منذ سقوط نظام الزعيم الليبي معمر القذافي، وفي لبنان اهتمام بكشف مصير الإمام موسى الصدر ورفيقيه. والتقارير المتبادلة بين بيروت وطرابلس تجزم بموت الصدر، غير أن الجميع يترقبون معلومات حافظ أسرار العقيد، عبد الله السنوسي، لكونه يملك الحلقات المفقودة في الرواية المأسوية.
كشفت جهات لبنانية مطلعة أن الأوساط الحكومية اللبنانية تلقت منذ مدة معلومات دقيقة ومفصلة من الدوائر الليبية الرسمية الجديدة، عن مصير الإمام موسى الصدر. وأكدت أن الليبيين كانوا قد انكبوا منذ سقوط طرابلس في آب الماضي على مراجعة عدد من الملفات المتعلقة بانتهكات نظام القذافي لحقوق الإنسان، وخصوصاً القضايا الكبرى منها، التي طاولت عدداً من الشخصيات البارزة.
وفي هذا السياق، ذكرت الجهات نفسها، أن الليبيين توصلوا مثلاً إلى جلاء حقيقة المعارض الليبي السابق منصور الكخيا؛ إذ تأكدت السلطات الليبية التي تسلمت زمام الحكم في طرابلس بعد سقوط القذافي، أن الكخيا، وزير الخارجية الليبية السابق، الذي كان قد اختفى في القاهرة في كانون الأول 1993، نقله إلى ليبيا عملاء استخبارات القذافي، على عكس كل المعلومات السابقة عن تبخره في الأراضي المصرية. وتأكد الليبيون بالشهادات والإفادات والوثائق، أن الكخيا وصل إلى طبرق الليبية بعد أيام من خطفه. حيث كان ينتظره مسؤول استخبارات القذافي، عبد الله السنوسي، الذي اعتقل قبل عشرة أيام في موريتانيا. ومن هناك نُقل المعارض الليبي البارز إلى سجن أبو سليم، أحد أشهر سجون القذافي وأكثرها قسوة ووحشية، في العاصمة الليبية طرابلس الغرب. وأضافت معلومات الجهات اللبنانية المطلعة، أن الكخيا ظل حياً حتى التسعينيات، قبل أن يموت على الأرجح، من دون التمكن من تقفي أي أثر لجثته أو مصيرها. وتسوق الجهات اللبنانية الموثوقة هذه الوقائع، لارتباطها بنحو ما بمصير مؤسس المجلس الإسلامي الشيعي في لبنان، الإمام موسى الصدر، الذي اختفى بدوره في ليبيا، في 31 آب 1978؛ إذ تنقل هذه الجهات عن أوساط رسمية أن الجهات الرسمية في ليبيا تمكنت من تتبع قضية الصدر في الأشهر الماضية، من بين نحو 23700 مفقود من الحقبة القذافية. وتشير إلى أن الجهات اللبنانية تسلمت من الليبيين معلومات مؤكدة تكشف الآتي: أولاً، إن الإمام الصدر لم يغادر ليبيا منذ اختفائه على أراضيها في التاريخ المذكور. لا بل نُقل مع رفيقيه الشيخ محمد يعقوب والصحافي عباس بدر الدين، بعد اعتقالهم في طرابلس الغرب، إلى معتقل سري في جنوب البلاد، في المناطق الموالية مباشرة للقذافي. ثانياً، ولأسباب مجهولة حتى الآن، نُقل الإمام الصدر من معتقله الأول، إلى سجن أبو سليم المذكور سابقاً، في طرابلس الغرب، وذلك في فترة ما لم تحدد بدقة، من عام 1997. ومنذ ذلك التاريخ ظل معتقلاً حياً يرزق، وكان يعاني مرض السكري في الدم. ثالثاً، وُضع الإمام الصدر حياً، في زنزانة فردية في السجن المشار إليه، بإشراف أحد المسؤولين الاستخباريين التابعين لنظام القذافي، هو عبد الحميد السائح، الذي اشتهر بأنه أحد أكثر الاستخباريين القذافيين وحشية، وكان قد شغل منصب قائد الحرس الثوري في نظام القذافي، فضلاً عن أنه آمر فرع الإرهاب في استخبارات النظام ومدير سجن أبو سليم. وتشير معلومات الجهات اللبنانية الرسمية نقلاً عن الليبيين، إلى أن زنزانة الإمام الصدر كانت تقع مباشرة تحت مكتب السائح. وهو كان قد كلف اثنين من رجاله مهمة حراسة الإمام بنحو دائم. رابعاً، تؤكد المعلومات تعرف الجهات الليبية إلى حراس زنزانة الصدر، وأجرت معهم تحقيقات طويلة ومفصلة بدقة، وضبطت إفاداتهم كاملة، ما سمح بكشف المعطيات السابقة كما التالية. خامساً، في أثناء اعتقاله في سجن أبو سليم في العاصمة الليبية، بدأ الصدر يعاني عوارض سريرية من مرض السكري. غير أن المشرفين على سجنه تمنعوا عن معالجته وعن إعطائه أدوية كان اعتاد تناولها وهو في حاجة إليها. وهذا ما أدى إلى وفاته في فترة لم يتمكن التحقيق من تحديدها بدقة بعد، مع ترجيح أن يكون تاريخ وفاة الإمام الصدر مطلع العقد الماضي. سادساً، بعد وفاته، أمر القذافي بعدم مواراة جثمان الصدر في الثرى، بل طلب إبقاءه في زنزانته، ومن ثم تحويلها إلى ثلاجة _ براد، على طريقة