Libya: Situation of disabled persons (2002-June 2004)

Country Reports 2003 maintained that if there were government initiatives to assist disabled persons, information on such initiatives was not available (25 Feb. 2004, sec. 5). However, in its 2002 publication, the Landmine Monitor Report 2002 indicated that Libya offers medical and social assistance to disabled persons (including, but not exclusive to, landmine victims) (ICBL). Costs associated with medical care, social reintegration and employment opportunities for those with a disability, are all assumed by the State (ICBL 2002). In addition, the report mentioned transportation benefits, even special personal vehicles designed for disabled persons, that were covered to various extents by the Libyan government (ibid.).

On 9 January 1998, the United Nations' Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNICEF) published the information that follows, representing the State's view on its handling of the situation of disabled persons. The Libyan government passed a law in 1981 which "identified the mentally and physically retarded and disabled." The law set out to provide housing, home care, education, prosthetic limbs, and rehabilitation to disabled persons. In addition, under the law, the government would confer tax reductions and financial assistance to those living with a disability, not including the Social Security fund provided by the government to provide relief to the disabled. The government also set out to facilitate access to public transportation for those with a physical or mental disability. UNICEF further noted that the United Nations approved a Libyan proposal to create an International Year for the Disabled. Finally, the UNICEF report indicated that the government was involved in disability prevention research and had established 46 centres throughout urban and rural Libya whose primary goal was the care, education, and rehabilitation of disabled persons.

The World Health Organization mentions the name of a Libyan law that "regulates health, training, rehabilitation, education, housing, family, disability, and old-age benefits," the so-called "Decision No. 111 of 9 December 1999 of the General People's Committee on the promulgation of the By-law Enforcement Law No. 20 of 1998 on the Social Care Fund" (N.d.). However, further details about the law, and more recent information on the situation of disabled persons in Libya could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2003. 25 February 2004. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. [Accessed: 8 June 2004]

International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). 2002. Landmine Monitor Report 2002. [Accessed: 8 June 2004]

United Nations (UN). Committee on the Rights of the Child. 9 January 1998. "Committee on Rights of Child Concludes Considerations of the Report of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya." [Accessed: 8 June 2004]

World Health Organization (WHO). N.d. "International Digest of Health Legislation." [Accessed: 8 June 2004]

Additional Sources Consulted

Disabled Peoples' International

Unsuccessful attempts to contact the Disabled Medical Center in Benghazi, the Libyan Red Crescent, and the World Health Organization (WHO)

Websites, including: Al-Fajral Al-Jadeed, Amnesty International (AI), Arabic News, Disabled Peoples International, European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI), Freedom House, Human Rights Watch (HRW), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Jamaharia News Agency, World's Most Repressive Regimes, World News Connection (WNC)