“The torture is being carried out by officially recognised military and security entities as well as by a multitude of armed militias operating outside any legal framework…after all the promises to get detention centres under control, it is horrifying to find that there has been no progress to stop the use of torture.”

Several people have died after being tortured by militias in Libyan detention centres, humanitarian group Amnesty International has said. It claimed to have seen patients in Tripoli, Misrata and Gheryan with open wounds to their head, limbs and back. (via newsflick)

It’s gotten so bad that Medecins Sans Frontieres is pulling out of Misrata altogether.

(via inothernews)

swani:

This dude went into Gadhaffi’s room and took his iconic hat and chain, like a fucking boss.

Libyan Revolution 1st Place Champion.

Petition to Save a Woman's Life in Libya (trigger warning: discussion of rape)

stfusexists:

Iman al-Obeidi approached foreign journalists in a hotel in Triploi, pleading for help and telling them that she had just been gang raped by 15 of Qaddafi’s thugs. Before anyone could do anything, she was dragged away by Libyan agents and has not been seen or heard from since.  

Please sign this petition asking for the Turkish Prime Minister to intervene in her case, as Turkey has intervened in multiple other hostage situations in Libya. It only takes a moment, and it’s incredibly important. 

Please, please sign.

Libya’s new constitution calls for equality regardless of race, gender or religion | WSJ

abudai:

Libyan revolutionaries in Benghazi are well on their way in building a new state and one of the first steps to building a free Libya was drafting a new constitution— from scratch.

 

 

The constitution’s preamble says its aim is a Libyan society based on “freedom, justice, and equality, and a democratic government based on political pluralism, peaceful transition of authority, and an independent judiciary.” The document also enshrines freedom of speech, media and peaceful assembly.

A senior rebel official said the document won’t be officially adopted until eastern Libya is reunited with the west after Col. Gadhafi’s ouster. At that point it will only serve as a temporary constitution until a more expansive formal document is drawn up with broader popular input.

“It tells the world who we are and what we want,” said Abdel Moneim Bendardf, a senior adviser to rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil.

The constitution was drafted by a group of advisers to the rebel governing council that first proposed Mr. Jalil to be president of the rebel governing body and which drafted a list sanctions on Col. Gadhafi’s regime that the rebel government submitted to the United Nations.

Boosh.

(Source: abudaii)

WASHINGTON POST: "An African proposal to end Libya’s more than month-old conflict unraveled Monday in the opposition’s de facto capital, where rebel leaders insisted that they would not make a deal unless leader Moammar Gaddafi agreed to leave office immediately. The rejection came less than 24 hours after South African President Jacob Zuma, who led an African Union delegation to Libya, said Gaddafi had accepted the 'road map' to peace."

(Source: inothernews)

thedailywhat: Follow Up of the Day: “Every day I am beaten,” says Eman al-Obeidi, the Libyan woman who risked her life to barge into the Tripoli hotel housing the foreign press so she could tell the world how she had been criminally detained and gang raped by Gadhafi’s militia. Speaking with NPR’s Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson in one of her first interviews since being forcibly removed from the Rixos Hotel by security officials, al-Obeidi says she was taken to a prison for 72 hours then allowed to go home, but claims she is detained and beaten every time she tries to leave her house. Yesterday, she says, she was “beaten very hard [so] that I can’t even leave my bed today.” Al-Obeidi went on to say that, as far as she knows, none of the men who were allegedly involved in the rape have been arrested, and the “public prosecutor refuses to meet with me.” Speaking earlier with CNN, al-Obeidi complained that the smear campaign against her has ruined her reputation. She says her morale is low due to heckling from the public, and she is suffering from nightmares as a result. “They did not give me a chance to respond,” she is quoted as saying. Al-Obeidi’s complete interview with CNN’s AC360 airs tonight at 10PM EST. Her interview with NPR, which aired on All Things Considered, can be streamed here. [cnn / npr / photo: ap via nydn.] I hope she knows that millions of people stand behind her. What an amazingly tenacious woman. 

thedailywhat:

Follow Up of the Day: “Every day I am beaten,” says Eman al-Obeidi, the Libyan woman who risked her life to barge into the Tripoli hotel housing the foreign press so she could tell the world how she had been criminally detained and gang raped by Gadhafi’s militia.

Speaking with NPR’s Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson in one of her first interviews since being forcibly removed from the Rixos Hotel by security officials, al-Obeidi says she was taken to a prison for 72 hours then allowed to go home, but claims she is detained and beaten every time she tries to leave her house. Yesterday, she says, she was “beaten very hard [so] that I can’t even leave my bed today.” Al-Obeidi went on to say that, as far as she knows, none of the men who were allegedly involved in the rape have been arrested, and the “public prosecutor refuses to meet with me.”

Speaking earlier with CNN, al-Obeidi complained that the smear campaign against her has ruined her reputation. She says her morale is low due to heckling from the public, and she is suffering from nightmares as a result. “They did not give me a chance to respond,” she is quoted as saying.

Al-Obeidi’s complete interview with CNN’s AC360 airs tonight at 10PM EST. Her interview with NPR, which aired on All Things Considered, can be streamed here.

