A little evidence of Libya's National Transitional Council's war crimes: Black Ethnic Cleansing

  SPECIAL REPORT SERIES by Lady Michelle Jennifer Santos – TSR Founder & Publisher and Strategy/Peace Negotiator with the UN Security Council Special Envoy to the Arab Nations

Oct 13, 2011 (Amnesty/TSR) – Armed militia opposing Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi have captured and detained about 2,500 people in the capital Tripoli and surrounding areas since the National Transitional Council (NTC) took control of these areas in late August 2011. Those detained include al- Gaddafi soldiers and alleged loyalists, commonly known as the “fifth column”, are members of the Internal Security Agency, Revolutionary Committees and Revolutionary Guards and “volunteers”, including children (under 18 years). Sub-Saharan Africans, allegedly suspected of being mercenaries, comprise between a third and a half of those detained in Tripoli, its suburbs of Janzur and Tajura, and al-Zawiya, a city about 100km west of Tripoli. {{{4.95}}}

A little evidence of Libya's National Transitional Council's war crimes: Black Ethnic Cleansing

Findings in this Amnesty International briefing, for which herein we shall commit to use their majority own report to also support what we know already since March and build the case against these undocumented criminals that the Sarcozy, Obama, Cameron, NATO and other 60 nations forcing it to Libyan Arab Jamahiriya as their “new” leaders without the mandate of their sovereign nation, are based on visits to 11 detention facilities in western Libya, namely Awlad Agina School, Bir Terfas School and al-Zawiya detention centre previously used for irregular migrants, all in al-Zawiya; Ain Zara Open Prison, Jdeida Prison, the detention centre in Mitiga Airport and the Noflin National Army detention facility, all in Tripoli; the General Security Offices in Janzur suburb, used to hold detainees until their transfer in early September to other detention centres; the Hufra detention centre in Tajura suburb; and the Wahda and Sa’doun schools in Misratah.

This is Amnesty International’s visit to Libya between 18 August and 21 September, where some 2,500 people were held in detention facilities in Tripoli, its suburbs and al-Zawiya – all arrested since late August 2011. About 1,130 detainees were held in Misratah in mid- September; some had been detained for months, others had been arrested since late August when Zliten, Khums and Tripoli fell under NTC control. During these visits, Amnesty International delegates met detention administrators and interviewed about 300 detainees without the presence of guards. The delegates also interviewed a number of released detainees, and relatives of individuals still held in western Libya.

NOTE: Names of individuals whose cases are included in this report, as well as the detention facilities where they were interviewed, are withheld to protect people from reprisals, just as I have been protective of my UN mentor’s name, other casualties and people involved for due security reasons. However, those who are in the inner circle in the highest echelons at the United Nations, royals, elites, key decision makers in governments know who I am. Key world leaders know my involvement in all this, and only liars will dare deny my reports. Thus many factual narratives must come out. We are not going to mince our words for doing that is an insult to the 60,000 + innocent Libyans killed, slaughtered, and murdered, in addition to those women and children who have been raped and abducted. My hope is that majority of the 15 nations that are currently in the UN Security Council stop all this unfair and disinformation-based Resolution 1973 by doing the honorable thing of removing the NO FLY ZONE, get NATO out and hold them accountable for war crimes with the Libyan rebels, and the countries who violated the Geneva Convention many times over during this diplomatic fiasco, of course, including the various spin doctors and their media conglomerates. Until then. I will honor my word, and will continue to expose the LIES until that NO FLY ZONE is removed, as per my mandate entrusted to me by my mentor. We do not wish another Iraq. If we do not rectify this, what is the point of the United Nations? For from this vantage point, it is quite clear that NATO has the UN Security Council on a leash. What does this say to our UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon? Do we really want another Somalia, Iraq or Rwanda? What will it take for people to do the honorable thing? I say the same for the so-called NGOs whom I have warned months ago, but their lack of action just confirmed more of what we know that NGOs are also part of these war crimes. To the others, I forgive many of them. It is not normal to have a real insider and high ranking person giving them heads up. Many seem to prefer receiving delayed reports even when it is emergency. It is called “protocol”.

Detainees are being held in former prisons as well as in makeshift detention facilities such as schools, football clubs and apartments. These are not overseen by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, but are simply controlled by local councils, military councils and brigades (kataeb), or by the Free Libya Armed Forces (members of the regular armed forces who took sides against Colonel al-Gaddafi and civilians who took up arms).

