A/HRC/17/44
Annex II
Glossary of terms
Abu Salim: top security prison in Tripoli where over 1200 prisoners were killed in 1996
after a riot.
Amazigh: also known as Berbers though that term is not favoured. They constitute the
original population of North-West Africa before Arab populations arrived in the seventh
century CE and the two populations are now largely mixed. Tmazight is their distinct
language which has its own alphabet.
Al-Amn al-Am: Public Security Agency.
Baltaji/Baltajiyah: plain-clothed individuals engaged alongside security forces in activities
to disrupt demonstrations, sometimes using batons, sometimes firearms or driving through
crowds.
Al-Haras al-Thawri: Revolutionary Guard.
Hayat Amn al-Jamahiriya: Jamahiriya Security Organization.
Ibadi Muslims: heirs of a minority that refused the Sunni-Shi‟a division in the early days
of Islam. There are Ibadis in North and East Africa as well as Oman. Most of the Amazigh
population of Libya are Ibadis. They pray together with other Muslims.
Jamahiriya: literally the State of the masses, used in the official name of the Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya.
Jihaz al-Amn al-Dakhili: Internal Security Agency (ISA).
Jihaz al-Amn al-Khariji: External Security Agency (ESA).
Katiba/Kata’eb: translates as brigade but in Libya it refers to special uniformed units
under the sole command of Colonel Qadhafi‟s inner circle, including his sons. They are
separate from the regular army and some of these units are better equipped than the army.
Al-Lajnah al-Thawriya/Al-Lijan al-Thawriyah: Revolutionary Committee.
Liwaa al-Redah: Deterrence Division, one of the Kata‟eb.
Qabilah/Qabael: tribe.
Al-Qaida: a radical Sunni Islamist group engaging in global political violence under the
guise of religion. It was founded by Osama bin Laden in the late 1980s with Arab volunteer
fighters in Afghanistan and then expanded to conduct numerous terrorist acts in many areas
of the world. Its network comprises regional branches including one in the “Islamic
Maghreb”.
Quryna: a privately owned Libyan newspaper published in print and on the Internet, based
in Benghazi, it was part of Al-Ghad Media Corporation owned by Saif al-Islam Qadhafi
until the state took it over.
Quwat al-Da’m al-Markazi: Central Support Forces, specializing in crowd control.
Thawrat al-Fateh: Al-Fateh Revolution of 1 September 1969.
76
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents