Libyan children suffering rape, aid agency reports

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Source: Guardian

Libyan children as young as eight have suffered sexual assaults, including rape, amid the worsening conflict across the country, a British aid agency has warned.

Although Save the Children said it could not confirm the reports, the charity said the accounts by children were consistent and they were displaying signs of physical and emotional distress.

The allegations come from 200 children and 40 adults who have fled from Misrata, Ajdabiya and Ras Lanuf and are now in temporary camps in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

The families told the charity's staff that children as young as eight had been sexually assaulted, sometimes in front of their relatives.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/23/libyan-children-suffering-rape

[lunatica]

1. I see no reason not to believe this

Why should war atrocities and brutality be any different in Libya?

[DCKit]

2. I get that vibe too.

But at least they're not dumping premature infants on the floor to steal the incubators.

[yardwork]

3. If you're referring to the reports from Kuwait, those were proven to be lies.

[DCKit]

4. That is my point.

How much of what we're being told is the truth?

[yardwork]

10. I thought it was your point but I wanted to be sure that everybody knew that the Kuwait stories lied

[Vinee]

17. how many children suffer sexual assaults in America every day I wonder?

It's a sick fucking world full of shitbag losers that prey on the weak and vulnerable. Why should Libyans be any different?

[SoapBox]

5. Educated or uneducated...The perverts and sickos take out their anger on children.

...sick.

And then they also try to hide behind religion for their degenerate actions.

I'm not in favor of execution but I would indeed favor castration and neutering for crimes against kids...hell, and crimes against women.

[trud]

6. crimes against men too.

I believe nothing about atrocity reports from Libya. The U.S. played that game with reports from Iraq. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

[al bupp]

7. Be very wary, sir

Reports of war crimes in Libya have come from known perfidious spreaders of propaganda, such as, The International Criminal Court, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, and Amnesty International.

[EFerrari]

9. The ICC is investigating, it has not reported anything.

There is nothing at the MSF site about war crimes AT ALL, and Amnesty International and HRW have cited both sides for the use of illegal weapons and mistreatment of captives, including execution.

The poster should be wary, indeed.

[al bupp]

11. There are many other credible allegations...

I have to concede your point about MSF (I thought I'd seen a reference for them, but can't now find it). As for the others, I think the allegations weigh heavily against Gaddafi's forces. Here's a sampling:

Libyan paramedics targeted by pro-Gaddafi forces

Two medics from the Libyan Red Crescent trying to retrieve a body near the town of Misratah were injured by shooting from a nearby military installation belonging to the Hamza Brigade, a military force loyal to Colonel al-Gaddafi.

"This was a deliberate attack on medical professionals, who were wearing full medical uniform and arrived in two clearly marked Red Crescent ambulances," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa director.

Libya: Governments Should Demand End to Unlawful Killings

The African Union and African, Western, and Arab countries that have relations with Libya should urge the Libyan government to stop the unlawful killing of protesters, Human Rights Watch said today. In the last three days, the death toll of protesters reported to Human Rights Watch by hospital staff and other sources has reached at least 173.

Accounts of the use of live ammunition by security forces, including machine gun fire, against protesters near the Katiba in Benghazi on February 19, 2011, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries, raise serious concern that the authorities are using unjustified and unlawful force.

From: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/17/libya-indiscriminate-attacks-kill-civilians">Libya: Indiscriminate Attacks Kill Civilians

"Libyan government forces have repeatedly fired mortars and Grad rockets into residential neighborhoods in Misrata, causing civilian casualties," said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch. "The Soviet-made Grad in particular is one of the world's most inaccurate rocket systems and should never be fired in areas with civilians."

These indiscriminate attacks come alongside the use by Libyan government forces of cluster munitions in civilian-populated areas of Misrata, documented by Human Rights Watch on April 15.

Libya has 60 days to respond to an application alleging serious and widespread violations of the African Charter, including the repression of peaceful demonstrations and the use of heavy weapons and machine guns against its population

Based on evidence collected by our organizations, the ACHPR filed an application to the African Court against Libya alleging “serious and widespread” violations of various articles of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, ratified by Libya in 1986. The allegations made against Libya include the repression by Libyan security forces of peaceful demonstration in February 2011, the excessive use of heavy weapons and machine guns against the population and the massive arrest and detention of demonstrators.

From: Libya: Strategy of scorched earth, desire for widespread and systematic elimination

Gaddafi is implementing a strategy of scorched earth. It is reasonable to fear that he has, in fact, decided to largely eliminate, wherever he still can, Libyan citizens who stood up against his regime and furthermore, to systematically and indiscriminately repress civilians. These acts can be characterised as crimes against humanity, as defined in Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

[EFerrari]

12. What that shows is the press is reporting more

about the abuses on Gaddafi's side. It doesn't mean that are more or less of them necessarily.

The rebels have been cited for using land mines and for attacking/ beating / executing black Africans even on suspicion of being mercenaries but those stories weren't run over and over again in the corporate media.

[al bupp]

13. The links I posted were not press reports, ma'am...

There were direct reports from long-standing and internationally respected NGOs. I find it hard to believe that all these organizations have somehow been co-opted by western imperialism, but I suppose anything's possible.

The reports of excesses by the rebels appear to have been relatively isolated and unorganized, unlike, say the indiscriminate lobbing of cluster bombs and grad rockets into Misrata by Gaddafi's forces, or snipers targeting anything that moves, all of which has lasted for weeks.

[EFerrari]

14. They aren't press reports but the press picked up the stories,

my point exactly.

And why would you believe that laying mines is an unorganized activity? Or targeting black Africans for assault, rape and murder?

The reporting has been unbalanced and we're getting a skewed view of what is happening on the ground. Recognizing that has nothing to do with backing Gaddafi but more to do with knowing how our media works.

[al bupp]

15. The fact that the western press picked-up the reports from NGOs...

... doesn't automatically invalidate them, even if, as you claim, it's done in an unbalanced fashion. My point is that the initial reports came from respected international organizations with no obvious ax to grind in the situation.

The unorganized activity that I was referring to had to do with some instances of abuse of black captives, especially early in the conflict, by some rebels. These seemed isolated, and even included additional reports of other rebels protecting the captured individuals and later releasing them. I am certain that I would rather be a captive of the rebels than Gaddafi's forces. All credible reports of organized rape in this conflict I've seen allege it's been Gaddafi's forces responsible.

While it may be easier to maintain a staunchly anti-imperialistic stance by ascribing the disparity in both amount and degree of abuses to both sides (after all, have the rebels indiscriminately fired scuds & cluster bombs into Tripoli?) to distortions and propaganda of our media, I think it's a tired refrain that doesn't stand up to much critical scrutiny.

[joshcryer]

8. You'll note that this report cannot blame any side...

...and unfortunately both sides are likely committing bad things.

[Odin2005]

16. My God, what MONSTERS!!!

:grr: