Hardship and Risk Remain in Libya

Libya: hardship and danger remain

16-02-2012 Operational Update No 12/01

Thousands of people remain in detention, individual lives and communities continue to be threatened by unexploded devices, and many families are still trying to find out what happened to their missing loved ones. The ICRC is pressing ahead with its humanitarian work.

Effective monitoring of the situation of detainees

ICRC delegates currently visit approximately 8,500 detainees in more than 60 places of detention. About 10 per cent of the people held are foreign nationals.
"We pay particular attention to the treatment of detainees and stress that their dignity must be respected at all times," said Mr Comninos. "The current situation is complex and challenging, with many places of detention and many different authorities in charge." The ICRC has called upon the authorities at various levels to ensure that detainees are handed over to the Ministry of Justice and are placed in suitable detention facilities as soon as possible.
"While we remain committed to addressing any issues in a bilateral manner with those in charge, the current situation in Libya has confirmed that our work is needed in places of detention," said Mr Comninos. "Our expertise and the quality of the dialogue we have established with the authorities at all levels enable us to obtain certain improvements at this critical moment."
ICRC visits take place regularly. The organization's delegates talk in private with detainees of their choice in order to monitor the conditions in which these people are being held and the treatment they receive. All detention facilities and all detainees must be visited. The ICRC also looks into the detainees' need for medical attention, and detainees are given the opportunity to contact their families.
Between the beginning of March 2011 and the end of last year, the ICRC carried out some 225 visits in 100 places of detention in Libya.
In order to help ensure that conditions of detention are acceptable, the ICRC has also provided detainees with aid. More than 2,500 hygiene kits have been distributed to detainees in over 30 facilities throughout the country. In prisons in the Nefusa mountains, Tajoura, Tripoli and Misrata, the supplies provided included over 3,000 blankets, 700 mattresses, and almost 2,900 sweaters and other winter items.

Reducing the risks posed by explosive remnants of war

To date, many areas affected by fighting remain contaminated by unexploded ordnance. This continues to pose a serious threat to civilians as they try to get back to the life they had before the conflict. The city of Sirte is the worst affected area in the country.
Over the past few weeks, reports about explosive remnants of war still littering Sirte have been collected at a community clinic and at the local branch of the Libyan Red Crescent Society. The ICRC also works in close coordination with local authorities to identify areas that need to be cleared. "We have removed hundreds of unexploded devices from Sirte since November 2011," said Jennifer Reeves, the coordinator of this ICRC programme. "Now we also need to coordinate our activities with those of other organizations that have arrived on the scene to help with the clearing."
In the Nefusa mountains, ICRC staff are working with the local authorities to destroy abandoned ammunition. Alerted by reports from the community, they are also clearing contaminated farmland in remote areas.
At the beginning of February, volunteers from 15 Libyan Red Crescent branches received three days of training on how to educate communities about the risks posed by unexploded ordnance, how to collect data about casualties and how to identify dangerous areas.

Access to clean water and health care

In early February the ICRC donated seven new pumps needed to supply clean drinking water to an estimated 32,000 people in the town of Al Qubah and 12 villages near Benghazi. "The population had spent three months without an adequate or regular supply of potable water," said Sari Nasreddin, the ICRC delegate in charge of the operation. "The water network stopped functioning because no maintenance was performed on the original pumps during the conflict. People were relying on water-trucking services, which were not able to supply enough water for all those in need."
As clashes continue to occur sporadically in the country, causing casualties, the ICRC is re-supplying health-care facilities where needed in order to ensure that weapon-wounded patients can be properly treated. Enough surgical supplies to treat 100 wounded patients were delivered to Assaba'a along with other medical items, and surgical instruments were provided in Gharyan. In December 2011, the ICRC organized a seminar on the surgical treatment of patients with weapon-related injuries, an event that was attended by over 100 surgeons from all over the country.

Family reunited in Sabha

The life of Aisha, a 52-year-old widow and mother of seven children from Sirte, came to a standstill in October 2011. That day she went out with her 10-year-old son and was stuck outside the city because of the fighting. By the time she and her son finally managed to return home, her house had been completely burned down and her six other children were dead.
Aisha and her son were forced to leave. They ended up in the Sidi Faraj camp for displaced people in Benghazi. The camp manager noticed that Aisha and her son were terribly traumatized, and brought them to the attention of the ICRC. Aisha said she wanted to be reunited with her 15-year-old granddaughter, living with a host family in a village close to Sabha in southern Libya. On 25 January, Aisha and her son were taken there by the ICRC. "It was a very moving experience," said Fatma Eljack, an ICRC delegate who accompanied them on their two-day journey from Benghazi to Sabha. "Aisha had lost everything: her house, her personal effects and, above all, her children."
In late June and early July 2011, in cooperation with the Libyan Red Crescent, the ICRC carried out a large-scale maritime transfer to reunite several hundred families dispersed by the conflict.
Approached by grief-stricken families, the ICRC is providing the authorities with technical support and advice to help them in their efforts to clarify the fate of hundreds of missing people.

