LIBYA ENACTS, THEN RETRACTS, BAN ON WOMEN TRAVELING ABROAD

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TRIPOLI 000422 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/MAG, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/2/2017 TAGS: PGOV KSOCI KWMN KISL LY SUBJECT: LIBYA ENACTS, THEN RETRACTS, BAN ON WOMEN TRAVELING ABROAD WITHOUT MALE ESCORT TRIPOLI 00000422 001.2 OF 002 CLASSIFIED BY: Ethan Goldrich, CDA, Embassy Tripoli, State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. SUMMARY. (C) In late February 2007, Libyans started talking about a new law that prohibited women under the age of 40 traveling abroad unless escorted by their husband, father or brother, although there was conflicting information about the source of the "law" or the scope of implementation. After a couple weeks, the government clarified that it was a regulation, not a law. After another short time, there was an announcement that the regulation was retracted. As a case study of Libyan governance, the ban demonstrated the shifting character of power structures and the way that citizens adapt to ambiguities and change. It also revealed the level of misinformation and misunderstanding that prevails in Libya at any time. SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) In late February, Libyans started talking about a new law that prohibited women under the age of 40 traveling abroad unless escorted by their husband, father or brother. Emboffs starting collecting information from friends and colleagues, but there was no consistent pattern among interlocutors' experiences. Some women reported they traveled through airport immigration with no problems, while other women reported that they were turned away at airport immigration and told they could not leave under a "new law." Some people said there was a law, some people said there was a regulation, and some people said government officials were acting on their own authority to impose personal beliefs. March 10, the Jamahiriya News Agency released information that the Secretariat of the General People's Committee (GPC) reported in its website that its decision banning Libyan women under the age of 40 from traveling abroad unless they are escorted by a close relative was a regulatory measure. "This measure aims at drafting the necessary regulations to avoid some negativity accompanied unnecessary Libyan girls travel who fell victims of criminal networks abroad," the GPC said. According to the Libyan press, "the GPC explained that the new procedure wasn't an obstacle to the travel of Libyan women who, recognized from all over the world, were leaders in judicial, legal and political professions." In yet more twisted logic, the Libyan rationale continued, "it doesn't affect freedom existing in the legislations." "It is like the control of Libyan officials to travel abroad or foreign nationals to enter Libya," the GPC elaborated. It is true that all Libyan officials, male or female, must have written approval to travel abroad. Embassy cooperative programming has faced long delays or cancellations as working level officials wait to get written approval from the Foreign Minister-equivalent for their participation in bilateral export control, scientific engagement or other activities. ¶3. (C) P/E Chief sent out emails to a broad range of women asking for their experiences and got back only two brief responses, one from a woman who just returned from an uneventful trip overseas, and another from a friend who said she had been asked to show authorization papers from her husband when trying to depart Libya via Tripoli International Airport. One contact wouldn't even respond to an email soliciting information on whether or not the press clip might be accurate. She knew that all emails were monitored and so showed up unannounced, without even phoning for an appointment, to try and put the prohibition in context. She was apologetic in tone, saying, "you must understand, we can't control these things." She then tried to rationalize that since Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries had these restrictions and even more stringent laws about women's conduct in place for a long time, therefore the Libyan law was a natural and appropriate progression. Her response to the "two wrongs don't make a right" comeback was that she agreed personally that the law was wrong, but in Libya, no one had the power to initiate any change. She said she would comply with the regulation, as she chose to wear hijab, because she believed that it made her safer and in closer compliance with Islam as she interpreted the religion. ¶4. (C) In context of the Jamahiriya or "state of the masses" governance in Libya, in theory this law could not have been introduced without the participation of all women through their basic people's congresses, general people's committees and the General People's Congress. Most Libyans, when asked about the unexpected law, admitted that direct democracy did not really exist in Libya and the law had not been proposed, debated, or legislated by the General People's Congress. One Libyan said, "you have to understand, if any woman goes to a basic people's committee meeting she gets a bad reputation; women are not supposed to play an active role here." This analysis was from a highly educated, U.S. passport holder who has lived in America for a number of years and now works for a western company in Libya. She said, "women here do the best they can within constraints, they don't have any choice except to accept what TRIPOLI 00000422 002.2 OF 002 happens to them," Asked about the potential for civil society action, engagement in the political process, intercessions to influential policy makers, or advocacy through husbands, fathers and brothers, she said, "none of that will happen in Libya, but if outside countries forced Libya to change the law, women would be very grateful." ¶5. (C) Another contact took great pleasure in noting that Aisha Qadhafi, the "Leader's" daughter, traveled frequently outside Libya without a male family member when she was still single. A local lawyer said she heard of a group of Libyan business women traveling to a conference in Italy that were denied exit at passport control by Libyan officials. Asked on what authority they were denied permission to travel, the officials said they didn't have any specific citations, but they had "heard" it was no longer permissible for women to travel alone. As the rumor mill churned, there was endless speculation about why the regulation was enacted. Some people claimed that a prominent family's female relative had been assaulted at a Cairo nightclub, some claimed a group of Libyan women had engaged in "scandalous" behavior outside Libya that was embarassing to the regime and therefore more controls were put in place. ¶6. (C) As the prohibition continued to be a topic of local conversation, and the international press started printing stories, the origin and scope of the law/regulation became even more vague. Ahmed Fituri, the Secretary of American Affairs at the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation, when asked about the law said, "don't worry, this won't last, it will go away." Even senior Libyan government officials couldn't hold up the fig leaf of direct democracy, admitting that there was a disconnect somewhere and it would be fixed. Women who agreed that the "law" was wrong did not organize any bold actions to seek repeal. Rather than engaging directly to affect a change to the law, women used personal connections to avoid implementation. The word went out that the "law" was repealed, though the process was unclear. ¶7. (C) Embassy sponsored a reception at the end of March to celebrate International Women's Day and asked contacts what had happened to the "regulatory measure." It seems that a small group of women with legal practices or other professional positions had gathered in a local hotel conference room to plan how to lobby with senior Libyan officials through personal connections. They planned to use the international press to draw further attention to the disconnect between the Libyan theory of direct democracy and government practices. That information, conveyed directly to regime insiders through personal connections was enough to make the ban "go away," as Fituri predicted. ¶8. (C) COMMENT. Governance here truly is a Jamahiriya, or "state of the masses." It just depends on who among the masses has the ear of the leader (Qadhafi) or other key officials at any one time. As a case study, this example of governance revealed the level of misinformation and misunderstanding that prevails in Libya at anytime. It also demonstrates the shifting character of power structures and the way citizens adapt to ambiguities and change. People rely heavily on word-of-mouth for information; not even officials implementing the law or regulation seemed to have an authoritative source. At first, it was not even clear if the ban was a law or a regulation. Libyans are used to working the system, and women managed to find the right pressure points to achieve their objectives. As a start-up Embassy, our staff are also engaged in finding the right points of contact to implement our mission objectives. The level of misinformation and misunderstanding of issues presents another level of challenge as we pursue our transformational diplomacy agenda. END COMMENT. GOLDRICH