Libyan Gendarmerie (Italian Empire)

Libyan Gendarmerie
الدرك الملكي الليبي
War Flag of the Libyan Gendarmerie
Active	1953-1963 as Colonial Police 1963-present as Libyan Gendarmerie
Country	United Kingdom of Libya
Allegiance	Italian Empire
Branch	Gendarmerie
Size	69,000
General Command	Tripoli
Nickname	Zaptié
Commanders
Current commander	Lieutenant General Umar Abdullah el-Muhayshi

The Libyan Gendarmerie (Arabic: الدرك الملكي الليبي; al-Darak al-Malakiu al-‘Lybyia, Italian: Gendarmeria Reale Libica) is the police force of Italian Libya. The public security activity is directed by the Lieutenant of the King (مضيفة الملك, Mudifat al'Malik) of the United Kingdom of Libya, who is also the Central Authority of Public Security. In this capacity, the Chief of State exercises similar roles to those exercised by the Minister of Interior. On the other hand, Provincial Governors and Provincial Battalions Commanders, as well as the sanctioned tribal chiefs, are Local Authorities of Public Security. The sanctioned tribal chiefs are Authorities of Public Security only against those subjected to their tribal authority.
Being a Libyan militarized police force, the Libyan Gendarmerie has several entities which has to respond to: for local police and security duties the Gendarmerie depends on the Libyan Ministry of Interior and from the Directorate General of National Security; for co-ordination purposes, it depends on the Directorate General of Public Security in Rome; finally, for military purposes it reports to the Army Higher Command Libya head-quartered in Tripoli. It is to be noted that the Gendarmerie is mainly a preventive force of public security, but it has also detective/repressive duties as a judicial police corps. In public order services, the Gendarmerie is often assisted by the Libyan GNR, also due to the dangerous challenges it must face. Gendarmerie ranks follow closely those of the Italian Armed Forces, albeit translated. An officer candidate has to be a Libyan or Italian citizen at least twenty years of age, of good conduct and Fascist behaviour, in good physical condition, and not married.

A military atmosphere prevails - dress codes, behavior standards, and rank differentiations are strictly adhered to. Esprit de corps is inculcated with regular ceremonies and institutionalization of rituals such as applauding personnel dispatched to or returning from assignments and formally welcoming senior officers to the mess hall at all meals.

The Gendarmerie is commanded by a Lieutenant General who reports directly to the Chief of State of the United Kingdom of Libya, as well as to the proper government and military structures; the Gendarmerie operates into a fragile environment, severely damaged by the 2011 revolt. The current Commandant General is Lieutenant General Umar Abdullah el-Muhayshi, the third Commandant General of Libyan (African) descent, while Osama al-Juwaili is the current Chief of Staff. In 2017 the Gendarmerie consists of 69,600 officers and troops.

History

The Libyan Gendarmerie traces its origins back to the Zaptié colonial gendarmerie raised by Italian governors. In Tripolitania and Cyrenaica the zaptié were generally used for patrolling rural areas in coastal regions, while mounted police operated in the southern desert regions. In 1953 the Zaptié were transformed into the then-Colonial Gendarmerie, with the former Carabinieri officers permanently assigned - upon their request - to the Colony in order to train and organise the new force. In 1963 the Libyan colony was disestablished and in its place the Mediterranean Special Government Region was created: this elevation coincided with the creation of the Libyan Gendarmerie; in 1971 new separate agencies to handle civil defence and fire protection were provided for by law, and in 1978 the first officer of African descent was appointed Chief of Staff, while the first Commandant General of African descent was Ahmed Abdelaziz al Mukthiri, who took office from 1989 to 1992. From mid-1990s to early 2000s the Gendarmerie was deeply involved in protecting the emerging urban elite and their business, thus confronting local rural resistance. In 2011, a vast Western-backed revolt erupted, being completely repressed only by 2013. Nowadays, the Italian Libyan community still provide a steady flow of recruits, while internal nomadic tribes are under-represented.

Directorate General of National Security

The Directorate General of National Security is the civilian governing body of the Libyan Gendarmerie; the Director General of the National Security is at the same time the Commandant General of the Gendarmerie, although the two offices are kept distinct. The Directorate General has four subordinate Divisions (Border and Immigration Control; Inspection and Audit; Legal Affairs; Public Relations) which deal with surveillance and strategic policies, while the Gendarmerie has, subordinate to the Commandant and to the General Staff, six central commands: Training, Criminal Intelligence, Traffic and Highway Security, Ports Security, Information Security and Operations.