For further information, please contact:
Soaade Messoudi, ICRC Tripoli, tel: +218 913 066 198
Steven Anderson, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 20 11 or +41 79 536 92 50

Gaddafi's Heir Surrenders Meekly

Libya government fighters have captured Muammar Gaddafi's arrogant heir apparent, Saif al-Islam, in the western mountain city of Zintan.

Saif, unlike his father, surrendered along with three armed comrades without a fight, according to Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya. He had frequently boasted on the BBC that he would keep his father's fight alive and drive NATO from Libya
alive.

Gaddafi was killed in his home town of Sirte on Oct. 20.
Human Rights Watch called on the Libyan transitional government to hand him over to the International Criminal Court and treat him humanely.

“The authorities will send an important message that there’s a new era in Libya, marked by the rule of law, by treating Saif al-Islam humanely and surrendering him to the ICC,” said Richard Dicker, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

“His fair prosecution at the ICC will afford Libyans a chance to see justice served in a trial that the international community stands behind.”
Saif, 39. was educated in Britain. He is likely to face charges before the International Criminal Court.

Although Gaddafi had ordered the destruction of British and French airliners in 1988 and 1988 he was able to buy his way out of trouble with his oil billions.

His agents committed other acts of terrorism also.

But when the Arab Spring set the region on fire, it also inspired Libyans to bring the regime down. He had killed and tortured thousands of his own people.

Read more: http://technorati.com/politics/article/gadaffis-heir-apparent-captured-in-libya/#ixzz1eAHJTams

Circumstances Of Gaddafi's Death Unclear

Media reports from Paris military sources suggest a convoy of vehicles transporting Muammar Gaddafi was attacked by French warplanes and a U.S. predator as he attempted to leave his concrete bunker tunnels before he was captured alive.


Video footage indicates he later died, and possibly was beaten to death in humiliating fashion in his hometown. Fighters said he was shot with a 9mm pistol.


His death brings to an end more than 40 years of brutal rule and has ended in the biggest victory of the Arab Spring.

The Times of India said Gaddafi shouted "Don't Shoot, Don't Shoot," to no avail when he was discovered hiding in an underground bunker's concrete tunnels. An Al Jazeera video suggests he was beaten to death after being shot. A DNA sample will be required to confirm it is the true dictator.


Some unconfirmed reports said the U.S. military had been involved in the capture after attacking a convoy, and that he was taken alive.


Libyans took to the streets to celebrate. Le Monde said the entire city of Sirte was liberated, though it was devastated by NATO bombs and the fighting between NTC fighters and Gaddafi supporters. An Al Jazeera reporter said Sirte had received so much money from Gaddafi that it was a jewel of the kingdom before the fighting.




The two news outlets quoted the NTC government. President Obama confirmed the death. It was a major victory for the U.S., France, the U.K., the Arab League and other supporters. For Moscow it was a slap in the face.


Photos Al Jazeera.


“We announce to the world that Gaddafi has died at the hands of the revolution,” Abdel Hafez Ghoga, a spokesman for the National Transitional Council, was quoted by Al Arabiya as saying.
“It is a historic moment. It is the end of tyranny and dictatorship. Gaddafi has met his fate.”

Al Arabiya

Al Jazeera and the BBC reported the death. Video footage appeared to show the body being brutalized. He had been hiding like Saddam Hussein, in under ground concrete tunnels, nothing like the defiant warrior waiting to return as described by so many in the mainstream media. He may go down in history as the most successful manipulator of the media of all time.


The body of the former Libyan leader was taken to a location which is being kept secret for security reasons, an NTC official told Al Jazeera.


"Gaddafi's body is with our unit in a car and we are taking the body to a secret place for security reasons," Mohamed Abdel Kafi, an NTC official in the city of Misrata, told Reuters.


Many will be pleased, including relatives of more than 400 passengers and  crew on the Pan Am Lockerbie flight and UTA 772. His agents killed thousands of Libyans.


It took less than a year to bring him down, mocking those who insisted he would be able defiantly lead a desert war for years.

