A Libyan citizen soldier smokes a cigarette next to
graffiti depicting slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the coastal city of
Benghazi on 12 October 2012. Citizen soldiers who became heroes for toppling
Gaddafi last year are now being widely blamed for the country's woes, refusing
to disarm and snubbing the new authorities. (Photo: AFP/Abdullah
Doma)
New evidence has come to light implicating Misrata-based rebels in the
execution of 66 detainees following the capture and death of Muammar Gaddafi at
Sirte, a Human Rights Watch report released Wednesday said.
The report also alleges that a captured Gaddafi was brutally murdered by the
rebels, contrary to Libyan authority claims that the former dictator had died in
a cross-fire.
Video evidence shows a still alive Gaddafi being heavily beaten, and stabbed in the buttocks by a bayonet, with his ostensibly lifeless body being thrown into an ambulance shortly afterward. His publicly displayed corpse revealed a wound in the neck not seen in the video footage, mostly taken by rebels' phones.
The phone videos also indicated that scores of captives had been executed in what HRW said was the largest documented execution of detainees by anti-Gaddafi forces in last year's eight-month conflict in Libya.
“In case after case we investigated, the individuals had been videotaped alive by the opposition fights who held them, and then found dead hours later,” said Peter Bouckeart, emergencies direct at HRW.
“Our strongest evidence for these executions comes from the footage filmed by the opposition forces, and the physical evidence at the Mahari Hotel, where the 66 bodies were found.”
Hospital morgue photos established that at least 17 of the detained in phone videos were executed at the Mahari hotel.
HRW says the evidence also indicates that the late dictator's son, Mutassim
Gaddafi had been wounded in the battle at Sirte, taken to Misrata and was killed
there.
The advocacy group suspects that authorities has not undertaken an inquiry into the events of the fateful day, despite claiming that it has.
International law prohibits the execution of prisoners of war, and the United Nations Security Council has tasked the International Criminal Court with investigating and prosecuting war crimes committed in Libya after February 15, 2011.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian 
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!
The report also alleges that a captured Gaddafi was brutally murdered by the
rebels, contrary to Libyan authority claims that the former dictator had died in
a cross-fire. Video evidence shows a still alive Gaddafi being heavily beaten, and stabbed in the buttocks by a bayonet, with his ostensibly lifeless body being thrown into an ambulance shortly afterward. His publicly displayed corpse revealed a wound in the neck not seen in the video footage, mostly taken by rebels' phones.
The phone videos also indicated that scores of captives had been executed in what HRW said was the largest documented execution of detainees by anti-Gaddafi forces in last year's eight-month conflict in Libya.
“In case after case we investigated, the individuals had been videotaped alive by the opposition fights who held them, and then found dead hours later,” said Peter Bouckeart, emergencies direct at HRW.
“Our strongest evidence for these executions comes from the footage filmed by the opposition forces, and the physical evidence at the Mahari Hotel, where the 66 bodies were found.”
Hospital morgue photos established that at least 17 of the detained in phone videos were executed at the Mahari hotel.
HRW says the evidence also indicates that the late dictator's son, Mutassim
Gaddafi had been wounded in the battle at Sirte, taken to Misrata and was killed
there. The advocacy group suspects that authorities has not undertaken an inquiry into the events of the fateful day, despite claiming that it has.
International law prohibits the execution of prisoners of war, and the United Nations Security Council has tasked the International Criminal Court with investigating and prosecuting war crimes committed in Libya after February 15, 2011.
(Al-Akhbar)
Uprooted Palestinian 
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment