Salwa Bugaighis
Salwa Bugaighis played an active role in the 2011 uprising against Colonel Gaddafi. The human rights lawyer was known for opposing armed militias and radical Islamic extremists. Salwa Bugaighis was also a former member of the National Transitional Council (NTC). On 26 June 2014, human rights lawyer Ms Salwa Bugaighis was shot dead inside her home in Benghazi by a group of unidentified men wearing military uniforms.
Libya remains a country mired in political turmoil as competing political factions vie for power amid a landscape marked by the rise of independent localized militas, some of which have aligned with forces loyal to the former regime or with transnational Islamist movements.
Human rights defenders (HRDs) remain at severe risk due to the general insecurity and the spread of the armed conflict across the country. HRDs have been victims of assassinations, kidnappings, violent attacks, torture and unlawful detentions. The situation deteriorated further when armed groups took control of major cities. The closure of foreign diplomatic missions also affected HRDs as it deprived them of a support network.
