Part 1 - Libya’s Migrant Jails. As Libya descends further into civil war and lawlessness, migrants from Africa and the Middle East continue to journey to the country’s coast in search of smugglers to take them across the Mediterranean Sea and into Europe.
Showing posts with label libya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label libya. Show all posts
19 Mar 2015
21 Nov 2014
Life After Qaddafi — Libya: A Broken State
Three years after the Libyan revolution and the subsequent downfall of its dictator Muammar Qaddafi, the country has descended further into chaos and insecurity. Rebel militias, radical Islamists and former Qaddafi commander Khalifa Haftar are among the different groups vying for power and oil wealth, creating a vacuum in which violence and militancy reign supreme.
12 Nov 2012
Petraeus scandal timeline scrutinised as Congressional hearing looms
The dramatic downfall of CIA chief David Petraeus has given rise to political intrigue in Washington as a drip-feed of details concerning his clandestine affair mixes with serious questions over the timing of the resignation.
Over the weekend it emerged that his relationship with biographer Paula Broadwell was discovered by FBI agents while they investigated harassing emails she allegedly sent to a second woman, who was named on Sunday by the Associated Press as Jill Kelley, a state department military liaison.
The scandal comes at a particularly sensitive time. Petraeus had been due to give evidence before a Congressional body this coming Thursday concerning the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi in which four Americans were killed, including America's ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. It is now thought that Petraeus will not attend the session, robbing politicians of the opportunity to question an "absolutely necessary witness", according to Peter King, chairman of the House homeland security committee.
22 Sept 2012
Libyans storm militia bases in Benghazi
Ansar al-Sharia, blamed for consulate attack, forced to evacuate base as public anger against armed groups boils over. At least one person has died and 20 others injured after demonstrators in Benghazi attempted to storm the headquarters of militias based in the eastern Libyan city.
Protesters seized the headquarters of the Ansar al-Sharia militia and evicted its fighters from its bases on Friday night. The confrontation appeared to be part of a co-ordinated sweep of militia headquarters buildings by police, government troops and activists following a mass public demonstration against armed groups earlier in the day.
Ansar al-Sharia has been linked to the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi last week in which J Christopher Stevens, US ambassador to Libya, and three other Americans died amid demonstrations over a YouTube video deemed insulting to Prophet Muhammad. The group denies any involvement in the killing of Stevens.
Chanting "Libya, Libya," hundreds of demonstrators entered the compound, pulling down militia flags and torching a vehicle inside the headquarters, Ansar al-Sharia's main base in Benghazi - once an internal security base under former leader Muammar Gaddafi. People in the crowd waved swords and even a meat cleaver, shouting "No more al-Qaeda!" and "The blood we shed for freedom shall not go in vain!"
12 Sept 2012
American killed in attack on US consulate in Benghazi
An American member of staff at the US consulate in Benghazi has died following fierce clashes at the compound, two Libyan security sources said on Wednesday. "One American staff member has died and a number have been injured in the clashes," Abdel-Monem Al-Hurr, spokesman for Libya's supreme security committee, said, adding that he did not know the exact number of injured.
Gunmen attacked the compound in the eastern city on Tuesday evening, clashing with Libyan security forces before the latter withdrew as they came under heavy fire. Reuters reporters on the scene saw looters raiding the compound, walking off with desks, chairs and washing machines. A security official said a fire was burning inside the consulate and that staff had been evacuated. Three injured members of the Libyan security forces taken away in an ambulance. The gunmen formed part of a group protesting against a US film they say is blasphemous.
The incident followed a protest in Egypt where demonstrators scaled the walls of the US embassy, tore down the American flag and burned it during a protest over the same film, which attacks Islam's prophet, Muhammad. The film, clips of which are available on YouTube, depicts Muhammad as a fraud, showing him having sex and calling for massacres. Muslims find it offensive to depict Muhammad in any fashion, much less in an insulting way.
3 Jun 2012
A Life On Hold
An intimate portrait of Omar, a 17 year old stranded in a refugee camp since the 2011 war in Libya. The film offers a unique perspective of one person amongst thousands waiting for a chance to start their life again in a safe country.
When war broke out earlier this year in Libya, thousands of refugees from countries such as Somalia, Sudan, and Eritrea, who were living in or transiting through the country at the time, were forced to flee for their lives yet again. They are now waiting in refugee camps along the Tunisian and Egyptian borders - unable to return home due to war or persecution, unable to return to Libya due to ongoing violence and discrimination, and unable to stay in Tunisia or Egypt, countries both undergoing their own political upheavals.
20 Apr 2012
26 Jan 2012
Doctors Without Borders says detainees tortured in Libya
Doctors Without Borders is halting work in detention centers in the Libyan city of Misrata because detainees are "tortured and denied urgent medical care," the international aid agency said Thursday. The agency known by its French acronym MSF said it has treated 115 people with torture-related wounds from interrogation sessions.