Beatings and other ill-treatment are common, particularly upon capture and in the first days of detention. Impunity for such abuses remains entrenched. Libyan and foreign detainees have also complained of torture at the hands of their captors and guards. At least two guards in two different detention facilities admitted to Amnesty International that they beat detainees in order to extract “confessions” more quickly. In one detention centre, Amnesty International delegates found a wooden stick and rope, and a rubber hose, of the kind that could have been used to beat detainees, including on the soles of their feet, a torture method known as falaqa. In another, they heard the sound of whipping and screams.

ARBITRARY ARRESTS

Groups of armed thuwwar (revolutionaries, as fighters opposed to Colonel al-Gaddafi are commonly known) have “arrested” many individuals suspected of being al-Gaddafi fighters or loyalists as well as alleged “African mercenaries”, although such “arrests” are better described as abductions. In all cases documented by Amnesty International, no arrest warrant was presented, even when suspects were taken from their home, and the captors never identified themselves. The individuals have then been taken away either in unmarked pick-up trucks with anti-aircraft machine-guns mounted on them or in regular vehicles. In some cases, captives have been thrown into car boots. Usually, no reason has been provided for their “arrest” and no indication given to their relatives as to their destination.

Children have not been spared. Some have been “arrested” alone; others have been taken along with their relatives. They have been held in the same facilities with adults, and treated as adults. Among the children interviewed by Amnesty International were Libyan “volunteers” and foreign nationals suspected of being mercenaries.

NOTE: Gaddafi NEVER hired mercenaries. “THEY” know it. My mentor knows it. I know it. Yet they lie. I will expand this in the video reports.

Hundreds of people have been seized at their homes, workplaces and checkpoints or simply from the streets. Many have then been beaten with sticks and rifle butts, kicked, punched and insulted, at times while blindfolded and handcuffed. In some cases, detainees said they were shot in the legs after capture. During house raids, many reported that items such as mobile phones, cars, money and identity documents were taken. Sometimes, property was destroyed in what appeared to be revenge attacks against suspected al-Gaddafi loyalists.

A 40-year-old man, who was detained along with his two brothers and another relative on the evening of 10 September, told Amnesty International that a group of armed men came without a warrant and searched his house in western Libya. He continued:

“They didn’t explain anything. They just said: ‘You loved al-Gaddafi and helped him during the conflict. Show us what al-Gaddafi will do for you now.’ They searched the house, and took away all our identity documents. The house was already destroyed and looted, as another group of armed men came in around 23-24 August  [days after the thuwwar first took control]. They broke the doors, smashed some appliances, and set the place on fire. We then sent the women and children away for safety, and we  [the men] came back about a week later to start fixing the house and salvaging whatever could be salvaged. We were arrested almost immediately. When they captured us, they slapped us, kicked us, and insulted us.”

 

Such “arrests” have been made by groups of thuwwar affiliated to local councils and, in some instances in Tripoli, by groups of thuwwar from other cities, such as thuwwar from Misratah and al-Zawiya. In Janzur suburb, local council officials told Amnesty International that “arrests” were being made on the basis of lists compiled at the neighborhood level. In other cases, it appears the “arrests” have been random.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICANS AND BLACK LIBYANS AT RISK

Sub-Saharan Africans and black Libyans remain particularly vulnerable to arbitrary arrest on account of their skin color and the belief that al-Gaddafi forces used African mercenaries to fight forces loyal to the NTC. While al-Gaddafi forces used foreign fighters – particularly towards the end of the conflict – the targeting of dark-skinned individuals is based on widely exaggerated claims about mercenaries made early in the conflict by forces opposed to Colonel al-Gaddafi, and fuelled by discriminatory attitudes in Libyan society.

During visits to detention centres in al-Zawiya and Tripoli, Amnesty International noted that between a third and a half of detainees were Sub-Saharan African nationals, many of them migrant workers. For instance, in the three largest detention facilities in Tripoli – Jdeida Prison, Ain Zara Open Prison and the Mitiga Airport detention facility – officials told Amnesty International that about half of the approximately 1,300 detainees were foreign nationals, including people from Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan. In al-Zawiya detention facility, visited by Amnesty International on 11 September, about a third of the some 400 detainees were foreign nationals, according to officials there.

