Libya

1) Ottoman period → Italian colonization (late 19th century – 1943)

• Background: Large parts of the Libyan coast were ruled by the Ottoman Empire until Italy invaded in 1911. Ottoman rule did not involve the same kind of mass, systematic repression associated with later colonialism.

• Italian colonial violence (1911–1943), and especially the Fascist period (1929–1934): Resistance — notably by Senussi forces in Cyrenaica — met brutal Italian counter-measures. During the late 1920s and early 1930s Italy implemented mass deportations and concentration camps, especially in Cyrenaica, that caused very large numbers of civilian deaths from starvation, disease and executions. Estimates and scholarly work describe this as a campaign of mass repression with tens of thousands dead and many hundreds of thousands displaced. Wikipedia

2) Monarchy, early independence (1951–1969)

• After independence (1951) under the monarchy, Libya had political tensions, but large-scale religious persecution of Muslims as a whole wasn’t the defining feature; conflicts were mainly political and tribal. Religious life remained predominantly Sunni Muslim; political instability and regional rivalries continued, setting the stage for later authoritarian rule.

3) Gaddafi era (1969–2011) — state control and repression of religious/political dissent

• Authoritarian control: Muammar Gaddafi’s regime centralized political power and tightly controlled political and religious institutions. Religious organizations were regulated; independent political Islam (organized Islamist parties or groups) was viewed as a political threat and was suppressed. People suspected of Islamist political activity were arrested, imprisoned, or forced into exile. International human-rights reports describe systematic restrictions on freedom of expression, arbitrary detention, and torture under Gaddafi. Human Rights Watch+1

• Complex relationship with Islam: Gaddafi often used Islamic rhetoric but distrusted autonomous religious authorities and political Islam. At times his government targeted groups (including some Islamist activists) — repression was political more than doctrinal, but it affected Muslims who opposed or were perceived to oppose the regime.

4) 2011 uprising and immediate aftermath

• Uprising & violent repression: In 2011 nationwide protests escalated into armed conflict as Gaddafi’s forces used heavy force against protesters. NATO intervention and the eventual overthrow of Gaddafi left a power vacuum. The post-uprising period saw revenge killings, extrajudicial executions, and widespread impunity for abuses during the conflict. Wikipedia

5) Post-2011 — militias, sectarian/intra-Muslim violence, and ISIS (2012–present)

• Militias and lawlessness: The collapse of centralized authority produced competing militias, local strongmen, and two rival governments at different times. Militias have been responsible for unlawful detention, torture, enforced disappearances, abductions, and killings. These abuses affected civilians broadly, including many Muslims who were targeted for political reasons or for belonging to rival local groups. Amnesty and HRW have repeatedly documented militia abuses and the failure to deliver justice. Amnesty International+1

• Attacks on Sufi Muslims and shrines: One of the stark intra-Muslim patterns after 2011 was violence by hardline Salafi/jihadist groups against Sufi shrines and practices. Graves and Sufi mosques were desecrated and some Sufi lodges (zawiyas) were attacked — forcing Sufis to erect guards or flee. Human Rights Watch and Reuters reported multiple attacks and growing pressure on Sufi communities from violent Islamist elements. Reuters+1

• ISIS/ISIL in Libya (especially Sirte, 2014–2016): ISIS established a presence in parts of Libya (notably Sirte) and carried out mass executions, public punishments, slavery-style abuses and campaigns of terror against civilians, including Muslims accused of “apostasy,” collaboration, or of following Sufi practices. HRW and other organizations documented killings, summary executions, and coercive rule that terrorized local Muslim populations under ISIS control. These acts amounted to war crimes and in some cases possible crimes against humanity.

6) Continuing dynamics (2020s) — impunity, displaced people, and religious freedom pressures

• Persistent impunity: Even years after the uprising, militias and armed groups often operate with near impunity. Victims of abduction, torture, and extrajudicial killing (including many Muslims targeted for political or ideological reasons) frequently have limited access to justice. Amnesty and HRW have repeatedly highlighted the failure to hold perpetrators accountable. Amnesty International+1

• Religious freedom & minority pressures: Libya remains officially majority-Sunni Muslim. Religious life can be constrained by social pressures and by violent or coercive actors (militias, extremist groups). Reports on religious minorities and converts note social and legal risks; while much of the violence is political or intra-Muslim (e.g., against Sufis or rival Islamist factions), some groups and individuals who deviate from dominant local interpretations face harassment and danger. Recent country-level dossiers summarize these pressures (e.g., persecution monitoring reports).

Key patterns & who has been oppressed

• Victims: Libyan civilians (including many Muslims) have been victims of colonial-era genocide, state repression under authoritarian rule, and violent militia/extremist campaigns after 2011. Within Muslim communities, Sufis and those with more pluralistic practices have frequently faced targeted attacks by hardline Islamist groups. Political activists labeled as “Islamists” were repressed under Gaddafi; after 2011 some Islamist factions have themselves been targeted by rival militias or governments.

• Perpetrators: Colonial Italian forces (Fascist authorities) committed mass crimes in the 1920s–30s; the Gaddafi state used arbitrary detention and torture; post-2011, militias, extremist groups (including ISIS cells), and competing armed forces have been principal perpetrators of attacks on civilians and religious sites. Human rights organizations docuent abuses across these periods.

Sources I relied on (representative, authoritative)

• On Italian colonial repression and concentration camps: historical scholarship and summaries (e.g., encyclopedia/Wikipedia entry with referenced academic sources). Wikipedia

• For post-2011 militia abuses, impunity and human-rights landscape: Amnesty International (2021) and Human Rights Watch reports (multiple years). Amnesty International+1

• On attacks against Sufi sites and intra-Muslim violence: Reuters reporting and HRW briefings on attacks on Sufi sites. Reuters+1

• On ISIS actions in Sirte and atrocities: Human Rights Watch and contemporaneous reporting (Time, HRW Sirte report). Human Rights Watch+1

• Country dossiers on religious freedom / persecution monitoring (2024–2025 summaries): persecution/monitoring organizations.

Short synthesis (in one paragraph)

Libya’s history of oppression of Muslims takes multiple forms across time: colonial-era genocide and mass internment under Fascist Italy; political repression and human-rights abuses under Gaddafi that targeted political dissent (including Islamist activists); and, after 2011, chaotic fragmentation where militias, extremist groups (including ISIS), and rival governments perpetrated killings, torture, forced displacement and attacks on religious minorities such as Sufis. The main throughline is repeated cycles of violence and impunity that have left civilians — many of them Muslims — vulnerable to political and doctrinal persecution. Wikipedia+2Human Rights Watch+2