مشارح المستشفيات المعدة لحفظ جثث الموتى. وإذ نُفذ أمر القذافي، ظل حارسا الزنزانة يتناوبان على حراسة جثمان الإمام الصدر طوال ما يناهز عقد كامل، وهو ما كانا يقومان به تماماً، عند اندلاع الأحداث الليبية في 17 شباط 2011، والتي أدت إلى سقوط النظام. لا بل ظل الحارسان قبالة جثمان الصدر، حتى ليل 22 آب الماضي، تاريخ سقوط طرابلس في أيدي الثوار. سابعاً، في ذلك التاريخ المحدد بالذات، وتحت وطأة الهجوم الكبير الذي شنته قوى التحالف الغربي والعربي على نظام القذافي، تعرض سجن أبو سليم في طرابلس لقصف شديد. وتركز القصف في شكل محدد على الأمكنة المحتملة لوجود العميد عبد الحميد السائح، ومنها مكتبه القائم مباشرة فوق زنزانة _ براد الإمام الصدر. وبنتيجة ذلك القصف انقطعت الكهرباء عن الجثمان، ومن ثم أصيبت الزنزانة ودُمرت بالكامل. وتفيد المعلومات المنقولة عن الجهات الليبية، بأن جثمان الإمام الصدر بات خارج مكان حفظه. وفي الأيام التالية للمعارك، نُقل مع عشرات من الجثث الموجودة أو تلك التي وقعت ضحية المعارك، إلى الفناء الخارجي للسجن. وقد أفاد أكثر من شاهد بأنهم رأوا العمامة والعباءة اللتين كان صاحب الجثمان يرتديهما. ثامناً، عند دخول قوات الثورة إلى طرابلس، كانت قد مضت عدة أيام، تخللتها فوضى كبيرة في مختلف أنحاء العاصمة، وخصوصاً في مقار النظام السابق ومراكزه الرسمية والعسكرية والأمنية. وهذا ما جعل مسؤولي الثورة يصلون إلى موقع سجن أبو سليم ليجدوا أن الجثث قد نُقلت من هناك. وبعد بدء التحقيق في موضوع الإمام الصدر وتتبع قضية جثمانه، ظهرت أكثر من معلومة. منها أن الجثمان قد نقل إلى المستشفى المركزي في طرابلس، الأمر الذي تبين عدم صحته، بعد تدقيق وتحقيق كاملين في ذلك المكان. ومنها أن الجثث التي ظلت في فناء السجن أياماً عدة، نقلت ودفنت في أماكن مختلفة، بعد ظهور تحلل سريع عليها، وخصوصاً في ظل عدم تعرف أحد من ذويها إلى أصحابها. وهذا ما يحصر الأماكن المحتملة لدفن الجثمان، في نقاط قليلة يجري التأكد منها حالياً، للتعرف إلى جثمان الإمام الصدر. تاسعاً، تشير الجهات اللبنانية إلى أن الأوساط الليبية في المقابل، لم تنقل إليها بعد أي معطيات عن مصير الشيخ يعقوب أو الصحافي بدر الدين، وهو ما تقوم السلطات الليبية بمتابعته ومواصلة التحقيق حوله.
Two JDAM bombs exploding in Libya with a third on the way in.
Britain has violated at least four chapters of the Geneva Convention, after it used Depleted uranium weapons during aerial bombardment of Libya.
“Depleted uranium weapons are weapons of indiscriminate effect – the cancers and birth defects they are thought to cause cannot be ‘targeted’ at troops. Using them in built-up areas in effect targets civilians. This runs counter to everything the coalition has claimed about protecting civilians,” CND general secretary Kate Hudson said.
Do you think we will again use these WMD’s on Syria and Iran? You bet and they will also throw in the odd tactical nuclear weapon (up to a yield of 5kt) to spread even more radioactive fallout around the entire Middle East and the World beyond. Our leaders are so thoughtful and compassionate in trying to save lives on humanitarian grounds!
I just so happened to be reviewing the post war effects on Libya and found some incredible information that proved beyond a shadow of doubt that our government lied to the British media and to the citizens of this country.
It was last year that The UK Uranium Weapons Network and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) called on David Cameron to seek assurances that coalition allies would not use DU munitions during the aerial bombardment.
CND general secretary Kate Hudson said, “Depleted uranium weapons are weapons of indiscriminate effect – the cancers and birth defects they are thought to cause cannot be ‘targeted’ at troops.