Most Sub-Saharan African nationals, both men and women, interviewed by Amnesty International were seized at home or at checkpoints, not captured in battle. None of those interviewed by Amnesty International wore uniforms or had weapons with them when they were detained. For instance, a group of 14 Nigerian men and 12 Nigerian women arrested together in eastern Tripoli at a checkpoint by a group of armed men – some in civilian clothes and others in military fatigues – on 1 September as they were trying to flee to Tunisia said that they had been carrying all their belongings at the time of their arrest. All 26, who were interviewed separately by Amnesty International, had Nigerian passports but no residency permits for Libya. They were held together with al-Gaddafi soldiers and loyalists, and with individuals suspected of being “African mercenaries”. One of the women told Amnesty International:

 

“All we want is to go home now. It is too insecure for us blacks in this country. I don’t understand why we are held; nobody questions us or explained anything to us… When we were first brought to this detention center, we were beaten in the courtyard with sticks all over our bodies.”

 

Harsher treatment was reserved for the men in the group, who were beaten with sticks and whips not only on arrival at the detention facility, but also during the night of 6 September, when a group of about six armed men entered their cell, called them “slaves” and dragged them outside for a beating. The detainees showed Amnesty International bruises and scars consistent with their testimonies. The incident was confirmed by cellmates interviewed separately, who said that the Nigerian men were called “mercenaries, killers of Libyans, and al-Gaddafi lovers” by their abusers.

In another case, armed thuwwar raided houses in the al-Madina al-Kadima neighbourhood of Tripoli on 26 August. They searched the houses, looking for weapons and money, and then seized dozens of black Libyans and Sub-Saharan African nationals from Chad, Mali, Niger and Sudan. Twenty-six of those taken from their homes that day told Amnesty International that their hands were tied with metal wire and that they were blindfolded. They said they were beaten during the raid, and then at a football club near al-Madina al-Kadima to where they were taken. There, they were forced to lie face-down on the ground and were beaten with rifle butts, sticks and electric wires. When Amnesty International interviewed them some nine days after the beatings, they still had marks consistent with their testimonies. A detainee recounted that his cousin was shot three times while tied, and then driven to an unknown place. His fate and whereabouts remain unknown.

In a similar incident, a group of Malian nationals said that they were kicked and beaten in their home in Tripoli on the morning of 21 August by about a dozen armed thuwwar, and then taken by truck to an unknown location where they were stripped and again beaten.

Black Libyans are also at high risk of arbitrary detention. Like Sub-Saharan Africans, they are often automatically assumed to be fighters for or loyal to Colonel al-Gaddafi. They come from towns and regions that include Obari, Sabha and Tawargha, which are assumed to largely support Colonel al-Gaddafi.

A 26-year-old black Libyan detained since 21 August in three different facilities in western Libya told Amnesty International that he was captured by a group of armed men near a mosque in the Abu Salim area of Tripoli, site of the most violent confrontations in the city and widely seen as an al-Gaddafi stronghold. He said:

 

“I was seized by a group of thuwwar driving around in pick-up trucks with ‘thuwwar Misratah’ written on them. The pick-up trust had an anti-aircraft machinery mounted on it. They put plastic handcuffs on my wrists, and started hitting me with their rifle butts inside the truck. I was first taken to Mitiga  [ airport detention facility where I was thrown on the ground and beaten for about an hour with sticks and electric cables. I don’t know how many people were hitting me as the punches and beatings kept raining down. They told me: ‘You bushra samra (dark skin) will be eliminated, there is no place for you in Libya. Say you killed, or we will kill you.'”

 

On 24 August, in a separate incident, a group of thuwwar entered a house in Abu Salim where two brothers from Sabha, both in their early twenties, were staying. The brothers said that after searching the house, the thuwwar tied their hands behind their backs and then beat them while taking them to Ali Ureit School in the Abu Mashmasha area of Tripoli. The elder brother recounted:

“They beat us several times using their rifles. They also whipped us. When they transferred us to Mitiga  [airport detention facility, they forced us to walk on our knees to the vehicles while they insulted and beat us. They accused us of being mercenaries.”

 

PEOPLE FROM TAWARGHA TARGETED

People from Tawargha region, who are black Libyans, have been at particular risk of reprisals and revenge attacks by thuwwar from Misratah because the region was a base for al-Gaddafi troops when they were besieging Misratah and reminds Misratah residents of serious violations by al-Gaddafi forces. The town of Tawargha was deserted when Amnesty International visited it on 16 September, its residents having fled to various cities across Libya in search of safety.

