Armed militias operating across Libya commit widespread human rights
abuses with impunity, fuelling insecurity and hindering the rebuilding
of state institutions, warned Amnesty International in a new report
released today, a year on from the start of the February 2011 uprising.
The report Militias threaten hopes for new Libya,
documents widespread and serious abuses, including war crimes, by a
multitude of militias against suspected al-Gaddafi loyalists, with cases
of people being unlawfully detained and tortured – sometimes to death.
African
migrants and refugees have also been targeted, and revenge attacks have
been carried out, forcibly displacing entire communities – while the
authorities have done nothing to investigate the abuses and hold those
responsible to account.
“Militias in Libya are largely out of
control and the blanket impunity they enjoy only encourages further
abuses and perpetuates instability and insecurity,” said Donatella
Rovera, Senior Crisis Response Adviser at Amnesty International.
“A
year ago Libyans risked their lives to demand justice. Today their
hopes are being jeopardized by lawless armed militias who trample human
rights with impunity. The only way to break with the entrenched
practices of decades of abuse under Colonel al-Gaddafi’s authoritarian
rule is to ensure that nobody is above the law and that investigations
are carried out into such abuses”.
In January and early February
2012, Amnesty International delegates visited 11 detention facilities in
central and western Libya used by various militias and at 10 of these
locations, detainees said they had been tortured or ill-treated en situ,
and showed Amnesty International injuries resulting from recent abuse.
Several detainees said they had confessed to rape, killings and other
crimes they had not committed just to end the torture.
At least
12 detainees held by militias have died after being tortured since
September. Their bodies were covered in bruises, wounds and cuts and
some had had nails pulled off.
Individuals held in and around
Tripoli, Gharyan, Misratah, Sirte and Zawiya told Amnesty International
they had been suspended in contorted positions; beaten for hours with
whips, cables, plastic hoses, metal chains and bars, and wooden sticks;
and given electric shocks with live wires and taser-like electro-shock
weapons.
At a detention centre in Misratah an Amnesty
International delegate saw armed militia members beating and threatening
some detainees whose release had been ordered. An older detainee from
Tawargha was cowering, squatting against the wall, and crying as he was
being kicked and threatened by a militia member who told Amnesty
International that “those from Tawargha will not be released or we’ll
kill them”.
In an interrogation centre in Misratah and Tripoli
Amnesty International found detainees who interrogators had tried to
conceal and who had been severely tortured – one so badly that he could
hardly move or speak.
Not a single effective investigation is
known to have been carried out into cases of torture, even in cases
where detainees died after having been tortured at militia headquarters
or in interrogation centres which are formally or informally recognized
or linked to the central authorities.
“Militias with a record of
abuse of detainees should simply not be allowed to hold anyone and all
detainees should be immediately transferred to authorized detention
facilities under the control of the National Transitional Council.”
No
investigations have been carried out either into other grave abuses,
such as the extrajudicial execution of detainees and other war crimes,
including the killing of some 65 people whose bodies were found on 23
October in a hotel in Sirte which served as a base for opposition
fighters from Misratah.
Militia members are seen on video
footage obtained by Amnesty International hitting and threatening to
kill a group of 29 men in their custody. One is heard saying “take them
all and kill them”. Their bodies were among those found three days later
at the hotel, many with their hands tied behind their back and shot in
the head.
The Libyan authorities have so far taken no action
against the militias who have forcibly displaced entire communities – a
crime under international law. Militias from Misratah drove out the
entire population of Tawargha, some 30,000 people, and looted and burned
down their homes in revenge for crimes some Tawargha are accused of
having committed during the conflict. Thousands of members of the
Mashashya tribe were similarly forced out of their village by militias
from Zintan, in the Nafusa Mountains. These and other communities
remains displaced in makeshift camps around the country while no action
has been taken to hold the perpetrators accountable or to allow the
displaced communities to return home.
“The blanket impunity
afforded to militias is sending the message that such abuses are
tolerated and is contributing to making such practices accepted
practice. Individuals responsible for abuses must be held to account for
their actions and removed from positions that would allow them to
repeat such abuses.” said Donatella Rovera.
