Sanctions Profile: Libya

The resolution also established a Sanctions Committee to oversee and implement these measures. Since its introduction, the sanctions regime has been expanded to target illicit exports of petroleum.

These sanctions were originally established in response to what the UN described in UN Security Council Resolution 1970 as “the gross and systematic violation of human rights, including the repression of peaceful demonstrators” in the country and the Libyan government’s role in it.

EU sanctions on Libya were first imposed in 2011, by Council Regulation (EU) 204/2011 and Council Decision 2011/137/CFSP. They implemented UN sanctions, and comprised an arms embargo along with a travel ban and asset freeze on listed individuals, and later implemented the UN’s new measures targeting illicit exports of petroleum. In addition to implementing the UN sanctions, the EU is able to impose unilateral sanctions listings under the regime.

Since their introduction, UN and EU sanctions have developed to take account of the changing political situation in Libya. Following the fall of the Qadhafi regime, they were amended to take account of the threat posed by people and entities owning or controlling Libyan state funds misappropriated during that regime’s tenure and impose sanctions on those who were involved in its repressive policies or who pose an ongoing threat to the peace or stability of Libya and the completion of its political transition.

In January 2016, the EU consolidated its Libya sanctions into new measures for the sake of clarity, following the many changes made to the regime since its inception. The new measures are Council Regulation (EU) 2016/44 and Council Decision (CFSP) 2015/1333.

Summary of Current UN Sanctions:

General

• Arms embargo
• Measures in relation to attempts to illicitly export petroleum, including: (i) Members States being required to direct designated vessels not to load, transport or discharge petroleum (including crude oil and refined petroleum products) from Libya; and (ii) Member States being required to prevent UN-designated vessels from entering their ports

Targeted

• Asset freeze
• Travel ban

Designation Criteria

People and entities:

1. involved in or complicit in ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of serious human rights abuses in Libya;
2. acting for, or on behalf of, or at the direction of those identified above;
3. having violated, or assisted in the evasion of, the provisions of UNSC Resolution 1970, particularly the arms embargo, or to have assisted others in doing so; or
4. engaging in or providing support for acts that threaten the peace, stability or security of Libya, or obstruct or undermine the successful completion of its political transition.

Summary of Current EU Sanctions:

General            

• Arms embargo
• Measures in relation to attempts to illicitly export petroleum, including: (i) Members States being required to direct designated vessels not to load, transport or discharge petroleum (including crude oil and refined petroleum products) from Libya; and (ii) Member States being required to prevent designated vessels from entering their ports

Targeted

• Asset freeze
• Travel ban

Designation Criteria

People and entities designated by the UN Security Council or Libya Sanctions Committee established by UN Security Council Resolution 1970.

In addition, people and entities determined by the EU as:

1. being involved in or complicit in ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing the commission of serious human rights abuses in Libya (including involvement in aerial bombardments on civilian populations or facilities in violation of international law);
2. having violated or assisted in the violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1970, UN Security Council Resolution 1973, or Council Regulation (EU) 2016/44;
3. being involved in the repressive policies of the former Qadhafi regime in Libya, or otherwise formerly associated with that regime, and posing a continued risk to the peace, stability or security of Libya, or the completion of its political transition;
4. being engaged in or providing support for acts that threaten the peace, stability or security of Libya, or obstruct or undermine the successful completion of its political transition; or
5. owning or controlling Libyan state funds misappropriated during the former Qadhafi regime in Libya, which could be used to threaten the peace, stability or security of the country, or the completion of its political transition.

The EU also specifically lists the Libyan Investment Authority and the Libyan Africa Investment Portfolio in a separate annex of its sanctions measures. Both of those listings are implementations of UN listings.