“Using them in built-up areas in effect targets civilians. This runs counter to everything the coalition has claimed about protecting civilians.”
My note on the above is that using such weapons (which are clearly WMD’s) is also in violation of at least four chapters of the Geneva Convention.
The report went on to say, however the Ministry of Defence has claimed there is no reliable evidence that DU has a hazardous effect to health.
I have a letter from the previous Minister of Defence, Liam Fox address to Dr Bill Wilson of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh which shows that he was aware of people’s concerns on the question of DU and associated health problems but claimed there was no evidence to support this was due to DU.
The letter on MoD headed paper and dated 22nd February 2011 clearly revealed the state of Liam Fox’s confused mind and read as follows:
“Thank you for your letter of 8th February about the health of Service personnel and civilians exposed to Depleted Uranium (DU) and for the list of reference material.
I remain very conscious many people are concerned there is a link between the use of DU ammunition and medical problems such as cancers and birth defects. This is an issue taken very seriously by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The causes of illness reported in places such as Iraq are extremely distressing especially when they affect children. However, I must stress that DU has not been shown to present the health or environmental risks suggested. None of the inquires to date, including those quoted in your letter, has documented long-term health or environmental effects attributed to DU munitions.
On the basis of reports by the Royal Society and others, the MoD does not consider DU is safe, it is hazardous (making the acceptable health and safety distinctions here between a hazard and a risk). As a heavy metal (like lead) and with radioactive properties, DU use, storage, handling and the environmental considerations are governed by the Radioactive Substance Act 1993 and the Ionising Regulations Act that came into effect on 1 January 2000. These are part of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 enforced by the Health and Safety Executive.
The precautionary principle you advocate is manifest in our in our approach to managing risk on the balance of likelihood and consequences.
On the issue of Service personnel health we have conducted investigations into the effects of DU. Some 3,400 Service personnel attended the Gulf Veteran’s Medical Assessment Programme under which no evidence of ill health due to DU exposure has been found.
The UN General Assembly draft resolution you refer to calls for action by the Secretary-General and UN member states, based on the alleged harmful effects of the use of DU munitions on the health and the environment. The UK does not support resolutions that presuppose that DU is harmful.
The draft resolution requests states that have used DU in armed conflict to provide information about its use. I hope you will be reassured to know that the UK has already provided details of this nature to inform studies and the work of the UN, but it is up to each state to provide data at such a time and in such a manner as it deems appropriate.
The governments policy remains that DU can be used within weapons, it is not prohibited under current or likely future international agreements. UK armed forces, use DU munitions in accordance with international humanitarian law. It would be quite wrong to deny our serving personnel a legitimate capability.
I hope this information is useful to you
Yours Sincerely
Liam
The RT Hon Dr Liam Fox MP”
One can clearly see that the MoD under the command of Liam Fox was not accepting any health risks and that his government would continue to use DU, even thought Cameron said we would not!
In more recent times suddenly this did a 360 degree turnaround when the current Armed Forces Minister, Nick Harvey made the following statement on Monday the 14th of November 2011:
The Armed Forces Minister has been forced to apologise over misleading statements he made regarding the legality and dangers of depleted uranium weapons .
Nick Harvey admitted that he had inadvertently misled MPs about a Ministry of Defence review that he said had concluded the weapons were permissible on humanitarian and environmental grounds under the Geneva conventions .
It subsequently emerged that the review had never happened, and Harvey has apologised for the error, which he said had been made “in good faith.” He has ordered that a review into the weapons’ legality be carried out by civil servants. The department is facing calls for the weapons to be suspended until it is completed.
As you can clearly see the government on two occasions have been caught with their trousers down and been forced to backtrack on misleading information, in other words they lied!
During the UN Security Council debate on a no-fly zone Cameron said, “We do not use those (DU) weapons and are not going to use those weapons.” The only DU munitions Britain possesses are for the Challenger II tank and it is not suggested that British forces have used DU in Libya. But the Ministry of Defence has confirmed that “DU anti-armour munitions will remain part of our arsenal for the foreseeable future.”
Let’s just hold it there for one moment and again prove that this is yet another lie from the power that be.
DU forms part on many weapons in the British arsenal. It can be in the form of a penetrator, a shaped charged liner or in the form of ballast. In many cases it is all three. Weapons that contain DU are the armour piercing shells as carried by our tanks, Cruise Missiles, JDAM bombs, Bunker Busters, Hellfire Missiles and many other munitions including the rounds for the attack helicopters. One can clearly see from the many photographs and videos that were taken in Libya that DU was overused by the US, UK and France. They can be clearly identified by the intensity and colour of the explosion and the sparkler effect that radiates out from inferno.
I also have evidence of French jets departing their base and carrying a nuclear weapon (slung on their central pylon) which was again identified during their in-flight refueling over the Mediterranean.