Amnesty International knows of dozens of people from Tawargha who were taken by armed men from their homes, checkpoints and even hospitals. Many of them were abused during apprehension.

For instance, a 45-year-old man from Tawargha, married with four children, told Amnesty International that at about 10pm on 28 August he and a relative with whom he was shopping were stopped in al-Firnaj area of Tripoli by four armed thuwwar, who then took them to the Mitiga Airport detention facility. One told Amnesty International that during the journey there they were threatened and beaten, including with a rifle butt. He said:

 

“My only sin is my skin color… Thuwwar from Misratah warned us to never return home to Tawargha.”

 

Two other men from Tawargha, who were being held in a detention facility in Tripoli, told Amnesty International that they were seized at their home in Tripoli on 28 August. One of them, the owner of the house, told Amnesty International that a group of five armed men barged into the house, searched it, and took him and one of his relatives. The other man had fled Tawargha along with 11 other relatives in mid-August. He continued:

 

“Those who arrest us called us ‘slaves’ and said that we should go back to Africa because there is no place for us in the new Libya.”

 

Another man from Tawargha detained at the same facility told Amnesty International that he was taken at a checkpoint on 21 August by a group of armed men driving in a pick-up truck with “Misratah thuwwar” written on it. He told Amnesty International that he was handcuffed with a plastic strip, hit with rifles, especially on his back, and called a “slave and a killer”.

A Tawargha man in his twenties told Amnesty International that he was taken by a group of armed men on 25 August from a street in the Abu Salim area of Tripoli, where he was living. He was thrown into a car and driven around for about an hour until the car stopped at the coast. There, the thuwwar put a cable around his neck and pulled it in a mock execution. They also punched his ears. He was eventually taken to the Mitiga Airport detention facility, where he said thuwwar frequently beat him with rifle butts and whipped him at night. He was eventually taken to another detention facility.

Internally displaced people from Tawargha were also seized from makeshift camps in Tripoli, where they had been sheltering since fleeing their homes. According to camp residents, dozens of men were taken by the thuwwar on two separate occasions, about 14 in late August and around 70 on 9 September. Witnesses who had moved to another camp in search of safety described the second occasion. They said that during the morning of 9 September, a group of thuwwar believed to be from Misratah entered the Mashru’ camp in Tripoli, where around 130 families were living. They started firing in the air using anti-aircraft machine guns and kalashnikov rifles. After ordering the men to gather, they warned: “You should find shelter somewhere else. We are in charge here and we want you out by tomorrow morning. Anybody found here after 10am [tomorrow] will assume his own responsibility.” The armed men left taking with them some 70 men and boys as young as 16. Camps residents promptly fled and settled at another camp under the protection of a brigade from Benghazi.

Several people from Tawargha arrested in Tripoli in September were transferred to Misratah for questioning by groups of thuwwar. Many were beaten upon arrest and in the first days of detention. At least one person died as a result. Saleh Ahmed Abdallah Haddad, aged 21, died on 15 September in Misratah reportedly as a result of internal bleeding after being beaten and trampled on by his captors. According to his cellmates, several days after beatings left him paralysed from the waist down, he started vomiting blood and he died shortly after being taken to hospital.

TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT

When Tripoli and its suburbs first came under NTC “control”, captured individuals were detained in makeshift detention centers, including Ali Ureit School and a football club in al-Madina al-Kadima, where detainees were particularly vulnerable to torture and other ill-treatment. There have since been efforts to hold people in official facilities such as Jdeida Prison and Ain Zara Open Prison.

Several detainees told Amnesty International that were still being beaten sporadically and were frequently threatened and insulted. Impunity for such behavior remains entrenched, and new arrivals are particularly vulnerable to a “welcome” that frequently involves beatings and other abuses.

In general, the prison administrators in detention facilities visited by Amnesty International had little legal knowledge or expertise in running detention facilities, and were unfamiliar with international human rights and humanitarian law. With the exception of the Hufra detention facility, none was even keeping up-to-date records of the detainees being held.