[cnn / npr / photo: ap via nydn.]

I hope she knows that millions of people stand behind her. What an amazingly tenacious woman. 

(Source: thedailywhat)

“

Do you hear that? There are planes in the air now. Everyone here is so grateful that these air strikes are happening. I don’t know anyone who isn’t happy Nato is doing this. We don’t have anyone else to protect us.

I would say to anyone in Britain who opposes the air strikes, you are not the ones living here; you are not the ones with no water, with no medication for your children, you are not suffering the fear of being killed in your own homes.

Even if some innocent people are hit in the air strikes, so be it: because otherwise, Gaddafi will wipe out the whole city.

”
Desperate resident of rebel-held Misrata describes horrors inflicted by Gaddafi troops (The Telegraph)

(Source: abudaii)

They will kill her.

And probably the others still in custody.

(Source: sowingdoubt)

thedailywhat: Must-Read of the Day: A Libyan woman from Benghazi who identified herself as Eman al-Obeidy pushed her way into Tripoli’s Rixos Hotel, which houses members of the foreign press, asking to speak with reporters from Reuters and The New York Times. “Look at what the Qaddafi men did to me,” she said, before proceeding to reveal an array of bruises and scars which she claimed were inflicted upon her during a brutal gang rape she endured while being held by Qaddafi’s militia for two days. Ms. Obeidy told reporters she was stopped on the outskirts of Tripoli and taken away. “I was tied up, and they defecated and urinated on me. They violated my honor.” She eventually managed to escape, but her friends were not as lucky. “They are still there, they are still there,” Ms. Obeidy said, pleading for their release. As reporters moved in to ask questions, security officials and hotel staff attempted remove Ms. Obeidy from the building by force, throwing punches and kicks, brandishing guns and knives, breaking equipment, and seizing a recording device. Security guards managed to grab hold of Ms. Obeidy, dragging her into a white car as she shouted “they are taking me to jail, they are taking me to jail.” A government spokesman later said the woman appeared to be drunk and mentally ill, adding that “her safety of course is guaranteed.” Concerning her claims of torture, the spokesman said authorities were investigating the possibility that they were “fantasies.” Charles Clover, a Financial Times reporter who attempted to shield Ms. Obeidy from the security guards, was himself placed into a van and driven to the border. The Libyan government had asked him to leave the night before due to alleged reporting inaccuracies. Video of the altercation can be seen below: [nyt / skynews / photo: ap.] JESUS. FUCKING. CHRIST.

thedailywhat:

Must-Read of the Day: A Libyan woman from Benghazi who identified herself as Eman al-Obeidy pushed her way into Tripoli’s Rixos Hotel, which houses members of the foreign press, asking to speak with reporters from Reuters and The New York Times.

“Look at what the Qaddafi men did to me,” she said, before proceeding to reveal an array of bruises and scars which she claimed were inflicted upon her during a brutal gang rape she endured while being held by Qaddafi’s militia for two days.

Ms. Obeidy told reporters she was stopped on the outskirts of Tripoli and taken away. “I was tied up, and they defecated and urinated on me. They violated my honor.” She eventually managed to escape, but her friends were not as lucky. “They are still there, they are still there,” Ms. Obeidy said, pleading for their release.

As reporters moved in to ask questions, security officials and hotel staff attempted remove Ms. Obeidy from the building by force, throwing punches and kicks, brandishing guns and knives, breaking equipment, and seizing a recording device. Security guards managed to grab hold of Ms. Obeidy, dragging her into a white car as she shouted “they are taking me to jail, they are taking me to jail.”

A government spokesman later said the woman appeared to be drunk and mentally ill, adding that “her safety of course is guaranteed.” Concerning her claims of torture, the spokesman said authorities were investigating the possibility that they were “fantasies.” Charles Clover, a Financial Times reporter who attempted to shield Ms. Obeidy from the security guards, was himself placed into a van and driven to the border. The Libyan government had asked him to leave the night before due to alleged reporting inaccuracies.

Video of the altercation can be seen below:

[nyt / skynews / photo: ap.]

JESUS. FUCKING. CHRIST.

(Source: thedailywhat)

A Struggle for Freedom: Almanara:10 thousand of Gaddafi fighters about to enter Libya from Algeria

Almanara Sources: There are about 10 thousand of fighters belonging to Gaddafi (Libyans and Africans) have completed military training in Algeria and they are ready to enter Libya through the Libyan Algerian land-border in the next few days. The same sources confirmed that the leaders of these fighters have already entered Libya on Friday by crossing Ras al-Jadeer Border — the Tunisian-Libyan border. There were reports in the past few days, that Mutasm al-Gaddafi is on a visit to Algeria to arrange his family departure from Libya. But from this Latest news, it is clear he went to arrange Gaddafi fighters entrance to Libya. @AlmanaraMedia We are a media platform concerned in Libyan and Arab affairs. Everyone is welcome to join us on Facebook (http://on.fb.me/eHhTmQ) and follow us on twitter

Yikes.

(Source: almanaramedia.blogspot.com)