Labour MP John McDonnell said he had written to the PM “asking for his assurance that he will do all he can to persuade our allies to refrain from using this weapon in Libya.”… “What a load of codswallop.”
Can we in the UK see the insanity of this war when our economy is bleeding and there appears to be no end in sight?
Can we see the suffering that exists around the world because of our countries determination to remain at war no matter what the cost?
It is time to stop our respective governments in their tracks and demand an end to any more conflicts and to make sure that we keep our hands of Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen and Somalia… Not to mention Sudan which they also aim to attack sometime in the future… This have nothing to do with humanitarian concerns or nuclear weapons it’s all about “Geo Politics” that was first planned back in 1997 by Paul Wolverwitz and again after 9/11 by the Pentagon who pledged to take out 7 Islamic countries within a time frame of between 5 – 10 years… believe it or not they are currently on track!
I hate to imagine what high tech WMD’s will be used against Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine (Gaza) on the next round of confrontations but you can rest assured they will be as nasty as they come!
The green resistance forces are regrouping, while the imperialist stooges fight amongst themselves.
After the capture, torture and murder of Libya’s national leader on 20 October, imperialist joy was unbounded in Washington, London and Paris. It seemed the green revolution had been cut off at the head, and now it only remained for the western-backed ‘opposition’ to form a puppet government ready to deliver sovereign Libya and her oil wealth safely into the clutches of imperialism.
Just three days after Colonel Gaddafi was slaughtered, Libya was solemnly pronounced to be ‘liberated’, and all the talk was of minting a brand new constitution and government.
By early November, however, the assorted counter-revolutionary militia had already broken their pledge to give up their weapons and submit to the authority of the National Transitional Council (NTC), instead continuing to fight each other over the elusive spoils of victory. The heavily armed Misrata Brigades, in between engaging in fire fights with their terrorist rivals from Benghazi, have not even refrained from attacking each other in Misrata itself, with brigades setting up rival checkpoints in the city.
Meanwhile, in amongst this chaos of civil war unleashed by imperialism, there starts to emerge also evidence that Libya’s green forces are gathering strength after the setback of losing their leading figure.
And whilst the mainstream media are happy to use the fog of war to muddle up sectarian clashes with acts of resistance, it is clear even from their reports that resistance to NTC attempts to rule is growing. Nor is it always so obvious where militia loyalties lie.
When Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam was captured by the Zintan militia, the ecstatic NTC promised he would be delivered to the International Criminal Court. Instead he appears, according to some reports, to have remained under the protection of the Zintan militia, which according to Dr Yusuf Shakir, a veteran Libyan TV broadcaster, may itself be warming to the green cause.
Some sense of the developing pattern of events can be gleaned from the Libya Liberation Front News (LLFN) website, though the information coming through is necessarily patchy and hard to corroborate in detail. This source tells how people chased out of Tawergha (formerly home to 10,000 mainly black Libyans, now a ghost town) in racist pogroms are now crammed into unsanitary concentration camps in the depths of winter, with their children dying of exposure to frost.
Other displaced people inside Tripoli have been attacked and robbed by the Misrata militia. This nation, which a year ago could boast the highest Human Development Index in all Africa, is now reduced to near-barbarism.
Yet the LLFN website testifies how even in the midst of all this chaos, resistance is growing in influence and organisational strength. For example we are told that the “green army has sent teams of engineering battalion to start immediate repairs on the Man-Made River in areas that have been captured by the green army”.
At present, the western stooges use water shortages as a way of controlling the population, cutting off the supply to those who disagree with the NTC’s rebellion or who cannot afford to pay the hefty new bills. By their actions, the green resistance forces are striving to restore fresh water and electricity to city residents.
LLFN reports too that anti-green rebels in the southern city of Sabha have lost control to green forces, calling on the quisling NTC for reinforcements, and armed clashes between rebels and green fighters in Sirte are reported to have left a score of rebels dead. In and around Tripoli itself, it is claimed that recent ground operations by green forces have resulted in the loss of many NTC soldiers, whilst a green attack using two helicopter gunships cost the lives of a number of French and Italian mercenary agents near Bregah.
A resistance attack is also reported upon El Jadida prison involving an intense fire fight and the loss of a number of NTC security goons. A new year report announced that Sabha, Bani Walid, Tarhouna and Zilten are still flying the green flag of the resistance, and people there publicly celebrated the reopening of the Al Jamahriya TV channel, (now beaming in from Egypt to the chagrin of the NTC).
As we go to press, we are much heartened by the following report, which appeared in the Daily Mail of 24 January:
“Libya appeared to be sliding backwards into civil war yesterday when supporters of Colonel Gaddafi’s regime clashed with government forces and seized control of a town.
“At least four were killed in the violence. The fighting came just 24 hours after the head of the interim government said Libya risked becoming a ‘bottomless pit’.
“A resident of Bani Walid, about 120 miles south-east of Tripoli, said both sides fought using heavy weaponry and that 20 had been wounded …
“Another witness said the fighting had stopped but that supporters of the country’s previous regime were in control.