Many detainees told Amnesty International that they had been beaten, particularly before being transferred to official detention facilities, including with sticks, whips and rifle butts. Several revealed bruising consistent with their testimonies. Two guards openly admitted to Amnesty International delegates that they had beaten detainees because they would not “confess”. In one office at the entrance of the Hufra detention facility, Amnesty International saw a wooden stick with a rope and a rubber hose nearby. A guard said they would use this stick to tie detainees’ feet (so that they can be beaten on their soles, a torture method known as falaqa) but “only to scare” detainees, not to beat them. The guard added that a detainee was threatened in that way the day before and therefore “confessed” that he was a Gaddafi loyalist. At the al-Zawiya detention facility, Amnesty International delegates heard screams and the noise of whipping.

The most frequently reported methods of torture and other ill-treatment included beatings all over the body with belts, sticks, rifle butts and rubber hoses; punching; kicking; and death threats. Before beatings, detainees have been made to lie on the ground, or forced to face a wall or kneel. Two detainees said cigarettes had been extinguished on their flesh. It appears that detainees have been abused to force them to “confess” or to punish them for alleged crimes during the conflict.

 Amnesty International interviewed a 17-year-old boy from Chad who was accused of rape and being a mercenary. He was taken from his home in August by a group of armed men who were looking for his relative, a dual Libyan-Chadian national, who was allegedly involved in recruiting foreign fighters for al-Gaddafi forces. The boy said that he was handcuffed, slapped and dragged on the ground when apprehended, and then while detained at a school was punched and beaten with sticks, belts, rifles and rubber cables, mostly on the head, face and back. He said:

 

“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… Now I am no longer beaten, but every night people are beaten here – both Libyans and and foreigners.”

 

When Amnesty International interviewed him some two weeks after his beatings, there were still visible scars on his body.

A man from Niger, who was presented by the guards as a “mercenary and a killer”, initially told Amnesty International that he was paid 450 dinars a month to fight and kill for al-Gaddafi. As the interview progressed, the man broke down and explained that he had signed a paper and “confessed” his crimes after being beaten nearly continuously for two days and denied being involved in fighting.

Beatings are not only reserved for foreign nationals. A 30-year-old Libyan from Tripoli told Amnesty International that he was seized and beaten by a group of armed thuwwar in his neighborhood as he was making his way home. He recounted:

 

“As I entered the office  [a telecommunication office to where he was initially taken], they immediately started beating me with their fists and with sticks. They accused me of being a supporter of the regime. It is true that my father is known in the neighborhood as a supporter of al-Gaddafi – but none of us was involved in fighting. Two other detainees held with me – including one Sudanese – were also beaten… Upon arrival here  [a detention facility in Tripoli] a guard of the thuwwar pulled me by my shirt and he started beating and kicking me. The guards told me: ‘You are a rat. You are no human being’ … On about 1 September, I was severely beaten by one of the guards – including with the butt of his rifle.”

 

The man had extensive bruising when he spoke to Amnesty International delegates.

Another Libyan man, also in his thirties, who was captured in Tripoli by a group of armed thuwwar on 25 August on suspicion of killing an anti-al-Gaddafi protester, said that he was tortured for days while he was detained at the Shat al-Ghanshir School. He recounted:

 

“The thuwwar did not believe me [ when I said I didn’t kill the man ], and they beat me every day. They used wooden sticks, electric wires and rifle butts. They took me to each classroom where others were detained and ordered other detainees to beat me. They also tied my hands and feet to a bed and kept beating me for hours with a whip and a stick… While handcuff and blindfolded, they placed a burning candle on my head until it burnt my hair. This was done to stop me sleeping… They did not spare a moment to punish me for a murder that I did not commit. I want justice.”

 

Amnesty International observed scars and bluish bruises all over his body, particularly on his back. Other detainees, interviewed separately, confirmed that thuwwar had forced them to beat the man.

30 year old Libyan national scarred by Libyan rebel torture (Photo: Amnesty International)

WOMEN IN DETENTION

At detention centres in al-Zawiya, Tripoli (including Tajura) and Misratah, Amnesty International delegates interviewed 49 women and one girl: 21 Libyans, 27 Nigerians and one Gambian. The women from Sub-Saharan Africa said that they had been seized from the street or their homes without proof of their involvement in fighting. The Libyans said that they were mostly “volunteers” who had responded to calls to support Colonel al-Gaddafi’s government; several had worked at checkpoints alongside Revolutionary Guards. Many of the Libyan women interviewed were heads of households and were struggling to make ends meet.

