Libyan genocide (1929–1934)

The Libyan genocide, also known in Libya as Shar (Arabic: شر, lit. 'Evil'), was the genocide of Libyan Arabs and the systematic destruction of Libyan culture during and after the Second Italo-Senussi War between 1929 and 1934. During this period, between 20,000 and 100,000 Libyans were killed by Italian colonial authorities under Benito Mussolini. Nearly 50% of the population of Cyrenaica was deported and interned in concentration camps, resulting in a population decline down to 142,000 from an initial 225,000. A motive for the genocide was the settlement of Italians in Libya, which proceeded in 1934 under colonial governor Italo Balbo, who brought 20,000 settlers to Libya in 1938.

This period was marked by widespread Italian war crimes, including mass killings, ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, death marches, chemical warfare, concentration camps and refusing to take prisoners of war. The indigenous population, particularly the nomadic Bedouin tribes, faced extreme violence and suppression in an attempt to quell Senussi resistance to colonial rule, whose population was reduced by half.

News about the genocide was heavily suppressed by Fascist Italy. Evidence was largely destroyed, making remaining files in Italian concentration camps in Libya difficult to find even after the end of Fascist rule in Italy in 1945. The only camp with a record of prisoners is the Swani al-Tariya camp. However, the mass graves still attest to the genocide.