“The violence was sparked when some Gaddafi loyalists were arrested. Other supporters of the former leader, who was captured and killed in October, attacked the local militia’s headquarters in response …
“The uprising could not come at a worse time for the ruling National Transitional Council. It is already reeling from violent protests in the eastern city of Benghazi.” (‘Four dead as Gaddafi loyalists seize town amid fears country is descending into “bottomless pit”’ by Julian Gavaghan)
The impotent NTC has meanwhile announced its fantasy plans for a new electoral system. In place of the mass-participation model of neighbourhood democracy that previously obtained, the quislings propose to ban from standing, not only former government leaders (and this despite the fact that many NTC leaders were themselves senior members of the former Libyan government), but even anyone who secured a university degree relating to academic research on the Green Book. Clearly the only democratic right now in Libya is that being fought for by the green resistance.
A brief introduction to some facts about the war in Libya is followed by media worker Joti Brar’s remarks on the role of the press in aiding and abetting imperialism’s unjust wars, concentrating on the example of Libya.
Joti goes on to demonstrate that journalists playing an active and knowing part in the generation of war propaganda are not only central to the entire
Comrade Teodora Ignacia Gomez, member of the PAIGC; the party founded and led by Amilcar Cabral, which liberated Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde and played a vital part in the liberation of other (Particularly, but not exclusively, Portugese speaking) African nations.
This section of a longer interview, given to the CPGB-ML by our comrade from Guinea Bissau on her recent visit to London, outlines the supportive relationship that Colonel Gaddafi’s Libya had fostered with Guinea Bissau, as so many other African Nations. Libya had tried to bring about sustainable infrastructural and agricultural development in Guinea Bissau, she tells us, both through the African Bank and independently granted aid.
As a result of NATOs genocidal war on Libya, and the illegal ousting of her legitimate government – and now Gaddafi’s cowardly and brutal assassination, which foul deed took place 24 hrs after this interview – the people of Guinea Bissau and all Africa will suffer, she says.
Bob marley would have turned in his grave to know that whoever holds copyright over his song “War” (lyrics: untill there are no longer first class and citizens of any nation, everywhere is war…) uses it as a pretext to stop the truth about US / UK’s latest imperial and colonial war on Libya from reaching the ears of the masses… or some of them!
Cdes Keith Bennett and Harpal Brar sum up their presentations and reply to the discussion that arose from them on the questions of Syria, Libya and the Middle East.
A street in the abandoned town of Tawergha. Some homes are ransacked, some are burned. Green flags showing support for Muammar Gaddafi flutter above the homes on September 4, 2011.
Tomina and Kararim are ghost towns because Misrata officials are blocking thousands of people who fled from returning home. Armed groups from Misrata are openly looting and destroying their homes, as they have been doing for months in Tawergha.
Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch
(Tripoli) – Authorities in and around Misrata are preventing thousands of people from returning to the villages of Tomina and Kararim and have failed to stop local militias from looting and burning homes there, Human Rights Watch said today.
The abuse mirrors the treatment of roughly 30,000 displaced people from the nearby town of Tawergha, who have also been blocked from returning home for at least five months, Human Rights Watch said.
Officials in Misrata have sought to justify the violations to Human Rights Watch, contending that people from Tomina, Kararim, and Tawergha fought with Gaddafi forces and committed atrocities against Misratans during the 2011 conflict.
“Tomina and Kararim are ghost towns because Misrata officials are blocking thousands of people who fled from returning home,” said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, who recently visited the villages and met with displaced residents. “Armed groups from Misrata are openly looting and destroying their homes, as they have been doing for months in Tawergha.”
Video: Militias from the city of Misrata terrorized the displaced residents of the nearby town ofTawergha in October, 2011.
The Misrata authorities should issue immediate orders to the militias they control to stop the looting and home destructions, and should deploy a protective security forces in the affected area to facilitate the return of displaced people, Human Rights Watch said.
The transitional Libyan government and its international supporters should press the Misrata authorities and militias to cease their abusive conduct against displaced people, Human Rights Watch said. Commanders and members of the militias responsible for crimes, including preventing people from returning home, should be investigated and prosecuted.
The National Transitional Council and transitional government have been unable to assert control over the hundreds of militias operating in Libya, Human Rights Watch said. But in Misrata local military authorities, including the military council, appear to have influence over many of the city’s 250 militias. The Misrata Military Council apparently operates checkpoints, including one 80 kilometers south of the city.
“The Misrata authorities can definitely do a lot more to allow returns now and to protect civilian property,” Bouckaert said. “They are required to take action to stop these crimes under international law.”
Ramadan Zarmuh, head of the Misrata Military Council, told Human Rights Watch in early February that the problems in Kararim and Tomina are between the residents of the towns, or “between neighbors.” He said that solving the problems will require the former residents of the two villages to surrender their “criminals” so they can be brought to justice.
The National Transitional Council chairman, Mustafa Abdeljalil, made a similar point in February, telling media that families could return to the areas around Misrata “as soon as those who are wanted face justice.”