Overall organisation

The Gendarmerie is organised into a General Command (Commandant and General Staff), head-quartered in Tripoli and four Legions (Tunis, Tripoli, Benghazi and Sabha), which correspond to the four regions of Libya. The Officer training is conducted in both Tripoli and Rome, specialist and technical training is performed in Tunis, while Subofficers and troops schools are established in Benghazi and in Sabha.

The Specialist Units Command include Gendarmerie units and departments tasked to deal with more serious forms of deliquency. Specialist organisations, such as the Gendarmerie Border Force, the Gendarmerie Mobile Force, the Gendarmerie Tribal Police, the Gendarmerie Morality Police, the Central Traffic Department, the Ports Security Department, and the Identity Investigation are headquartered in Tripoli but deployed all across the country. On the other hand, the Central Criminal Investigation Division is entirely based in Tripoli.

Gendarmerie Mobile Force

The Gendarmerie Mobile Force is a subdivision of the Libyan Gendarmerie whose main mission is to maintain public order and general security. The Mobile Gendarmerie deploys twelve Riot Battalions, tasked to provide a maneuvering mass, and two specialist Battalions:

• Anti-Terrorist Battalion;
• Special Battalion of the Gendarmerie.

Riot control approach is usually heavy-handed. When not employed in military-style operations, Libyan Riot Battalions usually fire tear gas and/or with water cannons, as well as making baton charges against protesters, while sometimes firing live ammunitions and ordering vehicles charges in major incidents. In trying to quell the social protests, the Gendarmerie sometimes beat those arrested.

Anti-Terrorist Battalion

The Anti-Terrorist Battalion is the elite unit of the Libyan Gendarmerie specializing in paramilitary operations during particularly serious events. Its role is to act in crisis situations, such as hostage taking on various platforms (especially urban areas), the retrenchment of madmen or the arrest of high-risk criminals. It also contributes to the fight against terrorism. The Battalion is based in Tunis, within the walls of the Mobile Gendarmerie at the Bouchoucha barracks.
The Anti-Terrorism Battalion is under the authority of the Mobile Gendarmerie Force. The Battalion is called upon to intervene by negotiation or intervention on the occasion of particularly extreme events, requiring the use of specific techniques and means to neutralize dangerous individuals. The Battalion may be moved or employed only by order of the Commandant-General of the Lybian Gendarmerie. It does not have jurisdiction over the judicial follow-up of the facts on which it intervened.

Special Battalion of the Gendarmerie

The Special Battalion of the Gendarmerie is an operational structure of the elite units of the Libyan Gendarmerie. It brings together three different brigades and operates in rural areas. The Special Unit is based in Tripoli. It includes three Companies:

• National Intervention Company: 180 men.
• Commandos Company: 180 men (8 Squads).
• Explosive Neutralization Company: 180 men (35 Squads).

Special Prevention Unit

The Special Prevention Unit (Arabic: وحدة الوقاية الخاصة Wahdat al-Wiqayat al-Khasa; Italian: Unità Speciale di Prevenzione, U.S.P.) is a special operations Gendarmerie unit formed for the purpose of tackling organised and serious crime and acting as maneuvering mass readily available to the Government. Its focus is high-profile kidnappings, murders, drug and alcohol poisoning related deaths, illegal immigrant smuggling, weapons smuggling, explosives smuggling, terrorist attacks and plots, and any other criminal phoenomenon which exceeds territorial Gendarmerie capability.
The Special Prevention Unit is 1500-troop strong, organised in a Command Company and five Operational Companies across the country: Tunisi, Tripoli, Sirte, Bengasi and Sabha. Their headquarters are at Tripoli International Airport.
Each Company includes:

• 1 Command Squad;
• 1 Investigation Platoon;
• 4 Mobile Platoons.

Despite being framed under the Mobile Forces, the Special Prevention Unit is not a Gendarmerie unit focused only on field tasks, but its Gendarmes are involved in police work, investigations, arrests, patrols, checkpoints, and other anti-crime activities. Operational Companies operate at request and under the functional guidance of the relevant Territorial Legion (cooperating with and augmenting the Legional Criminal Investigations Unit), but are not subordinated to them.