ICRC Libya Sirte Situation Desperate

Tripoli/Geneva (ICRC) – On 10 and 11 October, staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) evacuated a total of 25 war-wounded and other patients from Ibn Sina Hospital in Sirte. The patients had been left with only a few health-care personnel to care for them following fierce fighting in recent days.


"The situation inside the hospital is very chaotic and distressing," said Patrick Schwaerzler, the ICRC delegate in charge of the evacuations. "When we arrived there, we found patients with severe burns and shrapnel wounds. Some had sustained recent amputations. A few were half-conscious. They were lying among crowds of other people who were also asking us for help."


The hospital has been partly destroyed and is not functional any more. It was urgent to move out wounded patients requiring intensive care or specialized treatment. "Today we even brought out a newborn baby in its incubator," said Mr Schwaerzler.


On 11 October the ICRC evacuated 17 patients from Sirte hospital, most of them war casualties, accompanied by four close relatives and the baby of a patient. This morning, Libyan Red Crescent volunteers also brought seven patients who needed no further hospitalization, together with six family members, back to their homes on the eastern side of Sirte.


On 10 October the ICRC had evacuated eight wounded patients from the hospital.


The ICRC transferred the first group of evacuated patients to a hospital in Tripoli. The second group are being taken to a medical facility west of Sirte, for onward transport by helicopter to hospitals in Tripoli.


Four ICRC medical personnel, together with the remaining staff at the hospital, made sure the wounded patients were stable enough to be transported and willing to leave. All parties concerned agreed to this urgent evacuation.


The Libyan Red Crescent is transferring a further group of 18 foreign nationals (Egyptians, Palestinians and Lebanese), who had gathered at the hospital and wanted to leave the city, to Harawa, some 50 kilometres east of Sirte. From there they will proceed to a camp for displaced people in Benghazi. The evacuated foreigners, as well as the remaining foreign staff at the hospital and other foreign nationals there, were given the opportunity to make satellite phone calls to their loved ones, who had had no news of them since the outbreak of heavy fighting in Sirte.


"We saw hundreds of civilians fleeing Sirte yesterday and today, but thousands are still caught inside the city," said Mr Schwaerzler. "There is no electricity, and no food has reached civilians in the city for weeks. All parties engaged in the hostilities must take all possible precautions to spare them."


More than 20,000 people, among them many women, children and elderly people, have so far left their homes in Sirte. In addition, dozens of people have been arrested in recent days.


Three ICRC trucks and six lighter vehicles were used in the evacuations. An explosive ordnance disposal expert helped to make sure the road was safe. In total, 15 ICRC staff were involved in the two-day effort, which was carried out with the support of Libyan Red Crescent volunteers. This was the fourth time since the beginning of the month that the ICRC had entered Sirte to perform its humanitarian tasks.

For further information, please contact:

Dibeh Fakhr, ICRC Tripoli/Benghazi, tel: +88 16 22 411 614

or +218 9 923 304 560 or +218 913 066 198

Soumaya Beltifa, ICRC Tripoli/Benghazi, tel: +218 928 467 594

Steven Anderson, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 20 11 or +41 79 536 92 50

or visit our website: www.icrc.org

To preview and download the latest ICRC video footage in broadcast quality, go to

www.icrcvideonewsroom.org

Follow the ICRC on facebook.com/icrcfans and twitter.com/icrc english

Monty Python and the Holy Gaddafi

Anyone looking for an answer to the Libyan crisis should look to France, they have two. Negotiate with Gaddafi, who after all has already agreed to leave. Or bomb him up to the Stone Age.

It is reminiscent of the Holy Grail crew's treatment by the French, who for some unknown reason had a castle in England.

"What are you doing in England," one of King Arthur's knights asks? "None of your business," says the French warrior atop the castle.

Another possible solution: get one of Murdoch's boys to get all of Gaddafi's codes and put them on the Internet, unencrypted. See what the Vox Pop can do.

Sort the following out yourself:

BBC: French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe says Gaddafi is ready to leave and is sending messagers with that Kafka-esque message to the four corners of the world.

"We are receiving emissaries who are telling us 'Gaddafi is prepared to leave. Let's discuss it.'"

The New York Times reported at the same time that France's Parliament voted to extend its participation in NATO's bombing of the desert, oil-rich country.

"A political solution in Libya is more indispensable than ever and it is beginning to take shape," said French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.

Having already employed their helicopters, navy and other weapons, it is not clear what Paris has left. Perhaps the Killer Bunny. Hopefully the Libyans will not lobbest the Holy Hand Grenade.

In that case, fire a hologram.

Follow Robert Weller on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mozart99
Previously published on the Huffington Post