Libya: EU imposes arms embargo and targeted sanctions

The Coun­cil of the Euro­pean Union adopt­ed today a deci­sion imple­ment­ing the UN Secu­ri­ty Coun­cil Res­o­lu­tion on Libya of 26 Feb­ru­ary (UNSCR 1970/2011) and impos­ing addi­tion­al restric­tive mea­sures against those respon­si­ble for the vio­lent crack­down on the civil­ian pop­u­la­tion.¹ In line with Saturday’s deci­sion by the UNSC, the Coun­cil banned the sup­ply to Libya of arms, ammu­ni­tion and relat­ed mate­r­i­al. In addi­tion to the UN mea­sures, the Coun­cil also pro­hib­it­ed trade with Libya in equip­ment which might be used for inter­nal repres­sion.

The Coun­cil enact­ed the fol­low­ing UN measures: 

• a visa ban on 16 per­sons, includ­ing Muam­mar Qad­hafi, parts of his fam­i­ly close­ly asso­ci­at­ed with the regime and oth­er per­sons respon­si­ble for the vio­lent crack­down on the civil­ian pop­u­la­tion since 15 February;
• a freeze of the assets of Muam­mar Qad­hafi and five mem­bers of his family.

The Coun­cil also adopt­ed as autonomous mea­sures a visa ban on an addi­tion­al 10 indi­vid­u­als and an asset freeze on a fur­ther 20 indi­vid­u­als respon­si­ble for the vio­lent crack­down on the civil­ian population. 

On 23 Feb­ru­ary, the Euro­pean Union expressed its grave con­cern about the sit­u­a­tion unfold­ing in Libya. It strong­ly con­demned the vio­lence and use of force against civil­ians and deplored the repres­sion against peace­ful demon­stra­tors which has result­ed in the deaths of hun­dreds of civil­ians. It called for an imme­di­ate end to the use of force and for steps to address the legit­i­mate demands of the pop­u­la­tion, includ­ing through nation­al dialogue.

The deci­sion tak­en today will be kept under review. It will be pub­lished in the Offi­cial Jour­nal in the com­ing days. 

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¹ The deci­sion was adopt­ed with­out dis­cus­sion at today’s meet­ing of the Trans­port, Tele­coms and Ener­gy Council. 

Source:
Coun­cil of the Euro­pean Union 

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