ICC Note: As the country of Libya is still trying to find some source of stability after the removal of dictator Muammar Qaddafi, the announcement that the legal system will be based on Islamic law is worrisome for the country’s small Christian community. There are some 300,000 Coptic Christians, as well as smaller pockets of other denominations. Already Christians have been under pressure from Islamic militant groups and seeing the laws of the state also being written in a way to justify religious persecution could lead to even greater persecution.
01/12/2014 Libya (Fox News) – Libya’s recent edict that its coming constitution will be based on Shariah law has sent a chill through the North African nation’s small Christian community.
Libya’s Coptic Christians, who number about 300,000, or 5 percent of the population, were allowed to practice their faith under dictator Muammar Qaddafi. But since the strongman was ousted from power, and ultimately killed, Muslim fundamentalists have increasingly filled the power void. Last month, the national assembly voted in favor of making Koranic law, or Shariah, the basis of all legislative decisions, meaning Islam will shape all future banking, criminal and financial cases.
“Islamic law is the source of legislation in Libya,” stated the General National Congress in a statement released shortly after the vote was held. “All state institutions need to comply with this.”
A special committee has begun reviewing existing laws to ensure that they comply with Shariah, according to a recent report.
The emerging political and legal system’s orientation, combined with the rise of militants in the oil-rich nation, has left Christians feeling like the promise of democracy in the wake of Qaddafi’s fall has been broken.
“NATO went to war in Libya on the basis of a full democracy,” Patrick Sookhdeo, international director for human rights group The Barnabus Fund, told FoxNews.com. “But what we have ended up with is a fractured government in which religious extremism of the worst kind has now taken over the government.”
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