A UN body has condemned as war crimes and breaches of international human rights the actions of both the Qaddafi forces . . .[restrict]in last year’s fighting and some of the brigades fighting to overthrow his regime.
A draft report published on Friday by the International Commission of Inquiry on Libya also suggests that by targeting Libyans accused of supporting the old regime as well as minorities, some of the revolutionary brigades have adopted the same tactics as Qaddafi’s forces.
“Breaches of international human rights law continue to occur in a climate of impunity,” says the report from the International Commission of Inquiry on Libya. This includes unlawful executions, arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearance, indiscriminate attacks and theft,
The report is being submitted to the UN Council on Human Rights.
“Thuwar [revolutionaries] have been involved in arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance of perceived Qaddafi loyalists, security officers and members of the former government,” it read.
The report highlighted the “severe torture” by Misrata brigades of the Tawerghans, who have been accused of being actively involved in the attacks last year on Misrata.
It says that Misrata brigades beat 85 Tawergha men last August after the fall of Tripoli, that many more were arrested since and that on 6 February Misrata brigades attacked the camp at Janzour on the outskirts of Tripoli where some 2,000 Tawerghan refugees are housed, killed five people
The reports notes that these attacks continued because there was no proper system of law and order in Libya at resent.
While the report condemned the Qaddafi forces that carried out the bloody siege of Misrata, it is also highly critical of the behaviour of revolutionary brigades during the attack on Qaddafi’s stronghold of Sirte.
“The scale of the destruction there and the nature of the weaponry employed indicated that the attacks were indiscriminate,” it claimed.
It listed 12 cases of Qaddafi loyalists who died in custody after being tortured. It said that between 65 to 78 Qaddafi soldiers were executed at the Mehari Hotel in Sirte by Misrata revolutionary brigades.
The report called on the interim government to take responsibility for the 8,000 prisoners it says are currently held by the brigades. [/restrict]
