In today’s episode, we look back at the role of women in the 2011 uprising and the birth of #Libya's civil society movement. Salwa Bugaighis was seen by many to be one of the leaders of that movement and she was a role model for many women who were perhaps entering the public and political space for the first time. We discuss what has happened to the women who were so prominent in Libyan civil society in 2011 and how the landscape for women has developed since, including their ability to...

On 25 June 2014, Libyan human rights activist and lawyer Salwa Bugaighis celebrated casting her vote in parliamentary elections. Hours later, she was brutally murdered in her own home, a crime which sent shockwaves through Libya’s civil society movement. In the first episode of a special new season marking the tenth anniversary of Libya's 2011 uprising and the birth of that civil society movement, we speak to Salwa’s family and friends to remember that day and reflect on what Salwa's...

Libyan human rights activist and lawyer Salwa Bugaighis was assassinated on 25 June 2014. Nobody has been held accountable. To many, Salwa embodied all that is positive about the civil society movement that emerged from the 2011 uprising which she helped lead, and she remains an inspiration to this day. 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of that uprising. To mark this historic milestone, we have produced a special season inspired by Salwa’s life and activism, and what it tells us about...

When is a peace process a success? What role do human rights, justice and due process play? Is it ever ok to sacrifice those for political expediency? What part should civil society organisations play? In this special episode, Elham Saudi takes the hot...

In previous episodes we’ve explored avenues for accountability, but what about legal measures that may prevent it? In our season finale we discuss amnesties, which are rather popular in Libya (there have been at least four since 2011 that we know of)....

According to the UN, as of September 2020 there were 392,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Libya. Each one has a story, and each one has rights, but what are they? This week we talk with one of the world’s foremost experts on this...

The Libyan media scene has exploded since 2011, but from established international outlets to fake news churned out by armies of Twitter bots, how can we navigate it? To guide us, we’re joined by Ahmed Gatnash, co-founder of the Kawaakibi Foundation, an...

What is life like for Libyan women right now? What challenges are Libyan women dealing with? Can we even speak of Libyan women in general? Asma Khalifa is an activist, researcher, co-founder of the Tamazight Women’s Movement and Khalifa Ihler Institute,...

What is art? What is culture? And what role do they play in Libya today? We’re delighted to reflect on Libya’s conflict in a very different way with one of the country’s best-known artists, Hadia Gana. Hadia has worked with ceramics and glass and...

Last year, Lawyers for Justice in Libya and SOAS, University of London were honoured to welcome Mr Pablo de Greiff, the UN’s first Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, to deliver the...

What does accountability mean? And how do we achieve it? Leading legal advocate and academic Valentina Azarova joins us to discuss how we can think outside the box and be more creative when seeking justice, why we need to stay focussed on the bigger...

Shockingly, one in five households in Libya has had a person forcibly disappeared. What does it mean to be disappeared? How does it impact the disappeared person, their family and the wider community? This week, we have the privilege of joining...

This week we’re joined by Alex Whiting, Deputy Prosecutor of the Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, Harvard Law Professor of Practice (on leave), former ICC and ICTY prosecutor and renowned criminal law expert. We discuss why justice has been so...

We’re back! It’s been a year since the end of Season 1 and so much seems to have changed without anything feeling like it has! Does that even make sense? To help guide us through it all we talk to Tarek Megerisi, Policy Fellow at the European Council on...

We're super excited to launch Season 2 of Libya Matters! This season is different. We go deeper and explore themes we've not done before, but we're still going to be asking the not-so-easy questions. Join us, as we challenge ourselves to think, learn...

What are sanctions? and how do they work? who has the authority to impose them and, most importantly, whether they are still relevant in Libya today?

Could the division of Libya be a solution to the current conflict and, if so, what would that division look like?

As we try to debunk the official narrative in a relaxed and engaging chat, we share some interesting facts and stats and real solutions as to why migration is not a crisis, but rather a phenomenon.

How and why the space for civil society in Libya is shrinking, and how, as human rights defenders, we can begin to contest and counter this trend.

Tim walks us through the conflict war economy in Libya, how the economic structure itself has helped fuel the conflict, and who is really benefitting from this situation.

The episode delves into the specific impact of conflict on women and why women are so vital to peace and state-building.

Elham with Frederic Wehrey tries to understand whether US engagement in Libya can be positive, in the context of accountability and the rule of law.

Carla helped us understand what accountability really means and why it matters so much in the Libyan context (and beyond).

"Libya: the forgotten revolution" was our chance to discuss the protracted conflict in Libya with an amazing panel which included Ian Martin and Hisham Matar.