The Embassy of the United States has moved.

The Chancery is located off Jeraba Street directly behind the Libyan Swiss Clinic. The main Embassy number is 091-220-3239.The Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy is located at the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence, on the connection road between Al Serraj and Al Krimia in the Serraj neighborhood.  The Chinese Ambassador’s residence is on the same road.  The Consular Section’s phone number is 091-220-0125.  This also remains the after-hours number for emergencies involving American citizens.  While the Consular Section provides walk-in service for some services such as notarials and adding visa pages, please call for an appointment if possible.  U.S. visa applications for residents of Libya are processed by the U.S. Embassy in Tunis.

Secretary Rice Announces the Publication of the “Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2007”

Remarks by Secretary Rice, March 11, 2008, Washington D.C.

 

Good afternoon. I am pleased today to join Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor – Jonathan Farrar – in announcing the publication of the “Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2007”.

 

In every region of the world, men and women are working peacefully, and often at great risk to themselves and their families, to secure human rights and fundamental freedoms, to follow their consciences and speak their minds without fear, to choose those who would govern them and to hold their leaders accountable and to achieve equal justice under the law.

 

These aspirations, though common to all of us, are unfortunately still denied to millions worldwide, often by their own governments. In too many countries, champions of human rights are denounced and persecuted, vilified as traitors or targeted for repression – just for insisting upon the freedoms enshrined in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 

In other countries, even in those that have recently begun transitions to democracy, human rights are not fully secured, perhaps because of weak institutions or corruption, which undermine the rule of law, perhaps because of conflict or insecurity, which intrude upon the liberty of individuals, or perhaps because of crushing poverty and disease, which can cause even the most stalwart citizens to lose hope that their lives will improve.

 

A nation’s path to a future of human rights protected by law is neither smooth nor straight. Along the way, there are bound to be stumbles and setbacks. Even under the best of circumstances, it is not easy to transform democratic ideals into effective democratic institutions. Yet despite every challenge, the courageous champions of human rights persevere. They are an inspiration to their fellow citizens and to all of us. The high standard that they set continues to give hope to people everywhere who work peacefully for their liberty, their dignity, and their rights.

 

We gather today to support them and it is our hope that this Human Rights Report will highlight the obstacles that still stand in their way, so that they may bear the mantle of justice at least -- at less risk to themselves and to their families. This document is collected and written with the optimism that no corner of the earth is permanently condemned to tyranny. As President Bush has said, “Freedom can be resisted, and freedom can be delayed, but freedom cannot be denied.” In the long run, we are confident that citizens who sacrifice for their dignity and their rights will prevail, just as the Havels and the Mandelas did before them.

 

Change may, indeed change will, take time, but change will come. As long as citizens around the world champion the universal values of human rights, there is hope. And we, in the United States, continue to believe that it is our duty to support these courageous men and women. And it is in that spirit that I am pleased to present these Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2007.

 

Please click here to read the 2007 Libya Country Report (English).

Application Fees for Non-Immigrant Visas to Increase

Effective January 1, 2008, the application fee for a U.S. non-immigrant visa will increase from $100 to $131.  This increase allows the Department to recover the costs of security and other enhancements to the non-immigrant visa application process. 

The Department is required by law to attempt to recover the cost of processing non-immigrant visas through the collection of the Machine-Readable Visa application fee. Because of new security-related costs, new information technology systems, and inflation, the $100 Machine-Readable Visa fee is lower than the actual cost of processing non-immigrant visas.  In fact, the $100 fee was already lower than the cost of processing non-immigrant visas when the fee was reviewed as a part of the cost of service study in 2004.  The Department has been absorbing the additional cost.  We are now collecting 10 fingerprints from each applicant, and the cost charged by the FBI to review those fingerprints no longer allows us to do this.  The application fee has increased twice since September 11, 2001, the last time in 2002.   

Executive Summary of the International Religious Freedom Report

Promotion of religious freedom is a core objective of U.S. foreign policy (link)

2007 Libya IRF report(English)

2007 Libya IRF report(Arabic)

Educational and Training Opportunities in the U.S.  (link)

U.S. Agencies Ramp Up Science, Technical Collaboration in Libya Washington -- A year after renewal of U.S.-Libyan diplomatic relations, scientists from technical agencies in both nations are moving forward on a range of collaborations.  Activities include health care delivery, water management, seismic monitoring, solar power technology and science education.  (more)

Diversity Visa Applicants Must Meet Eligibility Requirements

Washington -- Each year, the State Department holds a lottery -- a computerized random drawing -- to select the names of persons who may apply for one of the 50,000 visas made available through the Diversity Immigrant Visa program. (more)

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BRIEFINGS AND STATEMENTS:

Secretary Rice: Travel to Russia and the Middle East, October 11-18, 2007

The Secretary will visit Moscow with Secretary of Defense Gates October 12-13 to engage in strategic security talks with their Russian counterparts, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Defense Anatoliy Serdyukov. The discussions will center on a number of security issues of mutual concern, including cooperation in the area of Missile Defense.  (more)

Testimony of Ambassador David M. Satterfield

Senior Advisor to the Secretary
and Coordinator for Iraq David M. Satterfield
Before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
United States House of Representatives
October 2, 2007

Chairman Waxman, Ranking Member Davis, members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me here today and for the opportunity to speak to the vital security that private security firms provide to our State Department personnel. (more)

On-the-Record Briefing After Secretary Rice's Meeting with the P-5 Plus Germany Plus EU

R. Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs

Waldorf-Astoria
New York, New York
September 28, 2007

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Good morning, everyone. I'm here to brief you on the meeting that Secretary Rice just had with the Foreign Ministers of Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia. They met upstairs in the Secretary's room for about two hours, had a very detailed, extended discussion of our Iran strategy, of what we should do about it. (more)