On June 27 I was pleased to accompany the minister on his visit to Benghazi, and we thank the Canadian Forces for their assistance in providing the necessary logistics for that visit.
I think it was an important one. Just to be clear with the members, during that visit the minister had the opportunity to meet with the chair of the National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil. As well, he had an opportunity to meet with the council itself, which had over 30 members present that day, and finally with members of local civil society. He was able to have a broad sense of the National Transitional Council as well as the local population working with them through civil society.
I think the meeting was important for a few reasons. First, it gave the minister an opportunity to make clear to the Libyan opposition all of the steps that Canada has taken to support their efforts politically, militarily, and with humanitarian assistance. It was very much appreciated. They were very grateful to Canada for all the assistance to support their democratic transition.
Second, it gave us an opportunity as well to pass certain important messages to the NTC. At that meeting, the minister underlined that the international mandate was to protect civilians but the responsibility of liberating Libya rested with the NTC, and that they needed to move forward politically and militarily in order to free the rest of their country.
Third, the minister was able to acknowledge the important progress the NTC has made in establishing principles of democracy and good governance through, as I mentioned in my statement, “A Vision of a Democratic Libya” and also their road map, and to underline to them that the establishment of the principles was the first step but that the measure was really in the implementation of them. We were able to express that to them directly.
From their side, I think they were very frank with us about the challenges they face. When they created the NTC at the beginning of March, it was done quickly in response to the clear oppression of peaceful protests in Benghazi. It brought together members of the former regime as well as professionals, lawyers, who had been active in pro-democracy efforts when possible in Libya up until that time. When they assembled in Benghazi, clearly they had no idea what was ahead of them, the length of time that was required, or the challenges they would be facing as an organization in establishing themselves in a country that had no tradition of democratic or national institutions.
Clearly one of the principal challenges they face is developing a democratic culture where one didn't exist before, and in finding the tools to now take care of a territory and a population for which they are now the effective governing authority, as I mentioned in my statement.
In terms of what else we were able to assess, obviously it's important when you can see people face to face. It was very moving, I think, to see the genuine commitment of these individuals to freeing their country, their willingness to sacrifice personally, and the courage they demonstrated.
One woman member who is responsible for health issues shared with us details about a colleague of hers in Tripoli who had taken in opposition victims attacked by the Gadhafi regime. They were unable to go to the hospital because if they were found in the hospital, they were taken out because they were known to be protesters. The end is a disturbing one: her colleague had taken them into her private home, and she was discovered and apparently killed for those efforts.
Certainly understanding the gravity of what these people face.... Their determination was motivating for us to keep the determination that we need to support those efforts.