Allowing communities to return to their homes should not be linked to the prosecution of individuals who may be implicated in wrongdoing, Human Rights Watch said. Action is needed now to ensure that displaced people can return before their homes are occupied or destroyed and their displacement becomes permanent. Preventing the return of an entire community amounts to unlawful and arbitrary collective punishment, Human Rights Watch said.
In Tomina and Kararim, Human Rights Watch saw militia members looting and burning homes on two visits in late January. In both villages, Human Rights Watch saw spray-painted signs on at least a dozen homes saying that the Security Committee (Lejna Amniya) of Kararim had reassigned the homes to new “owners.” Other homes had the names of the original owners replaced with new names.
In Kararim, 25 kilometers south of Misrata, Human Rights Watch found a few dozen families who had remained during the conflict or returned afterward, apparently because they had supported anti-Gaddafi forces. A significant militia presence was in the town, consisting of Kararim residents who had fought with the anti-Gaddafi militias. In Tomina, about 10 kilometers south of Misrata, Human Rights Watch saw no inhabited homes, although officials there said that 20 percent of the former population had returned. Tawergha remained completely abandoned.
Displaced residents of Tomina and Kararim told Human Rights Watch that Gaddafi forces had ordered the civilian residents of both villages to evacuate their homes on May 12, 2011. The residents of Tawergha fled with retreating Gaddafi forces in mid-August.
Some residents of Tomina and Kararim who tried to return to their homes in recent months told Human Rights Watch that Misrata militia members had stopped them at the checkpoint 80 kilometers south of Misrata. Gunmen checked the villagers against lists of those wanted for collaboration with Gaddafi forces or direct involvement in crimes committed during the war, they said. The villagers interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they were not on the list, but they were still prevented from going home. Instead, militia members took them to a fenced-in complex just outside Tawergha called the Emirates apartments, where the displaced villagers have remained.
Human Rights Watch visited the apartment complex in late January 2012 and saw between 60 and 100 families there guarded by militia members from various cities. A militia commander there said his men protect the residents and help them get food and other assistance. His men prevent residents from leaving without an escort to protect them from attacks, He said.
The villages of Tomina and Kararim previously had about 5,000 residents each, many of them loyal to the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, displaced villagers said. Many villagers lived on small farms that their families had owned for about 60 years. Gaddafi forces used the two villages, Tawergha, and other towns and villages near Misrata, as staging grounds for attacks on rebel-held Misrata during the war, including a siege in April and May that gravely impacted civilians.
The situation for the estimated 30,000 residents of Tawergha is even worse than in Tomina and Kararim, Human Rights Watch said. The town is empty, and displaced Tawerghans have been harassed, attacked, and arrested by Misrata militias, sometimes leading to deaths in detention, as previously documentedby Human Rights Watch. On February 6, a group of militias attacked a camp of displaced Tawerghans in the Janzour district of Tripoli. According to 10 witnesses, seven men, women, and children were killed and more than 15 were wounded.
On more than a dozen visits to Tawergha by Human Rights Watch between September and January, Human Rights Watch researchers saw Misrata militia members burning and destroying homes. In late January, Human Rights Watch found almost no properties in Tawergha that were undamaged by fire.
“Deportation” or the “forcible transfer of population” can be a crime against humanity by virtue of Article 7(d) of the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court. It is defined as the “forced displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under international law.” Preventing a displaced population from returning could be a “coercive act” leading to forced displacement. This is a crime against humanity if committed on a widespread or in a systematic manner, as part of a deliberate policy by an organized group such as the military councils.
Under the law of armed conflict, the evacuation of a population during an armed conflict is permitted under limited circumstances, but the evacuated people must be permitted to return once the conflict has ceased. Ordering the displacement of a civilian population,the wanton destruction of civilian property, and the collective punishment of civilian populations can amount to war crimes.
Libya’s transitional government, as well as the Misrata authorities and local military commanders, are under an international obligation to prevent and investigate such crimes, and to facilitate the post-conflict return of civilian populations to their homes, Human Rights Watch said. Military and civilian officials with command responsibility, who fail to stop these ongoing crimes, could find themselves investigated and prosecuted domestically or by the International Criminal Court.
“The new Libya is not a safe place if you are from Tawergha, Tomina, or Kararim,” Bouckaert said. “Some Misrata militias took up arms to get rid of oppression, and they are now bringing it back by oppressing others.”
Evidence from Tomina and Kararim
Human Rights Watch interviewed six residents of Tomina and Kararim separately, and dozens more in four groups. They all said that Gaddafi forces were present in their villages during the siege of Misrata in April and May 2011. They said that Gaddafi forces ordered the mass evacuation of both villages on May 12, giving residents a few hours to leave their homes.
Most Tomina and Kararim residents fled with just a few of their possessions, residents said, leaving their livestock behind. Because of fierce fighting at the front line between their towns and rebel-held Misrata, and the control exerted over their area by Gaddafi forces, the residents said they had no choice but to flee southward into Gaddafi-held areas, such as al-Hisha, Wadi Zam-Zam, and Sirte.