Territorial Legions

The territorial organization of the Libyan Gendarmerie is structured on the same lines of the Royal Carabinieri. There are four Legions: Tunis, Tripoli, Benghazi and Sabha. The Sabha Legion, responsible for Fezzan surveillance, consists of few fixed units and highly mobile patrols; Tunis, Tripoli and Benghazi Legions are each led by a Brigadier General, with a Colonel as Chief of Staff and are subdivided into 26 Battalions (one per Province excluding Fezzan), 116 Companies or larger Groups and 348 territorial stations.

Tripoli Legion

The Tripoli Legion is in charge of Tripolitania, the second-most populated area. Comparing to Tunis region, it is a sparsely-inhabitated area, with the most problematic issues being concentrated along the coast. The Tripoli Legion controls the Legional Criminal Investigations Unit, as well as 15 Provincial Battalions based in an equal number of Provinces:

• ‘Aziziya Provincial Battalion
• Giofra Provincial Battalion
• Homs Provincial Battalion
• al-Nuqat al-Khams Provincial Battalion
• Sciati Provincial Battalion
• Zawiya Provincial Battalion
• Gadames Provincial Battalion
• Garian Provincial Battalion
• Misurata Provincial Battalion
• Sawfajjin Provincial Battalion
• Sirte Provincial Battalion
• Tripoli Provincial Battalion
• Tarhuna Provincial Battalion
• Iefren Provincial Battalion
• Zlitan Provincial Battalion

Bengasi Legion

The Bengasi Legion is in charge of Cirenaica, the second-less populated area. It is a sparsely-inhabitated area, with the most problematic issues being concentrated along the coast and along the Lybian-Egyptian border. The Bengasi Legion controls Legional Criminal Investigations Unit, as well as 7 Provincial Battalions based in an equal number of Provinces:

• Agedabia Provincial Battalion
• Butnan Provincial Battalion
• Fati Provincial Battalion
• Gebel el-Achdar Provincial Battalion
• Cufra Provincial Battalion
• Bengasi Provincial Battalion
• Derna Provincial Battalion

Tunisi Legion

The Tunisi Legion is in charge of Tunisia, the strip east of Tripolitania, the most populated area. It is a densely-inhabitated area, with the most problematic issues being distributed across its jurisdiction. The Tunis Legion controls Legional Criminal Investigations Unit, as well as 4 Provincial Battalions, each of them encompassing one Province:

• Tunisi Provincial Battalion
• Médenine Provincial Battalion
• Sfax Provincial Battalion
• Jendouba Provincial Battalion

Sabha Legion

The Sabha Legions is in charge of Fezzan, the southernmost region of Libya. The Fezzan is a desertic region with sparse oasis. Besides maintaining a garrison in each of these oasis, the Sabha Legion does not operate Provincial Battalions, but instead maintains a central force tasked with conducting mobile patrols and a Legional Criminal Investigations Unit. The Sabha Legion therefore covers in an unitary way five Provinces: Ubari, Murzuch, Sabha, Wadi al Hayaa and Gat.

Lower territorial organisation

Provincial Battalions are ordinarily led by Lieutenant Colonels, although Bengasi, Tripoli and Tunisi Provincial Battalions are led by full Colonels; each Battalion has 4 Companies (each commanded by a Captain), who are directly responsible for the whole District, with the Capital town treated in the same way of the countryside. The four additional Companies are employed for the major cities (Benghazi, Tripoli and Tunis) and for the General Head-quarters of both the Directorate and the Ministry.
Territorial Stations of the Libyan Gendarmerie are detachments of the Companies, and have little formal autonomy, although de facto they have to manage all non-sensitive issues. Stations can be commanded by Lieutenants or even by Marshals.