Some of the patients treated were tortured again after they were returned to detention centers, according to the agency. "Some officials have sought to exploit and obstruct MSF's medical work," said Christopher Stokes, the agency general director. "Patients were brought to us for medical care between interrogation sessions, so that they would be fit for further interrogation. This is unacceptable. Our role is to provide medical care to war casualties and sick detainees, not to repeatedly treat the same patients between torture sessions."
Libyan officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
12 Jan 2012
Inquiry into MI6 role in abduction and torture of Libyans
Scotland Yard has opened a criminal investigation into secret MI6 rendition operations that resulted in leading Libyan dissidents being abducted and flown to Tripoli, where they were subsequently tortured in Muammar Gaddafi's prisons.
The announcement came as the Metropolitan police and the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer, said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute individual MI5 or MI6 agents following lengthy investigations into allegations of British complicity in the torture of terrorism suspects in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The new investigation is to focus on Abdul Hakim Belhaj, a military commander of forces that opposed Gaddafi's rule, and Sami al-Saadi, who lodged complaints with the police last November after the chance discovery of a cache of classified documents in an abandoned Libyan government office laid bare the role MI6 played in their rendition.
Saadi was detained in Hong Kong in 2004 and then forced on to a plane to Tripoli with his wife and four children in an operation that MI6 mounted in co-operation with Gaddafi's intelligence chief, Moussa Koussa.
Belhaj was detained in Bangkok after an MI6 tip-off and allegedly tortured by US agents for several days before being flown to Tripoli, where he was imprisoned for several years and tortured.
But:
British spies escaped immediate criminal charges over torture complicity Thursday, but the country's top prosecutor ordered a new investigation into claims that intelligence shared with Moammar Gadhafi's regime led to the torture or rendition of Libyans.
Prosecutors have been investigating claims of mistreatment by detainees who were eventually sent to the United States prison in Guantanamo, Cuba. Most of the torture allegations come from terror suspects who were either initially held in Pakistan and Afghanistan, or sent to other countries such as Morocco for interrogation.
22 Dec 2011
Death and Disappearance Still Stalk Libya
People are vanishing in broad daylight in Libya, as the country’s new rulers continue to settle accounts with their opponents. Widespread insecurity means the families of the kidnapped can do no more than hope that their loved ones are still alive.
Libya’s conflict is over, and the man who stood in the way of Western-style democracy is dead. Yet atrocities against Muammar Gaddafi’s loyalists continue. The images emerging from Libya are disturbing.
Against this distressing background, Russia is demanding a probe into civilian casualties in Libya caused by NATO bombings. That's Moscow’s reaction to a report by human rights groups which claims dozens were killed in air strikes – despite the alliance saying its operation was almost flawless.
4 Dec 2011
Rival militias wage turf war near Libyan capital
One local official was killed and a militia base reduced to ruins in a clash between rival armed groups near the Libyan capital, the latest flare-up of tension between militias that is destabilizing the new Libya.
Two months after Muammar Qaddafi was killed, Libya’s new government is still unable to impose its authority on the ground, leaving security in the hands of militias which answer only to themselves and often wage turf wars with their rivals. The violence in Janzour, a town about 17 km (10 miles) west of the capital, demonstrated that these militias remain the biggest threat to Libya's security despite attempts by the newly-formed interim government to get them under control.
20 Nov 2011
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi arrested in Libya
Muammar Gaddafi's son and one-time heir apparent Saif al-Islam has been detained in the southern desert, Libya's interim justice minister and other officials have said.
Fighters from the western mountain city of Zintan announced his capture on Saturday as gunfire and car horns marked jubilation across the country at the arrest of the British-educated 39-year-old who a year ago seemed set to follow his father as Libya's leader.
Saif al-Islam and three armed companions were taken without a fight during the night, officials said. Gaddafi's son was reportedly not injured, unlike Gaddafi himself, who was killed last month after being captured by fighters in his home town of Sirte. More on AlJazeera - Libya pledges 'fair trial' for Saif al-Islam
3 Nov 2011
International Criminal Court to investigate NATO conduct in Libya
The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said Wednesday that in addition to his investigation into the war crimes committed by Libya's fallen regime, he is also looking into alleged violations committed by NATO.
"There are allegations of crimes committed by NATO forces, allegations of crimes committed by NTC-related forces ... as well as allegations of additional crimes committed by pro-Gaddafi forces," Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a speech to the UN Security Council. NATO has denied allegations of deliberately targeting civilians during its seven-month campaign of air strikes against former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces, which the alliance ended on Monday. (Reuters – Ynetnews)
28 Oct 2011
Mutassim Qadhafi meets Hilary Clinton at Washington
Hilary Clinton is very pleased to meet with Qadhafi 's son
Washington DC, April 21, 2009 - LiveLeak.com
Fear And Loathing On Libya's Roads
Driving from Benghazi to Tripoli is a long way. A very long way. It feels even longer when you are limping on only three decent tyres and a dodgy spare. It has only been possible to drive that journey uninterrupted recently and a Sky News team travelled the route in a single day - from the birthplace of this revolution, past Colonel Gaddafi's last stand in Sirte to the capital.