“It is imperative
that the Libyan authorities firmly demonstrate their commitment to
turning the page on decades of systematic violations by reining in the
militias, investigating all past and present abuses and prosecuting
those responsible - on all sides - in accordance with international
law.”
The new authorities in Libya must stamp out arbitrary detention and widespread abuse of detainees, Amnesty International said today in a new briefing paper.
In Detention Abuses Staining the New Libya
the organization reveals a pattern of beatings and ill-treatment of
captured al-Gaddafi soldiers, suspected loyalists and alleged
mercenaries in western Libya. In some cases there is clear evidence of
torture in order to extract confessions or as a punishment.
"There
is a real risk that without firm and immediate action, some patterns of
the past might be repeated. Arbitrary arrest and torture were a
hallmark of Colonel al-Gaddafi's rule," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui,
Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North
Africa.
"We understand that the transitional authorities are
facing many challenges, but if they do not make a clear break with the
past now, they will effectively be sending out a message that treating
detainees like this is to be tolerated in the new Libya."
Since late August, armed militia have arrested and detained as many as 2,500 people in Tripoli and al-Zawiya.
The
organization said detainees were almost always held without legal
orders and mostly without the involvement of the General Prosecution.
They were held by local councils, local military council or armed
brigades – far from the oversight of the Ministry of Justice.
Approximately
300 prisoners were interviewed by Amnesty International in August and
September. None had been shown any kind of arrest warrant and many were
effectively abducted from their homes by unidentified captors carrying
out raids of suspected al-Gaddafi fighters or loyalists.
At
least two guards - in separate detention facilities - admitted to
Amnesty International that they beat detainees in order to extract
“confessions” more quickly.
The organization found a wooden
stick and rope, and a rubber hose, of the kind that could be used to
beat detainees, including on the soles of their feet - a torture method
known as falaqa - on a detention centre floor.
In one detention centre they heard the sound of whipping and screams from a nearby cell.
The
organization said that detainees appear to suffer beatings and torture
particularly at the start of their detention, being given a "welcome" on
arrival.
Sub-Saharan Africans suspected of being mercenaries
made up between a third and a half of those detained. Some have been
released after no evidence was found to link them to fighting.
A
man from Niger, initially presented to Amnesty International as a
"mercenary and killer", broke down and explained that he had "confessed"
after being beaten nearly continuously for two days. He denied being
involved in fighting.
Black Libyans - particularly from the
Tawargha region, which was a base for al-Gaddafi forces in their efforts
to regain control of Misratah - are also particularly vulnerable.
Dozens of Tawarghans have been taken from their homes, checkpoints, and
even hospitals.
The organization also found that children have
been held together with adults and women detainees have been supervised
by male guards.
A 17-year-old boy from Chad accused of rape
and being a mercenary told Amnesty International he was taken from his
home in August by armed men who held him in a school where they punched
him and beat him with stick, belts, rifles and rubber cables:
"The
beatings were so severe that I ended up telling them what they wanted
to hear. I told them I raped women and killed Libyans."
Amnesty
International called on the National Transitional Council (NTC) to
ensure that people are not detained without orders from the General
Prosecution, and to bring detention facilities under the control of the
Minister of Justice.
The organization said that those being held
must be allowed to challenge the lawfulness of their detention or
should be released.
Trial proceedings in western Libya have been
suspended since the NTC took control. In eastern Libya, which fell
under their control in February, they remain suspended.
In
meetings with Amnesty International in September, NTC officials
acknowledged concerns over arbitrary detention and ill-treatment, and
vowed to do more to get a grip on armed militias and ensure that all
those detained enjoy equal protection of the law.
“The NTC has
to act urgently to translate their public commitments into action,
before such abuses become entrenched and stain the new Libya’s human
rights record,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
"These detainees
have in most cases been arrested without a warrant, beaten - and
sometimes worse - on arrest and arrival in detention. They are
vulnerable to abuse by armed militias who often act on their own
initiative."
