The Libyan militias said to be responsible continue to run wild, in many cases holding influential positions of authority in the new Libya. Most recently, one of the armed rebel groups killed the U.S. ambassador and several other American personnel.
Libyan rebels backed by the Obama administration and NATO governments committed a wide range of war crimes, including, in one case, summarily executing and torturing dozens of prisoners of war, possibly including strongman Muammar Gadhafi and his son, the non-profit group Human Rights Watch said in a newly released report. The new Western-backed government ruling parts of Libya out of Tripoli, meanwhile, has failed to investigate or prosecute the well-documented abuses.
The latest 58-page report, dubbed Death of a Dictator: Bloody Vengeance in Sirte, highlights new evidence indicating that the former despot and members of his convoy were brutalized and executed by rebel forces in violation of the laws of war. After being hit with NATO missiles while attempting to flee, the Libyan strongman and his men were captured by opposition fighters and placed under “total control.” Then they were killed.
“The evidence suggests that opposition militias summarily executed at least 66 captured members of Gaddafi’s convoy in Sirte,” said emergencies director Peter Bouckaert with New York-based Human Rights Watch, adding that the ex-despot’s son was apparently executed as well. “It also looks as if they took Mutassim Gaddafi, who had been wounded, to Misrata and killed him there. Our findings call into question the assertion by Libyan authorities that Muammar Gaddafi was killed in crossfire, and not after his capture.”
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