The 600-mile route snakes along Libya's northern coastline and, barring the scars from Nato bombs which have taken out pro-Gaddafi vehicles, the roads were remarkably smooth - putting some in the UK to shame. It was, however, one of these vicious potholes in the road caused by a bomb dropped from the skies that caused tyre problem number one. Our driver, Hakeem, had successfully slalomed his way through until now but this one near Ras Lanuf caught him out and we hit the hole with an almighty crack which shuddered through the whole vehicle.
Fear And Loathing On Libya's Roads As Sky Correspondent Stuart Ramsay Dodges Nato Bomb Craters
21 Oct 2011
Gaddafi's Murder and International Law
The Real News - Clinton jubilant over Gaddafi's death: "We came, we saw, he died"
Also see Charlie V - Al Muatassim Al Gaddafi captured alive before being tortured and murdered
20 Oct 2011
Gaddafi as orator: a life in quotes
Gaddafi seems dead, picture on The Guardian.
Former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi died of wounds suffered on Thursday as fighters battling to complete an eight-month-old uprising against his rule overran his hometown Sirte, Libya’s interim rulers said. See latest on Al Arabiya – Bloodied but not dead: last moments of former Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi following fall of Sirte. Amateur video has emerged of Colonel Gaddafi apparently wounded but still alive.
As soon as Muammar Gaddafi seized power in Libya in 1969, at the age of 27, he launched into a perplexing and controversial career as a speech-maker that now spans more than 40 decades. In scattershot diatribes that at times stretched to several hours, Gaddafi astounded audience at Libya and abroad.
Famously dubbed the "mad dog of the Middle East" by Ronald Reagan, the former president of the US, Gaddafi did little to dispel that nickname in his wild orations and writings. In 1975, he outlined his political philosophy in "The Green Book" which carried the subtitle, ""The Solution to the Problems of Democracy; The Social Basis to the Third Universal Theory."
No matter how he is remembered by history, Gaddafi’s legacy as an orator is assured. Here are some famous Gaddafi-isms from his nearly 42 years in power:
"I am an international leader, the dean of the Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africa and the imam of Muslims, and my international status does not allow me to descend to a lower level."
— Remarks to a crowd including King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and having his microphone cut on March 30, 2009, as quoted by The Scotsman in the article "Gaddafi walks out of summit after attack on Saudi king" by Salah Nasrawi.
"If a community of people wears white on a mournful occasion and another dresses in black, then one community would like white and dislike black and the other would like black and dislike white. Moreover, this attitude leaves a physical effect on the cells as well as on the genes in the body."
— Excerpt from "The Green Book" (1975)
The destruction of Sirte
The Libyan city of Sirte is being systematically destroyed by National Transitional Council "rebel" fighters and NATO fighter planes. The operation stands as a monumental war crime, for which primary responsibility rests with the leading forces behind the military intervention in Libya—US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Sirte has been under siege for weeks. TNC forces have prevented all supplies from entering the city, including food, medicines, and other basic necessities. NATO bombs have rained down, together with a heavy and indiscriminate bombardment by TNC mortars, tank shells, and rockets. Basic infrastructure—including water, electricity, and sewerage systems—has been destroyed as part of the calculated effort to trigger a humanitarian crisis in the city and terrorise its inhabitants into submission.
Every building in Sirte, including apartment blocks, homes, hospitals, schools, and other civilian structures, has either been levelled or severely damaged by the "rebel" forces trying to finally take the city. Militiamen are looting homes, cars, and shops, with truckloads of residents’ stolen possessions now leaving Sirte every day. - uruknet.info
Ruined Sirte becomes a killing ground as Gaddafi loyalists face destruction – The Telegraph
18 Oct 2011
U.S. Sending Mercenaries to Secure Libya’s Weapons
The State Department is sending dozens of American contractors to Libya to help that country’s fledgling efforts to track down and destroy heat-seeking antiaircraft missiles looted from government stockpiles that could be used against civilian airliners.
The contractors, weapons and explosives specialists, are part of a growing $30 million American program to secure Libya’s conventional weapons arsenal, which was ransacked during the fall of the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
American and other Western officials are especially concerned that as weapons slip from state custody, they can be easily sold through black markets to other countries, fuelling regional wars or arming terrorist groups. Analysts are particularly worried about the dispersal of the SA-7, an early-generation, shoulder-fired missile in the same family as the more widely known Stinger.
26 Sept 2011
Black Libyans living in fear
Libya is home to a large minority of black Libyans, many of whom supported Muammar Gaddafi, the former leader, and some who fought on his side against the rebel uprising.
But since Gaddafi's government was ousted from power, entire communities of black Libyans have disappeared without a clear reason, leaving virtual ghost towns behind.
Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports from one such town, Tawergha, where remaining members of the community fear for their lives.
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