"The authorities cannot simply allow this to
carry on because they are in a 'transitional' phase. These people must
be allowed to defend themselves properly or be released."
READ MORE
Libyan NTC pledges to investigate rights violations (News, 14 September 2011)
Libya: NTC must take control to prevent spiral of abuses (Report, 13 September 2011)
Tawarghas must be protected from reprisals and arbitrary arrest in Libya (News 7 September 2011)
Both sides in Libya conflict must protect detainees from torture (News, 25 August 2011)
Demanding Change in the Middle East and North Africa (multimedia microsite)
The mainstream media’s conspicuous silence about the racially motivated human rights abuses perpetrated against black Libyans and immigrants, by the NATO-backed Transitional National Council (TNC) forces in Libya, is disturbing. Similarly, the high civilian casualties of the current intense fighting in the city of Sirte seems, to a large extent, to be underplayed. Yet organisations such as Human Rights Watch have acknowledged that civilian abuses have continued and called on forces on both sides that are fighting in Sirte to minimize harm to civilians and treat all prisoners humanely.
This biased media coverage raises questions about the credibility of media organisations and their agenda. Is it because the presence of widespread evidence of racially motivated human rights abuses committed by the TNC forces raises moral and ethical questions that challenge the validity of the notion of a “humanitarian war”? The responsibility assumed by NATO and the TNC forces to protect civilian lives from abuse by Gaddafi forces is also questionable, as it appears this mandate does not seem to extend to the protection of black Libyans and African immigrants.
It seems clear that although the United Nations (UN) has acknowledged that war crimes have been committed on both sides, the mainstream media has been preoccupied with covering human rights violations allegedly committed by Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s forces while ignoring those committed by the NATO-backed forces. This is a dissimulation strategy, which demonstrates that the Libyan conflict is being waged on different fronts. A snap content and discourse analysis shows that various media reveal an inherent ideological bias in coverage of the war.
From the inception of the Libyan conflict, a range of organisations within different segments of the media, have generally assumed a narrative that is pro-rebels and anti-Gaddafi in their coverage of the war. The media’s ideological position is the one informed by the dichotomy of “us” (NATO and TNC forces) and “them” (Gaddafi forces), emanating from the fundamental humanitarian reasons and justifications given by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to implement the UN Security Council Resolution 1973, adopted to protect civilians from violence and abuses by the Gaddafi regime.
From the outset of the armed conflict, rebel groups earned a reputation as “freedom fighters” or “liberators” working with NATO on a humanitarian mission to protect civilians from violence and abuses. Consequently, some media organisations assumed this ideological position in their coverage of the war, framing the rebels as “pro-democracy liberators” while constructing Gaddafi’s forces as ‘human rights violators’. Leading media institutions have been producing and articulating these discourses that are in line with representing a binary narrative that supports the position that NATO and the Libyan TNC forces have a humanitarian responsibility to protect civilians’ lives while Gaddafi forces have been primarily constructed as human rights violators. Sections of the media have continued to dissimulate narratives of racial human abuses committed by rebel forces because such representations are not congruent with or contradict a pre-defined ideological position that constructs rebel forces and their allies as human rights custodians. Thus, such human rights violations and civilian abuses are not afforded media prominence and attention. The dissimulation of unfavourable narratives relates to the concept of symbolic annihilation whereby the media denies a marginalised or minority social group(s) a voice through under-representation or non-coverage in the media.
There have been several cases and evidence of racial violence against black Libyans and African immigrants that have been reported by humanitarian organisations but these cases have rarely been covered by mainstream media organisations. For example, Amnesty International recently released a detailed 107-page report entitled The Battle for Libya: Killings, Disappearances and Torture whose contents show evidence of racial abuses. The report focuses on among other issues, the human rights abuses being committed against black Africans, by both the Gaddafi and the TNC forces.
