Dieser Internet-Auftritt kann nach dem Tod des Webmasters, Peter Strutynski, bis auf Weiteres nicht aktualisiert werden. Er steht jedoch weiterhin als Archiv mit Beiträgen aus den Jahren 1996 – 2015 zur Verfügung.

Folter im "neuen" Libyen

Amnesty International prangert Zustände in Gefängnissen an *

In libyschen Gefängnissen werden laut Amnesty International Gaddafi-Anhänger schwer misshandelt. Häftlinge würden häufig gefoltert, um Geständnisse zu erpressen, erklärte die Menschenrechtsorganisation in einem am Donnerstag (13. Okt.) in London veröffentlichten Bericht.

»Wenn der Nationale Übergangsrat nicht schnell und entschlossen handelt, besteht das Risiko, dass sich einige Muster der Vergangenheit fortsetzen«, warnte der Nordafrika-Experte von Amnesty, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui. Auch unter dem gestürzten Staatschef Muammar al-Gaddafi waren Gefangene misshandelt worden.

Seitdem die Rebellen Ende August die Hauptstadt Tripolis eingenommen hätten, seien rund 2500 Gaddafi-treue Soldaten und angebliche Söldner in Tripolis und der 50 Kilometer entfernten Stadt Sawija gefangen genommen worden. Lokale Gremien oder Milizen hielten sie fast immer ohne rechtliche Grundlage fest. Besonders dunkelhäutige Libyer und Schwarzafrikaner sind laut dem Bericht von willkürlichen Verhaftungen bedroht. Viele Libyer verdächtigen sie, als Söldner für Gaddafi gearbeitet zu haben.

Amnesty hat nach eigenen Angaben im August und September rund 300 libysche Häftlinge befragt. Viele berichteten von Schlägen und anderen Misshandlungen. In einer Haftanstalt fanden die Ermittler mögliche Folterinstrumente, in einer anderen hörten sie Peitschenhiebe und Schreie. Amnesty forderte das Justizministerium auf, die Gefängnisse unter seine Kontrolle zu bringen. Häftlinge müssten nach rechtstaatlichen Grundsätzen behandelt werden. Bei einem Treffen mit Amnesty-Vertretern im September habe der Übergangsrat erklärt, gegen die Zustände vorgehen zu wollen, heißt es in dem Bericht. Dieses Versprechen müsse schnell eingelöst werden.

Derweil befindet sich Mutassim Gaddafi, Sohn des Ex-Staatschefs, offenbar doch nicht in den Händen der neuen Führung. »Es ist nicht wahr, dass Mutassim gefangen worden ist«, sagte ein Kommandeur der Kämpfer des Übergangsrates, Wissam Ben Ahmed, in Sirte am Donnerstag.

Ein ranghoher Vertreter des Übergangsrates, Abdelkarim Bisama, hatte am Mittwochabend erklärt, der 36-jährige Mutassim sei bei den Kämpfen in der 360 Kilometer östlich von Tripolis gelegenen Stadt Sirte gefangen genommen und in die Stadt Bengasi gebracht worden.

Der 1975 geborene Karrieresoldat und Arzt war 2007 zum Chef des nationalen Sicherheitsrates berufen worden. Mutassim galt vor Beginn des Aufstandes als der stärkste Konkurrent seines Bruders Seif al-Islam um die Nachfolge an der Staatsspitze.

* Aus: neues deutschland, 14. Oktober 2011


Der vollständige Bericht von amnesty ist hier herunterzuladen:
DETENTION ABUSES STAINING THE NEW LIBYA [externer Link,pdf]

Dokumentiert: Die Erklärung von amnesty

New Libya ’stained’ by detainee abuse

13 October 2011

The new authorities in Libya must stamp out arbitrary detention and widespread abuse of detainees, Amnesty International said today in a new briefing paper.

In Detention Abuses Staining the New Libya the organization reveals a pattern of beatings and ill-treatment of captured al-Gaddafi soldiers, suspected loyalists and alleged mercenaries in western Libya. In some cases there is clear evidence of torture in order to extract confessions or as a punishment.

"There is a real risk that without firm and immediate action, some patterns of the past might be repeated. Arbitrary arrest and torture were a hallmark of Colonel al-Gaddafi's rule," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

"We understand that the transitional authorities are facing many challenges, but if they do not make a clear break with the past now, they will effectively be sending out a message that treating detainees like this is to be tolerated in the new Libya."

Since late August, armed militia have arrested and detained as many as 2,500 people in Tripoli and al-Zawiya.

The organization said detainees were almost always held without legal orders and mostly without the involvement of the General Prosecution. They were held by local councils, local military council or armed brigades – far from the oversight of the Ministry of Justice.

Approximately 300 prisoners were interviewed by Amnesty International in August and September. None had been shown any kind of arrest warrant and many were effectively abducted from their homes by unidentified captors carrying out raids of suspected al-Gaddafi fighters or loyalists.

At least two guards - in separate detention facilities - admitted to Amnesty International that they beat detainees in order to extract “confessions” more quickly.

The organization found a wooden stick and rope, and a rubber hose, of the kind that could be used to beat detainees, including on the soles of their feet - a torture method known as falaqa - on a detention centre floor.

In one detention centre they heard the sound of whipping and screams from a nearby cell.

The organization said that detainees appear to suffer beatings and torture particularly at the start of their detention, being given a "welcome" on arrival.

Sub-Saharan Africans suspected of being mercenaries made up between a third and a half of those detained. Some have been released after no evidence was found to link them to fighting.

A man from Niger, initially presented to Amnesty International as a "mercenary and killer", broke down and explained that he had "confessed" after being beaten nearly continuously for two days. He denied being involved in fighting.

Black Libyans - particularly from the Tawargha region, which was a base for al-Gaddafi forces in their efforts to regain control of Misratah - are also particularly vulnerable. Dozens of Tawarghans have been taken from their homes, checkpoints, and even hospitals.

The organization also found that children have been held together with adults and women detainees have been supervised by male guards.

A 17-year-old boy from Chad accused of rape and being a mercenary told Amnesty International he was taken from his home in August by armed men who held him in a school where they punched him and beat him with stick, belts, rifles and rubber cables:

"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."

Amnesty International called on the National Transitional Council (NTC) to ensure that people are not detained without orders from the General Prosecution, and to bring detention facilities under the control of the Minister of Justice.

The organization said that those being held must be allowed to challenge the lawfulness of their detention or should be released.

Trial proceedings in western Libya have been suspended since the NTC took control. In eastern Libya, which fell under their control in February, they remain suspended.

In meetings with Amnesty International in September, NTC officials acknowledged concerns over arbitrary detention and ill-treatment, and vowed to do more to get a grip on armed militias and ensure that all those detained enjoy equal protection of the law.

“The NTC has to act urgently to translate their public commitments into action, before such abuses become entrenched and stain the new Libya’s human rights record,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

"These detainees have in most cases been arrested without a warrant, beaten - and sometimes worse - on arrest and arrival in detention. They are vulnerable to abuse by armed militias who often act on their own initiative."

"The authorities cannot simply allow this to carry on because they are in a 'transitional' phase. These people must be allowed to defend themselves properly or be released."

Source: Website of amnesty international, London; www.amnesty.org




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