Salwa Bugaighis (24 April 1963 – 25 June 2014) was a Libyan

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

. She was assassinated in

Benghazi Benghazi () () is the List of cities in Libya, second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, Ben ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

on 25 June 2014.

Life and career

Bugaighis was from a prominent Benghazi family and trained as a lawyer at Garyounis University in Benghazi. In the years prior to the February 2011 revolution in Libya, Bugaighis defended the cases of a number of ex-political prisoners against the government of

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

. She joined some of the first protests in Benghazi against Muammar Gaddafi in February 2011 with a group of lawyers and other civil society activists. Bugaighis became a founding member of and adviser to Libya's

National Transitional Council The National Transitional Council (NTC) was a transitional government established in the 2011 Libyan civil war. After rebel forces overthrew the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of Muammar Gaddafi in August 2011, the NTC governed Libya for a further ...

which governed the country during and after the uprising. Her sister, Iman, a professor of orthodontics, was the spokesperson for the Council. Salwa resigned her position after three months to protest against the absence of women in the new government and the lack of proper democratic practice in the council. She also opposed moves to make the wearing of the hijab compulsory, and her views brought her into conflict with Islamist extremists. Before her assassination, Bugaighis served as deputy chair of a National Dialogue Commission, a commission appointed by the then prime minister of Libya, Ali Zeydan, whose objective was to bridge Libya's factional divide. She was mentor to many civil-society activists, particularly young ones. She had updated Facebook with pictures of herself voting on the day she was killed.

Assassination

On 25 June 2014, Bugaighis was shot through the head by a group of four gunmen who broke into her house, wounding a security guard and abducting her husband, Essam al-Ghariani. There was a very strong reaction to her murder. A large number of Benghazi women went out in the streets to protest this crime in the days following her death. Human rights activists and organizations have organized many events in her memory inside and outside of Libya, and she has become an icon of the fight for freedom and democracy in Libya. Fariha al-Berkawi, a member of the

General National Congress The General National Congress or General National Council (GNC; ) was the Legislature, legislative authority of Libya for two years following the end of the First Libyan Civil War. It was elected by popular vote on 7 July 2012, and took power f ...

who strongly condemned Bughaighis' death, was shot by a gunman at a gas station in Derna three weeks later, on 17 July 2014.

International reactions

The US Ambassador to Libya, Deborah Jones, said the killing was "heartbreaking". British ambassador

Michael Aron Michael Douglas Aron (born 22 March 1959) is a British diplomat who has been Ambassador to Kuwait, Iraq, Libya and Sudan, and Yemen. Career Aron was educated at Exeter School, Leeds University and the Polytechnic of Central London. He taugh ...

tweeted "devastated about horrific murder" and called Bugaighis a "leading light of the 17 February revolution and human rights champion". US National Security Advisor Susan Rice, reflecting on meeting Bugaighis, said "I was deeply impressed by her courage, leadership and dedication to building a peaceful, democratic Libya where the rights and freedoms of all Libyan women and men are respected and protected."

Personal life

Her family is known for its diversity. She had a brother affiliated in the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated

Justice and Construction Party In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes'' of Justinian, a ...

. She had three sons. Her cousins are Laila Bugaighis, a Libyan physician and women's rights activist and Wafa Bughaighis, a peace and education activist and the former Libyan ambassador to the United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bughaighis, Salwa 2014 deaths University of Benghazi alumni Members of the National Transitional Council People of the Libyan civil war (2011) People from Benghazi 1963 births Assassinated Libyan people People murdered in Libya Libyan human rights activists Libyan women activists 2014 murders in Libya Assassinations in Libya Women in the Libyan civil war (2011)