoli with the UN in 2016. A state of emergency was declared by the UN backed government amid clashed between rival militia in Tripoli’s southern suburbs. Since April 2019 there has been sustained fighting between the Libyan National Army and the UN-backed government in Tripoli as the Libyan National Army aims to seize Tripoli.

Close

Libyan Conflicts (1969 - 1994) (2011 - )

Stage

Framework/substantive - partial

Conflict nature

Inter-group

Peace process

Libyan local processes

Parties

The tribes of Tarhūnah, and the tribes of Ghriyān, Mashāshiyyah, al-Qal’ah, Yafrin, Jādū, Kābāw, Nālūt and Wāzin. 

1- Sālih Salim Fāndī 
Coordinator of the Sheikh Council of Tarhūnah 
2- Al-Nafīshī ‘Abd al-Salām ‘Abd al-Mā’i’ 
Member of the Sheikh Council of Tarhūnah 
3- Al-Mukhtār ‘Alī Yūnis 
President of the Social Communication Authority of Ghriyān 
4- Al-Bahlūl al-Jiyāsh 
Deputy President of the Communication Authority of Ghriyān 
5- Muhammad Āhmad Āmuhammad Zuhmah 
Member of the Consultative Council of Mashāshiyyah 
6- ‘Abd al-Mawalī Ībrahīm Ābu Shūshah 
Member of the Consultative Council of Mashāshiyyah 
7- Mahī al-Din ‘Abd Āllah Ākhzām 
Member of the City Council of al-Qal’ah 
8- Āhsīn ‘Abd Āllah Āsulaymān 
The Consultative Council of al-Qal’ah 
9- 
10-
11- ‘Abd al-Salām Sulaymān Mu’arif 
Member of the City Council of Jādū 
12- Yūsif Sāsī Zambīlah 
Member of the Consultative Council of Jādū 
13- Ma’yūf Mas’ūd Halāsah 
Notable of Kābāw 
14- Tāriq Sa’īd ‘Umar 
Notable of Kābāw 
15- 
16- 
17- Sālim Āmuhammad al-Faqī 
President of the Council of Elders of Wāzin 
18- Nūrī Āhmad ‘Āshūr 
Notable of Wāzin

Third parties

-

Description

Social contract agreement between nine Libyan tribes rejecting religious extremism and violence. Agreement consolidates common principles including common beliefs (Islam), rejection of violence, establishing a committee of Sheikhs, condemning the imprisoning of migrants on their way to Europe, and so forth.

Agreement document

LY_170208_Libyan Tribal Agreement_EN.pdf (opens in new tab) | Download PDF

Agreement document (original language)

LY_170208_Libyan Tribal Agreement_AR.pdf (opens in new tab)| Download PDF

Local agreement properties

Process type

Informal but persistent process

Rationale

-> Link to national level; no external support mechanism; culture of signing Although the agreement was not supported by a formal and national mechanism, it is embedded in a culture of signing (and supporting) agreements in this locale between tribes since March 2015.

Is there a documented link to a national peace process?

Yes

Link to national process: articulated rationale

The agreement is clearly linked to the national process. It contains several mentions to the importance of safeguarding and being loyal to the "nation" and to defend it against the foreign "occupation" (mainly Italian). The agreement also calls "the Libyan regulatory, sovereign and executive institutions to do their tasks in facilitating security and stability and in maintaining a fair, free and sovereign state". It also invites "all Libyan tribes to join this agreement as a step towards comprehensive reconciliation". Finally, it provides for the creation of a committe "dedicated to any national works that gathers and unifies the souls of all Libyans".

Name of Locale

Tarhūnah, Ghriyān, Mashāshiyyah, al-Qal’ah, Yafrin, Jādū, Kābāw, Nālūt, Wāzin

Nature of Locale

Region

GPS Lat/Long (DD)

32.433465, 13.637360

Participant type

Local state actor
Domestic religious organisation/leader or other elder
Local community/civilian group(s)/civil society organisations

Mediator, facilitator or similar

No mention of mediator or similar

Local issues

Ritual/prayer and process (including use of scripture)

Page 1, In the name of Allah the Merciful

Page 1, Praise be to the Lord of the Worlds, thanks to him good deeds are done, reconciliation and success depend on him. Prayer and peace be upon the Prophet of Mercy, leader of the Umma, Muhammad. Peace be upon him and after.

Page 1, Complying with and applying the texts of the wise law, which were honest in their destination and sure in their judgement, whether in their merciful decisions or in the Hadith of the Prophet – prayer and peace be upon him. Among them, the words of God: “And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favour of Allah upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favour, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make clear to you His verses that you may be guided” [Sura Imran 103]; and His words: “The believers are but brothers, so make settlement between your brothers. And fear Allah that you may receive mercy” [Al-Hujurat 49:10].

Page 1, The Prophet says – prayer and peace be upon him: “The relationship of the believer with another believer is like [the bricks of] a building, each strengthens the other” [al-Bukhari, Book 1, Hadith 222].

Page 1, Our faith in the fateful issues that our fathers and grandfathers fought for, was and still is, part of our cherished history to which we still belong; from the journey of struggle in the earliest beginnings of Islam, to the honourable and heroic battles fought by our father and grandfathers against the Italian fascists across all of Libya.

Page 1, Motivated by inspiration and loyalty, the duty of the nation and working with Islamic shariah, to preserve and achieve the five known maqasid [purposes] – in saving religion, the soul, the mind, wealth and offspring.

Page 1, They developed an agreement of social honour, with the goal of sticking to and defending the religion of Islam as well as saving it from the danger of extremism.

Page 1, As such, this agreement aims to reverse the Libyan occupation and [encourage] the return to social customs complying with the texts of the Wise Law [shariah],

Page 2, The belief that the religion of Islam is a central and reasonable religion, and a unified home in the Libyan civilization historically and on the international borders of Libya.

Page2, May the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you.

Grievance List

Page 1, We are aware of the imminent danger that threatens Libyan society at its heart – for the murder of [our] essence is possible under the law of robbery, looting, [...]1 and violence – as the fabric of society has become entangled in the sedition that struck Libyans in the killing, and economic life has deteriorated in a way that threatens catastrophe – and the political crisis reels between continued conflict and schism between Libyans, and foreign colonial intervention, of which we pay no heed!!

Page 1, They developed an agreement of social honour, with the goal of sticking to and defending the religion of Islam as well as saving it from the danger of extremism.

Page 1, As such, this agreement aims to reverse the Libyan occupation and [encourage] the return to social customs complying with the texts of the Wise Law [shariah], through which Libyans have been able to keep their culture and identity throughout all time despite ferocious colonial campaigns.

Cattle rustling/banditry

Page 1, We are aware of the imminent danger that threatens Libyan society at its heart – for the murder of [our] essence is possible under the law of robbery, looting, […]1 and violence [...].

Social cover

Page 2, The combined tribes formed the following principles of the agreement:
Sixth: The lifting of societal cover of everyone who actually committed unjust criminal offenses, belonged to the extremist wing that combats religion and the Homeland, who has been taking or abusing drugs.