Alguns de nós já se cruzaram com a nossa colega Íman Bugaighis em ambiente socioprofissional, mas poucos conhecem a sua história de vida anterior à chegada a Portugal. Poderão não saber que Íman é pós-graduada em Ortodontia, doutorada pela Universidade de Newcastle, autora e coautora de inúmeros artigos em revistas reconhecidas da especialidade e foi diretora do Serviço de Ortodontia da Universidade de Benghazi, com o qual ainda continua a ter uma ligação informal, a nível de investigação. Mantem, no entanto, o seu lugar na Libyan Authority for Cientific Research. O reconhecimento do título de Especialista em Ortodontia foi-lhe reconhecido, não sem alguma atribulação, o ano passado pela OMD.

Íman, de nacionalidade Líbia, chegou a Portugal em 2016 pela mão da Embaixadora Ana Gomes. A sua filha juntou-se pouco tempo depois. Porta-voz do Conselho Nacional de Transição da Líbia que governou o país após a Revolução Líbia que levou à queda de Gadaffi, Íman teve de fugir do caos da guerra civil que se seguiu. O assassinato da sua irmã e repetidas ameaças de morte foram o bastante para o exilio forçado. Mas ninguém melhor que a própria Professora Íman para nos contar a sua história que se mistura com a tumultuosa história da Líbia da última década.

Dear professor Íman, to the best of my knowledge, you were born and lived in Benghazi, as a family member belonging to the city’s sociocultural elite. What made you choose Hungary for your postgraduated studies and why did you choose England for your PhD?

First of all, thank you for having me and for the very kind words.
To begin, when I was looking to apply for my master’s degree, many Libyan citizens, among other nationalities, had and are still having great difficulties getting visas to most European countries and the United States. Although those countries had excellent relationships with Gaddafi and his political circle, they had no trouble getting their visas quickly. I was accepted in the United Kingdom, where I applied as my first choice, and in Hungary as a Plan B. The British visa was delayed, and I was not guaranteed to get
it. However, I got the Hungarian visa, so I decided not to waste the year, so I went to Hungary and started my postgraduate education.

After your return from Newcastle, you went back to the Orthodontics department in the University of Benghazi. However, you had little time to settle in, as the riots leading to the 2011 revolution had started. How did you experience those times?

Despite all of Libya’s natural wealth and resources, the quality of life of the Libyans was very low, and life under a schizophrenic Tyrant was callous. The most dangerous thing he did was destroy all the institutions in the country, from the health sector to education and even the military, so he could ensure that revolting against him was impossible. In 2011, following the uprising in our neighbouring countries, Tunisia and Egypt, there were calls in my city to protest and demand social justice and democracy and resume the implementation of the constitution, which he had suspended before. In the 17 th of February 2011, about nine women and three dozen men stood on the high court steps as most protesters were judges and lawyers. We left our children with our families and thought we would not return to them, but we believed it was our duty to start a movement even if the price was our life. I believe that it is part of my responsibility as an educator and academic to pave the way for my students to have a better
education and a better future that they deserve. People started to join us, and the demands were raised to denounce the regime when the army and police started shooting, and some youngsters died. The revolt then spread to other cities, where an armed conflict continued for eight more months to liberate the whole country.

You joined the National Transition Council whose objective was to guide the change from Gaddafi’s autocracy to a new political regime. What were your new ideals for a new Libya?

We had big dreams; Our society is homogeneous. Gaddafi oppressed all except for his circle. We have a good proportion of educated professionals to lead the country’s development and paramount financial resources with a small population. We aimed for a democratic country with separation of power, social justice, and transparency to build our institutions, including the health sector and education. Unfortunately, Gaddafi had the hobby of buying weapons, and at the same time, he destroyed the military institutions so they would not revolt against him. In his last days, to counteract the revolt against his regime, he opened the military camps and forts, purposefully doing so and hoping for a civil war, which happened three years after the revolution. The duration between the beginning of the revolution and the civil war was very promising. We had hoped to build and develop our country. We had the first democratic elections, and the Libyans voted for the first time. Non-governmental organizations evolved (NGOs were banned at the time of Gaddafi). However, the fragile governmental institutions and the weak military establishment led to chaos. The spread of weapons, including tanks and antimissiles, increased exponentially, and militias were then formed firstly by counter-revolution personnel who benefitted from Gaddafi’s regime. Afterwards, numerous youngsters joined the militias to get easy money. In addition to this, Libya saw the interference of regional and international powers, mainly due to their interests in Libya’s vast oil and mineral resources.

When did you realize that Libya was not going in the direction you envisioned?

It happened gradually. By the end of 2013, a wave of assassinations started in my city, Benghazi. It started becoming clear that those targeted were those with prominent backgrounds and involvement in the revolution and those who held strong democratic ideologies for the future of our country. Once the militias held strongholds in different cities across the country, there was no return to restoring what we built in 2012. We as a family received many death threats, especially my sister, who was a human rights lawyer. She was a public figure advocating and working hard for reconciliation and ending the impunity for whoever destabilised the country. My sister left our city for three months, and then she insisted on returning to cast her vote in the Parliamentarian elections, which took place in 2014. On the same night of the election day, she was assassinated in her house, and her husband was kidnapped until today. I moved immediately to Jordan, hoping that there would be a serious investigation into the crime, which did not happen, and the city entered a whole civil war. I was in denial in the beginning. It took me over a year to accept that the chaos would last longer than I hoped. Subsequently, I moved to Portugal to keep my daughter safe and to move on with my life until the right time comes when I can contribute somehow in developing my country.