While the international community's help was crucial to ensuring that the 2011 Libyan revolution was successful, it has since failed the country by failing to help it rebuild basic institutions from scratch, according to Sakharov Prize laureate Ahmed as-Senussi.

Mr as-Senussi was one of five people who was awarded the European Parliament's prize for freedom of thought in 2011, along with four others who were involved in the Arab Spring revolts. He was in Malta as a guest of the European Parliament Information Office to deliver a Sakharov lecture on the topic of "what Arab Spring for Human Rights?"

A grandnephew of the first and only king of Libya, Idris I, who was deposed in a 1969 coup d'état led by Muammar Gaddafi, he was arrested and sentenced to death in 1970 after being involved in a plot to overthrow the regime. His death sentence was commuted in 1988, but he ended up spending 31 years in detention, including nine in solitary confinement, before being pardoned in 2001 as Gaddafi celebrated 32 years in power.

The Libyan revolution led to as-Senussi's return to political activity, but while he noted that it made Libyans hopeful that their country would be transformed from dictatorial regime into one which guarantees everyone's rights - "the same rights Gaddafi took away from us for 42 years" - the aftermath has not been what people had longed for.

"In the beginning, we were all united against his people, his militias, his gangs," he remarked.

Since then, however the situation is far more muddled, and human rights abuses are ongoing.

Much of the country is now divided between two rival governments and parliaments: the self-proclaimed General National Congress is operating from Tripoli, while the internationally-recognised parliament presently operates from the eastern city of Tobruk. Further complicating matters is a coalition of Islamist militias operating out of Libya's second-largest city Benghazi and militias in the eastern city of Derna who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, which controls parts of Syria and Iraq.

Mr as-Senussi lamented that one of the consequences of 42 years of the Gaddafi regime - which was having an impact on the country's present development - was the stifling of any semblance of civil society.

"The only institutions which remained were his militias and his security services, the institutions which protected him. All others were cast aside," he maintained.

Mr as-Senussi credited the international community's intervention during the revolution with making it possible, but insisted that further assistance is needed.

"I am afraid that the international community has failed us.... without the international community's help to build our institutions, we will not be able to achieve our goals. We need their help and support, as we cannot give ourselves what we do not have," he said.

He also said that while he was grateful for the United Nations' support, he questioned its contacts with MPs who refused to recognise the country's legitimate parliament.

Mr as-Senussi argued against a future military intervention in Libya, stating that a proper reconciliation process was needed for the country to move forward.

Similar efforts may have taken place in the past, but according to Mr as-Senussi, they were not truly inclusive of all the different elements of Libyan society.

 "We only hear of Tripoli and Benghazi, but other people need to be represented. Anything else would just be a waste of time," he maintained.

What Mr as-Senussi proposes as the best way of bringing a divided country together is the establishment of a federal state - with autonomy granted to the country's three historical regions of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan.

Such a state of affairs existed before Gaddafi's coup, and Mr as-Senussi insists that the 1951 constitution which established it - "the best constitution we've ever had" - should be reactivated.

Among other things, the constitution establishes that Libyans shall be considered equal before the law "without distinction of religion, belief, race, language, wealth, kinship or political or social opinions" and guarantees rights including freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and the right to a fair trial.

It also declares the country to be a constitutional monarchy, but Mr as-Senussi - who as a member of the royal family, had been a prince before the 1969 coup - noted that he is not calling for a return of a monarchy, although he maintained that a referendum on the issue could be an option.

"I believe in the voice of the people, in the democracy that is clearly practiced in your countries, based on the will of the people. I want everyone to be able to express themselves, I want the killings to stop, a good education system, free healthcare, and for my country to get back up on its feet," he maintained.