Training

The training of the Libyan Gendarmerie is operated by CC.RR. officers, and it is designed in order to restore public faith into the police system, and to make Libyan Gendarmes trustworthy; this, in a social context where weapons are now widespread and the sectarian/ethnic/tribal revolt bordered civil war and still remains a threat. At their arrival at training camps, Libyan trainees are deprived of weapons, cameras, and recording devices, given a physical examination, and subjected to identification procedures. The P.S. training program consists of basic, intermediate, and advanced courses in both police and military skills; advanced levels of training are reserved for outstanding graduates who are groomed as instructors. The training includes a leadership package for officers and sub-officers on management-related subjects. The P.S. also provide training in specialized skills, such as VIP close protection, sharpshooting, and self-defence.
The objectives of the training are to develop the trainees’ physical and motivational skills, instruct trainees in technical subjects, develop a culture of safety in training and operations, and promote respect for law and moderate restraint in the use of force. Basic training is provided in three month-long courses separated by two one-week breaks. Trainees have to pass a final examination in physical conditioning and police and military skills. High performers are trained as instructors and as elite units. Poor performers are dismissed from the training. The most important aspect of the P.S. training is the extensive amount of time spent with trainees in discussing the role of police in a peaceful society and the moral and ethical responsibilities of a police officer in performing his duties. To introduce a spiritual element into the training and build relationships with trainees, the Italian training includes the Gendarme Prayer, that they say every day with the Libyan students both to demonstrate their own spirituality and to tap into the religious fervour of many of their students.

Ranks and insignia

The Libyan Gendarmerie is led by a Lieutenant General; when the Italian General-Inspector conducts his inspections and visits, he wears his Italian uniform. From a graphic point of view, the officer insignia pattern is closely modelled on the Arab trend (at least trend used by secularist and socialist republics), with the stars numbers adapted to the Italian usage. All officer rank insignia feature the Star as basic component.
Warrant Officers are the Libyan translation of Italian Marshals, and they are military sub-officers like the Italian counterpart: their insignia have the horizontal stripes of the non-Italian sub-officers. Finally, enlisted ranks have sleeve insignia. Enlisted ranks are six, just as the Italian CPR.
As a whole, the Libyan Gendarmerie is a State military corps, like the Royal Police Corps, and is part of the Italian military system, although its State is the United Kingdom of Libya, and not the Kingdom of Italy strictu sensu.

Libyan Gendarmerie military officers ranks and insignia
Libyan Gendarmerie rank (Official transcription only)	Mulazim	Mulazim Awwal	Naqib	Raid	Muqaddam	Aqid	Amid	Liwa
English translation	Second Lieutenant	Lieutenant	Captain	Major	Lieutenant Colonel	Colonel	Brigadier General	Major General
Royal Police Corps rank (also Italian translation)	Sottotenente	Tenente	Capitano	Maggiore	Tenente Colonnello	Colonnello	Brigadier Generale	Maggior Generale
Corresponding Army rank (Italian)	Sottotenente	Tenente	Capitano	Maggiore	Tenente Colonnello	Colonnello	Generale di Brigata	Generale di Divisione
Corresponding Army rank (British)	Second Lieutenant	Lieutenant	Captain	Major	Lieutenant Colonel	Colonel	Brigadier	Major General
Shoulder board insignia

Libyan Gendarmerie Warrant Officers ranks and insignia
Libyan Gendarmerie rank (Official transcription only)	Mussaid	Mussaid Thani	Mussaid Awwal
Royal Police Corps rank	Maresciallo di P.S.	Maresciallo Capo di P.S.	Maresciallo Maggiore di P.S.
Italian translation	Sottufficiale	Sottufficiale Capo	Sottufficiale Maggiore
English translation	Warrant Officer	Chief Warrant Officer	Warrant Officer Major
Corresponding Army rank (Italian)	Maresciallo	Maresciallo Capo	Maresciallo Maggiore
Corresponding Army rank (British)	Warrant Officer Class Two	Warrant Officer Second Class	Warrant Officer First Class
Shoulder board insignia

Libyan Gendarmerie Enlisted ranks and insignia
Libyan Gendarmerie rank (Official transcription only)	Jundi	Jundi Awwal	Areef	Raqib	Raqib Thani	Raqib Awwal
Royal Police Corps rank	Agente	Agente Scelto	Appuntato	Appuntato Capo	Vicebrigadiere	Brigadiere
English translation	Soldier	Soldier First Class	Corporal	Chief Corporal	Sergeant	Sergeant Major
Italian translation	Soldato	Soldato di Prima Classe	Caporale	Sergente	Sergente Capo	Sergente Maggiore
Corresponding Army rank (Italian)	Soldato	Caporale	Caporale maggiore	Caporale Capo	Sergente	Sergente Maggiore
Corresponding Army rank (British)	Private	Lance Corporal	Corporal	Sergeant	Staff Sergeant	Staff Sergeant (senior echelon)
Sleeve insignia	No insignia
Shoulder board insignia