Libya: From Repression to Revolution- A Record of Armed Conflict and International Law Violations, 2011-2013

by M. Cherif Bassiouni (Editor)

This groundbreaking new volume provides the first comprehensive review of the Libyan conflict of 2011. The book expands on and complements the report of the Libya Commission of Inquiry to the United Nations Human Rights Council, and provides the reader with the information essential to understanding the Libyan conflict, its causes and ramifications, and the difficulties the country faces as it rebuilds in the wake of 40 years of repression and the effects of a brutal civil war.

The book provides a historical overview of the country and the ruinous policies of the Qadhafi regime, a chronological review of the evolution of the conflict, a description of the belligerents and their organizational makeup, an account of the NATO intervention and its legality, a basic legal characterization of conduct of the belligerents and the various accountability mechanisms pursued thus far, and an appraisal of the post-conflict period, as well as a detailed factual assessment and legal characterization of ten different theaters of conflict, including Benghazi, Tripoli, Misrata, Sirte and the Nafusa Mountains.

998 pages, Hardcover

First published December 13, 2013

About the author

Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni is a United Nations war crimes expert born in 1937. He is a Distinguished Research Professor of Law Emeritus at DePaul University College of Law in Chicago (since 1964) and President Emeritus of the University's International Human Rights Law Institute (1990–2006; 2007–09). He is also President of the Istituto Superiore Internazionale di Scienze Criminali (International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences) (ISISC) in Siracusa, Italy (since 1988), he was also Dean of ISISC (1976–1988). He was the Secretary General of the International Association of Penal Law (Internationale Association De Droit Penal) (IADP) from 1974–1989, he was the President of the IADP from 1989–2004, and is currently the Association's Honorary President. He has been a non-resident Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Cairo since 1996, and was a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC in 1972. He was also a Visiting Professor of Law at New York University Law School in 1971, and was a Fulbright-Hays Professor of International Criminal Law at the University of Freiburg, Germany in 1970. In addition, he is a frequent lecturer at universities in the US and abroad. He is also admitted to the practice of law in Illinois, Washington, DC, the United States Supreme Court, and the Second, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits and the United States Court of Military Appeals. He is also admitted to practice before the Egyptian Supreme Court. Bassiouni has handled many international cases on extradition and international cooperation in criminal matters, and coordinated major litigation involving multiple parties, including states, on matters involving international law. In 2007, he was awarded the Hague Prize for International Law for his "distinguished contribution in the field of international law". The winner of the Hague Prize is given the honour of selecting the fundamental principal of law on which the Hague Colloquium will be organized. Recently, Cherif has spoken out in support of the Gaza flotilla.