Most of the village residents remain displaced in these areas today, living in extremely difficult conditions, because Misrata officials refuse to allow them to return home.
“Mustafa” (not his real name), a 40-year-old farmer from Tomina who now lives in a tiny rented apartment in Sirte, explained to Human Rights Watch that 35 people from six families had lived together on a 10-acre farm in Tomina. He said that when Gaddafi forces arrived at the beginning of the siege of Misrata in April, they let the families stay, but said the families would be held responsible for any shooting from the area of the farm. Because of ongoing fighting, the families decided to flee on April 14. “We couldn’t move toward [rebel-held] Misrata because of the heavy fighting on the front lines,” Mustafa said. “The only direction to leave was [south], so we all left and came to Sirte.”
Mustafa said his family left behind some 250 sheep, representing virtually their entire wealth. After the war, the family members returned home, Mustafa said, but a Misrata militia forced them to the Emirates Apartment building outside Tawergha and told them they needed written permission from all their neighbors before they could go home. Three neighbors gave their permission, but a fourth, whose son had fought with the rebels and was killed, refused to sign.
“Ahmed” (not his real name), 45, a farmer with three children, told Human Rights Watch that his family fled their five-hectare farm in Tomina, owned by his family since 1966, on May 13, fleeing toward Sirte. “We didn’t flee in this direction because we were loyalist; it was impossible to cross the front line, so we had to flee [south],” he said. In late January, Ahmed was living in the Emirates Apartment building. The Military Council in Kararim refused to allow him and his neighbors to return home, he said:
I have been here since November 24. None of us can go back to our land. If I try to go back to my farm, they will arrest me and send me to prison. They say we are displaced traitors. There is a security committee in Kararim, and they refuse anyone permission to return. Everyone who tries to return is refused. Even those who are living in Misrata cannot go back to their farms.
Ahmed said he tried once to return home from Sirte but Misrata officials stopped him at the 80-kilometer checkpoint, and took him to the Emirates Apartment compound, which he and others were rarely allowed to leave:
I came back from Sirte in my own private car [on November 24]. At the [80-kilometer] checkpoint, the officials stopped us and took us here to the apartments. They only allow us to leave this place in the cars of the [militia guarding us], not on our own. The militia brings us food, but it is very basic, no meat or fruits…. We have lost everything – our cars, houses, land, agricultural machines, household properties, and animals. And all of this [looting and destruction] took place after the liberation, not during the war.
“Ibrahim” (not his real name), a 60-year old man from Kararim with 12 children, said he had rented a farm from the government since 1948. When Gaddafi came to power in 1969, his family was granted title to the land, he said. He told Human Rights Watch what happened in the first half of 2011:
Between February and May things were fine. The soldiers didn’t stay on my farm; they were about two kilometers away, so we were in the middle. I didn’t give the soldiers any information about my neighbors, and they didn’t demand any food.
On May 12 the army came to my place and ordered me to leave. We left in my own cars; we just took a few clothes and left everything else behind. We were given no time; they ordered us to leave right then and there. We thought we would just be gone for two or three days and go back, so we didn’t take anything. So we went to al-Hisha…
We haven’t tried to go back because of the checkpoints. Only the city of Misrata has all of these checkpoints[surrounding the city], and the checkpoint officials do not allow our people through them. Even if I try, I’d have to go live in a burned-out house. They looted everything. I also lost 150 sheep, 7 cows, and 3 horses. But even now, if I had the choice, I would return, even though the houses are burned. All of us just want to return.
Wherever NATO intervenes, massacres, mass destruction, and unspeakable horrors and human misery follow.
Once Africa’s most developed country, Libya today’s a ravaged, out-of-control charnel house. Tens of thousands died. Multiples more were injured, made homeless, and forcibly displaced.
Terror now stalks Libyans living in fear. Protracted conflict continues. Violence and instability rage. Expect no end for years. Washington’s-led NATO war is one of history’s great crimes. Colonization, occupation, plunder and exploitation were planned.
America got another bloodstained imperial trophy. Keeping it’s another matter. Green Resistance continues its liberating struggle.
Better late than never explaining NATO’s legacy. AI’s 2011 account misreported “The Battle for Libya.” It pointed fingers the wrong way. It blamed Gaddafi for NATO aggression. It falsely accused him of “kill(ing) and injur(ing) scores of unarmed protesters.”
It added “serious violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), including war crimes, and gross human rights violation, which point to the commission of crimes against humanity.”
Before Western-backed killer gangs arrived, Libya had peace and calm. AI blamed Gaddafi for their crimes. Its new report paints an entirely different picture, but still falls way short of truth and full disclosure. Titled, “Militias Threaten Hopes for New Libya,” it discusses pervasive violent lawlessness.
It doesn’t explain illegitimate National Transitional Council (NTC) authority or NATO’s illegal aggression against a nonbelligerent country. International law’s clear. AI knows it.