Although the female detainees reported less abuse than their male counterparts, some said that they had been sexually fondled by male thuwwar during transfers or by guards, and had been slapped across the face and insulted by some guards. Two of the women interviewed said that they had been raped by unidentified men before being detained.

All of the women complained about the absence of formal investigations and charges, and about their lack of understanding for the reason for their detention. All wanted to be brought before a judicial authority without further delay. One woman said that she had been coerced and intimidated into falsely confessing to killing NTC fighters.

Amnesty International is concerned about the absence of female guards in all detention facilities apart from al-Zawiya. Under the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, women prisoners are to “be attended and supervised only by women officers”.

ABSENCE OF LEGAL PROCESS

At the time of writing in mid-September, people were still all being detained without an order from the judicial police or General Prosecution. Detainees, including civilians, have no opportunity to challenge the legality of their detention and are not granted access to lawyers. Trial proceedings have been suspended since the beginning of the unrest, even in areas that fell under the control of the NTC in February.

For the most part, criminal investigations into alleged crimes and decisions to detain people fall within the remit of various committees and individuals – some without any legal expertise – with no co-ordination and oversight and, in some case, little or no involvement by the General Prosecution. Some detainees told Amnesty International that they were forced to sign or thumb-print statements without being allowed to read them.

The vast majority of detainees interviewed by Amnesty International have either never been questioned or have been questioned only by prison officials or thuwwar. Two detainees in Ain Zara Open Prison and al-Zawiya detention facility told Amnesty International that they had appeared before the judicial police and the prosecution, respectively. However, in both cases, the detainees said that orders to release them were not implemented by the thuwwar physically detaining them.

NOTE:  “A commitment to improve prison conditions and ensure a functioning justice system was reiterated by the Acting Minister of Justice, Mohamed al-Allagi, and the Acting Deputy Prime Minister, Ali Tarhouni, in early September.” NO, the NTC will not do anything. This is pure rhetoric, just because I know their intentions, and WHO set this all up, and they will never tell the world, only behind closed doors. You are already seeing what they intend to do to the country. What Gaddafi and the Libyans built, they have destroyed and will stop at nothing just to get what they want, oil, gold, water and slaves.

LIBYA’S OBLIGATIONS UNDER INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC LAW

The NTC has publicly promised to respect Libya’s obligations under international human rights law. Although, “Publicly” does not mean they have to honor it. Look at all the incriminating evidence in addition to this? The “chosen” NTC leaders are bureaucrats molded in U.S. soil. Does this mean anything to any politician or person who has brains? They also are known to have no real organization. Mustafa Abdul Jalil has admitted himself, he cannot control his group, i.e. he knows of the crimes, and the lawless rebels don’t respect him and the other NTC leaders. This is the fact on the ground, with an admission I have on tape.

As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the NTC must prevent torture, investigate whenever there are reasonable grounds to suspect acts of torture and other ill-treatment have occurred – even when no official complaints have been made, bring those responsible to justice, and provide reparation to victims.

They are also required to take concrete measures to prevent torture and other ill-treatment, including by granting independent bodies the right to monitor the situation of detainees in all prisons and other places of detention.

As a state party to the ICCPR, Libya is obliged to prevent arbitrary arrest and detention and to allow anyone deprived of their liberty an effective opportunity to challenge the lawfulness of their detention before a court (Article 9 of the ICCPR). It must ensure that those arrested are promptly informed of any charges against them. Those charged must be brought before the judicial authorities within a reasonable time. Libya’s Code of Criminal Procedure sets 48 hours as the limit for referring suspects to the General Prosecution, extending the limit to seven days for “offences against the state”.

Some safeguards against torture, arbitrary arrest and detention are included in Libyan law. For instance, Article 14 of Law No. 20 of 1991 on the Promotion of Freedoms stipulates:

“No one can be deprived of his freedom, searched or questioned unless he has been charged with committing an act that is punishable by law, pursuant to an order issued by a competent court, and in accordance with the conditions and time limits specified by law”. Other safeguards include the requirement for security officers to hold a warrant from the competent authority when arresting or detaining a suspect (Article 30 of the Code of Criminal Procedure), the requirement to detain suspects only in “prisons designed for that purpose” (Article 31), and the right of detainees to challenge the legality of their detention (Article 33).

