Government must intervene with NTC on Amnesty abuse claims

Alternattiva Demokratika is asking the Maltese government to Intervene with the leaders of the Libyan Transitional National Council on reported cases of human rights abuse.

"Whilst stating that Gaddafi loyalists have been the authors of innumerable cases of human rights violations, Amnesty International noted that Libyan opposition fighters and supporters have abducted, arbitrarily detained, tortured and killed former members of the security forces, suspected Gaddafi loyalists, captured soldiers and foreign nationals wrongly suspected of being mercenaries fighting on behalf of Gaddafi forces," AD international affairs spokesman Arnold Cassola said.

"This is totally unacceptable, and the Gonzi government should press the point forcefully with its Libyan counterparts," Cassola said. "The respect of the rule of law and the upholding of the dignity of all human beings is the hallmark of civilised government."

Michael Briguglio, AD Chairperson, said that in any revolutionary situation, it is forces which are democratic and which respect human rights that should be supported by the international community.

Libyas new leadership hit back yesterday at a report accusing it of permitting attacks against civilians accused of supporting Muammar Gaddafi and black migrant workers.

Justice minister Mohammed al-Alagi said any crimes committed were not the work of rebel forces. “They are not the military [committing these crimes] they are only ordinary people.”

Libya’s authorities say that it is difficult to regulate a revolutionary movement that mostly remains outside National Transitional Council (NTC) control.

Amnesty International’s report blamed the majority of abuses in the Libyan conflict on forces loyal to Col Gaddafi, listing abuses including murder, torture and bombardment of civilian areas.

But it also listed violations by his opponents. “Opposition fighters and supporters have abducted arbitrarily tortured and killed former members of the security forces, suspected Gaddafi loyalists, captured soldiers and foreign nationals wrongly suspected of being mercenaries,” said the report. It highlighted cases in which black African migrants had been lynched by rebel groups following the fall of Tripoli, saying many had been accused of being in the pay of the Gaddafi regime.

There is widespread resentment among rebel units of mercenaries who have been captured from Chad and other African countries. But Libya is also home to several thousand African migrant workers who were trapped by the war and insist they played no part in abuses by the Gaddafi regime.