Similarly, in August 2011 the UN High Commissioner for Refugees issued a strong call for sub-Saharan Africans to be protected in Libya after reports emerged from Tripoli of people being targeted because of their race. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, urged restraint from rebel forces and Libyan civilians adding that, Africans especially, have been particularly vulnerable to hostility or acts of vengeance. The UN has documented several cases of rebels torturing migrant workers in rebel-held areas but these cases have rarely found coverage in mainstream media. More evidence of human rights violations has continued to emerge following the recent publication of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on the arbitrary detention of black-skinned people in Tripoli. In a statement Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director of Human Rights Watch categorically and unequivocally stated that, “The NTC should stop arresting African migrants and black Libyans unless it has concrete evidence of criminal activity. It should also take immediate steps to protect them from violence and abuse.” Similarly, Fred Abrahams, the special advisor at Human Rights Watch recently called on military leaders in Sirte from both sides to make sure that their forces protect civilians or at least allow them to flee the combat zone.
It in interesting to note that despite widespread evidence of such racial abuses perpetrated by the TNC forces, it appears mainstream media organisations have not been willing to represent a narrative that does not conform to its set ideological position and agenda. What has become evident where the reports of racial abuses have reached mainstream media is the framing of a narrative that portrays the victims as “African mercenaries,” despite the availability of adequate evidence to prove that many of the victims were not mercenaries. Amnesty International reports that, “the allegations about the use of mercenaries proved to be largely unfounded” but this has remained an unknown fact to the public. This revelation demonstrates the media’s complicity in the human rights violations. Therefore, mainstream media organisations have concealed gross abuses that could have been exposed and stopped by not representing and speaking against such human rights violations.
The lack of adequate exposure and coverage of the rebels’ racial violations by mainstream media corroborate the assertion that the media is not serving the public but it is serving power and in the process it has abandoned professional media ethics and standards.
Mehari Taddele Maru, Programme Head, African Conflict Prevention Programme, ISS Addis Ababa Office
The African Union (AU) High-Level ad hoc committee on Libya in its 14 September 2011 meeting, held in Pretoria, South Africa, reviewed the situation in Libya. The Communiqué of the ad hoc committee indicates the continuous communication between the AU Commission and the National Transitional Council (NTC). The ad hoc committee has expressed its satisfaction at the commitment of the NTC to the main requests made under the AU Roadmap on Libya, mainly the need to establish an all-inclusive transitional process and ensure the safety and security of African migrants...[More]
Institute for Security Studies (ISS)
Opening Pandora’s Box: NATO’s military intervention in Libya / Written by Raeesah Cassim Cachalia, Consultancy Africa Intelligence’s Conflict and Terrorism Unit
When Muammar Qadhaffi began referring to his citizens as “rats and cockroaches,”(2) many may say that he asked for it. Such statements, together with growing fatalities caused by Qadhaffi’s forces (an estimated 1,400(3) by March 2011), provoked a rather strong reaction from the international community, in comparison to cases such as Rwanda, where much greater incentive was needed for such a response. The United Nations (UN) was unusually swift in taking action against the Colonel and, together with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), saw it fit to begin a military intervention in the country. The rationale behind the intervention was the protection of Libyan civilians from Qadhaffi’s forces.(4) Six months on, the question that begs to be asked is whether NATO’s intervention in Libya is indeed legitimate or, more broadly, under what circumstances is military intervention justified? This paper will indicate the inherent flaws present in military intervention with particular reference to the Libyan case...[more]
Raeesah Cassim Cachalia (conflict.terrorism@consultancyafrica.com ).
Though morally self-evident, this concept was slow to gain acceptance in the international community, particularly among developing countries, many of which saw it as a ploy by Western powers to meddle in the internal affairs of weaker countries.
After much lobbying, the principle was finally enshrined by the 2005 World Summit and successfully used to resolve dangerous crises in Kenya and Guinea. But never, until Libya, had its most controversial aspect — the use of force as a last resort — been put to the test.
In the eyes of many countries, NATO has failed that test...[More]
Making Sense Of Libya [And Other Reports On The Arab Spring] International Crisis Group
Middle East North Africa Libya Trackbacks (0)Making Sense of Libya, Middle East/North Africa Report N°107, 6 Jun 2011
The longer Libya’s military conflict persists, the more it risks undermining the anti-Qaddafi camp’s avowed objectives and the purpose claimed for NATO's intervention, that of protecting civilians.