No nation may interfere in the internal affairs of another except in self-defense if attacked. NATO claimed responsibility to protect authority as Trojan Horse deception for war. Crimes of war and against humanity followed.
They continue out-of-control. NATO’s still involved. Thousands of US forces invaded to guard key oil facilities. Occasional air attacks occur. NATO warships occupy Libya’s ports. US, Italian, French, and perhaps other forces are involved. Reports from Misrata in January said Apache helicopters slaughtered rebel insurgents trying to scale Brega oil platforms.
Killer gangs rage out-of control. Frequent clashes kill civilians and rival insurgents. Militias control local areas and neighborhoods. Thousands of Gaddafi loyalists and Black African guest workers were murdered or held captive and tortured.
“Militias….continue to seize and detain people, outside any legal framework, and hold them in secret detention centers….” Thousands have no way to challenge out-of-control lawlessness or escape from brutal torture.
Detainees AI interviewed described their harrowing experience. They were:
suspended in contorted positions;
beaten with whips, rifle butts, cables, plastic hoses,metal chains, bars, and wooden sticks;
electro-shocked with live wires and taser-like weapons;
burned; and
threatened with rape.
Medical reports confirmed their accounts. With rare exceptions, detainees aren’t tried or given access to lawyers. Several said they confessed to uncommitted crimes to end pain. Others were too scared to speak. NATO and NTC stooges know what’s going on and do nothing.
“(T)he NTC-led transitional government appears to have neither the authority nor the political will to rein in the militias. (They’re) unwilling to recognize the scale of militia abuses, at most acknowledging individual cases despite the mounting evidence of patterns of grave, widespread abuses in many parts of the country.”
As a result, ongoing torture and mistreatment continue. AI also exaggerated Gaddafi era crimes and ignored his mass public support. At the end, it was overwhelming, and today most Libyans yearn for him back.
NATO and illegitimate NTC officials spurn human rights and international law principles. Scheduled elections are cover for imperial occupation. Crimes of war and against humanity won’t be punished. As a result, they continue daily.
Dark-skinned Libyans are especially threatened. Thousands in Tawargha and elsewhere were forcibly displaced. They still can’t return, and their homes were looted and burned. As a result, those not held captive are in “poorly resourced” camps in Benghazi, Tripoli and elsewhere.
Many other Mshashiya and Qawalish tribe members, as well as Sirte, Bani Walid, and other residents, remain threatened by killer gangs. Revenge killings and other abuses continue. However, Green Resistance struggles to liberate Libya and restore Jamahiriya rule.
AI visited Libya in January and February 2012. Its researched focused in and around Tripoli, al-Zawiya, the Nafoussa Mountains, Misrata, Sirte and Benghazi.
They visited 11 detention centers in central and western Libya under insurgent gangs control. In at least 10, detainees were tortured and mistreated. AI interviewed them, those released, facility administrators, doctors and other hospital staff, relatives of people killed in custody, militia members, and NTC officials.
Exact numbers of detainees held and mistreated aren’t known. However, thousands remain imprisoned. ICRC representatives said they “visited over 8,500 detainees in about 60 places of detention.” Most were held in and around Tripoli and Misrata.
In February, NTC stooges held another 2,400. Nearly all current and former detainees AI interviewed said warrants didn’t authorize their arrests. They were extrajudicial and arbitrary. Self-appointed “judicial committees” function ad hoc. Defense lawyers aren’t present. Coercion, including torture and other severe treatment, force unjustified self-incrimination.
Many detainees said they were held at multiple locations. Some were secret. AI witnessed insurgents beating and threatening them, including some whose release were ordered.
One man said he was forced to lie on his back, hands and feet tied to the frame. “In this position, (he) was beaten with fists on (his) face. Then they beat me with a plastic hose on my feet.”
“Later, I had to turn around face-down and was tied to the bed. In that position, I was beaten again with a hose on my back and on the head. I was also subjected to electric shocks to various parts of my body including my left arm and chest.”
Others described similar experiences. Medical reports confirmed them. Since September 2011, AI confirmed at least 12 detainee deaths. Forensic evidence showed extreme abuse. NTC officials knew and do nothing, even when family members filed complaints.
Last September, they promised “to bring any armed groups under official authorities and (to) fully investigate any incidents brought to (their) attention.”
According to AI, “(t)his pledge has not been fulfilled. As long as defense lawyers and judicial authorities have no access to thousands of (detainees, they) remain held without trial or any means to challenge the legality of their detention….”
Moreover, extrajudicial killings occur. Investigations are announced but not conducted. Violence, impunity, and injustice continue. Libyans felt safe under Gaddafi. Occupation now terrorizes them.
Responsibility lies with NATO’s killing machine, puppet NTC stooges, and recruited killer gangs.
Today’s Libya is charnel house hell. It’s the same wherever NATO intervenes. Afghans, Iraqis, Syrians, and other victims know its horrors. As a result, their liberating struggles continue.
