Libya: Current information on the activities of the General Union of Students of Libya in the USA and Canada, and whether it is associated with the Libyan National Alliance and the National Front for the Salvation of Libya (Inqadh)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 May 1997 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | LBY26852.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Libya: Current information on the activities of the General Union of Students of Libya in the USA and Canada, and whether it is associated with the Libyan National Alliance and the National Front for the Salvation of Libya (Inqadh), 1 May 1997, LBY26852.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6acbb18.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The following information was obtained by the DIRB in a 16 May 1997 telephone interview with a professor of political science at the University of Texas in San Antonio and author of a recent book on Libyan politics.
The General Union of Students of Libya (GUSL) is associated with all of the Libyan opposition groups. The GUSL operates entirely in exile, and its raison d'être is to oppose the Libyan government. Although all GUSL members oppose the Libyan government, they do not all belong to or support the same opposition groups. The GUSL has members in both the USA and Canada.
The following address for the General Union of Students of Libya was found on an Internet web site called "Libyan Organizations:" PO Box 24191, Lexington, KY 40524, USA. An inquiry with long distance information yielded no telephone number for the General Union of Students of Libya. This web site also provides an address for the National Front for the Salvation of Libya: 117 W. Harrison Building, 6th floor, Suite A246, Chicago, IL 60605, USA. An inquiry with long distance information yielded no telephone number for the National Front for the Salvation of Libya.
For more information on Libyan opposition groups, please see Response to Information Request LBY23225.E of 7 March 1997 and its attachments. For references to student-based Libyan opposition groups, please see pages 204-206 of Revolutionary and Dissident Movements (1991), and pages 164-165 of Political Parties of Africa and the Middle East (1993), both of which are available at Regional Documentation Centres.
For more information on the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, please see the attachment below.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please see below a list of other sources consulted by the DIRB in preparing this Response.
References
"Libyan Organizations." [Internet] [accessed on 22 May 1997]
Professor of political science, University of Texas, San Antonio. 16 May 1997. Telephone interview.
Attachment
Extremist Groups: An International Compilation of Terrorist Organizations, Violent Political Groups and Issue-Oriented Militant Movements. 1996. Compiled and analyzed by Jeffrey A. Builta. Edited by John Murray and Richard H. Ward. Chicago: Office of International Criminal Justice, pp. 718-719.
Additional Sources Consulted
Amnesty International. 1991. Amnesty International's Prisoner Concerns in the Light of Recent Legal Reforms.
_____. Amnesty International Report 1996. 1996.
Country Reports for Human Rights Practices 1996. 1997.
Keesing's Record of World Events. 1995, 1996, 1997.
Libya: A Country Study. 1989.
"Libya." [Internet]
Political Handbook of the World 1994-1995. 1994.
Political Parties of the World. 3rd ed. 1988.
Computerized databases: Global NewsBank, Refmedia (DIRB), NEXIS, World News Connection.