Popular Protest in North Africa and the Middle East (VIII): Bahrain’s Rocky Road to Reform, Middle East Report N°111, 28 Jul 2011
Unless all sides to the conflict agree to an inclusive dialogue in order to reach meaningful reform, Bahrain is heading for prolonged and costly political stalemate.
Popular Protests in North Africa and the Middle East (III): The Bahrain Revolt, MENA Report N°105, 6 Apr 2011
Bahrain’s crackdown and Saudi Arabia’s 14 March military intervention could turn a mass movement for democratic reform into an armed conflict while regionalising a genuinely internal political struggle.
Popular Protest in North Africa and the Middle East (II): Yemen between Reform and Revolution, Middle East/North Africa Report N°102, 10 Mar 2011
Unprecedented protests and the regime’s heavy-handed response risk pushing Yemen into widespread violence but also could and should be a catalyst for long overdue, far reaching political reform.
Popular Protest in North Africa and the Middle East (I): Egypt Victorious?, Middle East/North Africa Report N°101, 24 Feb 2011
If Egypt’s popular uprising is to achieve its aspirations for a truly democratic society, street activism will need to be converted into inclusive, institutional politics.
Libya: Policy Options For Transition : Workshop Report, Chatham House, August 2011
Libya Trackbacks (0)At a historic moment in Libya’s future the group met to discuss policy options for transition, on the premise that the end game for Colonel Gaddafi’s regime was approaching. Discussion focused on three main areas: the ongoing conflict; challenges of the transition; and questions of social and economic reconstruction. http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/0811libya_wg.pdf/default/files/0811libya_wg.pdf
Key points that emerged from the meeting included:
- Following Gaddafi’s exit there will have to be immediate
reengagement with the police in Tripoli to help bring about the
restoration of civilian order. It seems there are already good
communications in place to allow this to happen.
- In the immediate post-conflict period there will be an urgent need
to establish a process to collect weapons, as large sections of the
civilian population will be left with arms. It is possible that
financial incentives may be necessary for this process.
- In order to restore the provision of basic services to the
population the tactics currently being used by the rebels to pressure
Tripoli – such as cutting off supplies – will need to be quickly
reversed.
- A key aspect of reconstruction will be the return of skilled
expatriate and diaspora Libyans. The National Transitional Council (NTC)
should consider explicitly inviting people back to help with
reconstruction efforts.
Project: Libya Working Group
Libya; And The Afghan Elections.2 More Sites On Libya Added
Afghanistan Elections Libya Trackbacks (0)Libya: Guardian newspaper
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/libya
This site is maintained by the Guardian newspaper. It provides free access to newspaper stories, comment and analysis about Libya from Guardian journalists. This includes blog postings, photographs, film and audio clips of significant interviews. Topics covered include international security, terrorism and Libya; the Lockerbie case and controversy surrounding the conviction and appeal of alleged suspect Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and the rule and politics of Colonel Gaddafi. Copyright and technical information is displayed on the website.
Libya : Amnesty International
http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/libya
This site is maintained by leading human rights group Amnesty International. It provides free access to its statements, press releases and full text reports about human rights in Libya. This includes coverage of human rights violations and repression under the rule of Colonel Gaddafi and the state of democracy in general. Publications from approximately 1970 onwards are available.
Libya: Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/libya
This site is maintained by leading human rights think tank Human Rights Watch. This section provides free access to its press releases, statements and reports relating to Libya. Topics covered include human rights under the rule of Colonel Gaddafi, the treatment of refugees, and issues relating to Libya, the war against terrorism and the Lockerbie bombing case. Materials from approximately 2002 onwards are accessible.
Afghan presidential elections: a mirror of self-deception
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/IDEAS/publications/reports/pdf/SA004.pdf
This site provides free access to a briefing by Antonio Giustozzi which was published as an LSE IDEAS report in 2009. The 2 page document offers an immediate summary of the conduct of the 2009 Afghan presidential elections and its potential impact.
From Intute.ac.uk