===============================================================================
[iMaverick_(Johannesburg)]
****** Libya: Mass Killings But This Time Gaddafi's Not to Blame ******
Simon Allison
27 October 2011
===============================================================================
analysis
A damning Human Rights Watch report into mass extrajudicial killings is
sullying the good name of Libya's revolutionaries, who, in their quest for
revenge, seem to be committing one of Brother Leader's favourite crimes.
The corpses were badly decayed by the time Human Rights Watch got there,
clustered together in the sea-facing garden of an abandoned hotel in Sirte. "We
found 53 decomposing bodies, apparently Gaddafi supporters, at an abandoned
hotel in Sirte, and some had their hands bound behind their backs when they
were shot," said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch.
HRW was too diplomatic to make the connection explicitly, but pointedly noted
that the hotel in question had been in the hands of anti-Gaddafi fighters since
early October, and that the bodies were about a week old.
HRW called on the National Transitional Council to investigate the killings
immediately, as well as another discovery, also in Sirte, of ten bodies of
victims apparently executed.
Summary justice is proving to be a controversial issue in the wake of Gaddafi's
regime. The most high-profile suspected victim is thought to be Gaddafi
himself, along with his son Mo'tasim, both of whom were described by some
apparent witnesses as having been captured alive.
After immense international pressure, their deaths are being investigated by
the NTC.
In a separate report, HRW voiced its concerns that the NTC was not doing enough
to secure the heavy weaponry around Sirte, with missiles and munitions
unguarded in the area. "For months we have been warning the NTC and Nato about
the dangers posed by these vast stockpiles of unguarded weapons, and the urgent
need to secure them," said Bouckaert.
"Surface-to-air missiles can take down civilian aircraft, and the explosive
weapons can be converted easily into the car bombs and IEDs (improvised
explosive devices) that have killed thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan." DM

iMaverick is South Africa's first daily tablet newspaper and includes coverage
from the Daily Maverick and Free African Media. To subscribe, go to:
www.imaverick.co.za.
Copyright © 2011 iMaverick. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica
Global Media (allAfrica.com).
AllAfrica - All the Time
HOME
[allAfrica.com]
  [Quantcast]