As long as the armed conflict continues, the Libyan National Transitional Council are bound by their obligations under international humanitarian law, which provides fundamental guarantees for civilians, as well as fighters or combatants who are captured, injured or otherwise rendered unable to fight (hors de combat). Between them, common Article 3 and other provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the 1977 Protocols and customary international humanitarian law provide, among other things, the following fundamental rules applicable to all sides in all types of armed conflict:

  • people to be treated humanely at all times;
  • prohibition of discrimination in the application of the protections provided by  international humanitarian law;
  • prohibition of torture, cruel or inhuman treatment and outrages on personal dignity (particularly humiliating and degrading treatment);
  • prohibition of arbitrary detention;
  • no one may be convicted or sentenced except pursuant to a fair trial affording all essential judicial guarantees; and
  • prohibition of collective punishments.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DEMANDS TO STOP THE ABUSES

Amnesty International calls on the NTC to implement the following recommendations as a matter of priority to stop the abuses:

Arrest and detention

  • Issue clear orders not to apprehend suspects without arrest warrants issued by the General Prosecution.
  • End arbitrary arrests and detentions immediately, and ensure that no one is deprived of their liberty except in accordance with procedures and on grounds prescribed by law.
  • Ensure that all those detained are given an opportunity to challenge the lawfulness of their detention before a court or are released.
  • Ensure that release orders by the General Prosecution and other judicial authorities are respected.
  • Establish clear structures and procedures for policing and the detention of captured soldiers and criminal suspects.
  • Place all detention facilities under the oversight of the General Prosecution and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
  • Ensure that civilian detainees have prompt access to their families and lawyers.
  • Facilitate communication for captured soldiers with their families and ensure they are granted access to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
  • Ensure that female detainees are supervised by female guards.
  • Ensure that children are held in appropriate facilities and that unaccompanied children are not held with adult detainees.

Torture and other ill-treatment

  • Ensure that all those detained by thuwwar and other forces loyal to the NTC are treated humanely, receive necessary medical treatment, and are protected from torture and other ill-treatment.
  • Ensure that detainees undergo medical examinations when transferred to official detention centers and are provided with medical certificates describing any injuries.
  • Take immediate steps to identify any survivors of sexual assault in detention and provide them with access to appropriate psychological and medical treatment, including for sexually transmitted diseases, and to emergency contraception.
  • Ensure that prompt investigations are conducted into all known or reported cases of torture and other ill-treatment. Such investigations should be impartial and independent, and conducted by individuals with expertise in investigating such cases; if necessary,
  • international assistance should be sought. Suspected perpetrators of such crimes should be brought to justice in proceedings that meet international standards for fair trial.
  • Publicly condemn torture and other ill-treatment of detainees and the targeting of Sub- Saharan Africans and black Libyans, including in forums widely accessible to Libyans such as national television and radio.
  • Take steps to counter racism, xenophobia and discrimination against individuals with dark skin, including by acknowledging that reports on the use of African mercenaries by Colonel al-Gaddafi were widely exaggerated and by celebrating the diverse ethnic make-up of Libya and the positive contribution of migrants, including from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Based on these evidences alone by an independent mission who found out the TRUTH in Libya, the question now, how much more is the UN Security Council with its 15 members will wake up and stop NATO? We do not wish to wait for years for these people to act. We are not going down the road of apathy and pretentious rhetoric about caring for Universal Human Rights. The UN Secretary-General must stand up now. There are many peoples of the world who are not happy with this inaction towards what is right and good. Make that stance, world leaders. Call for ceasefire and order NATO to get out of Libya.
There was no revolution. The crisis was imported by the French and Zionists, headed by Sarcozy, Cameron, Obama with their greedy clique. Let the Libyans handle this. More to come and TRUTH will prevail.

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AUTHOR: Amnesty International

AUTHOR: Lady Michelle Jennifer Santos – TSR Founder & Publisher and Strategy/Peace Negotiator with the UN Security Council Special Envoy to the Arab Nations (Author BIOGRAPHY here.)

NOTE: To the people who wonder who I am and where I got my information, the only way for you to verify is you can ask the highest level executives and world leaders at the United Nations. My name is in the most highly classified papers. My UN mentor is a First Level Ambassador. It is the highest ranking ambassador and diplomat on the planet. His uncle was one of the founders of the United Nations. He was grooming me. I am very much an insider and these TRUTHS are being suppressed purposely.

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