Libya: Benghazi Civilians Face Grave Risk--Human Rights Watch

[pinboy3niner]

Libya: Benghazi Civilians Face Grave Risk

International Community Should Act to Protect Population

March 17, 2011


(New York) - The Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's violent crackdown on protests and his long record of serious abuses raise grave concerns for the safety of the civilian population in Benghazi and other eastern cities as the fighting in Libya shifts eastward, Human Rights Watch said today.

The international community, and especially the UN Security Council meeting on March 17, 2011, has a responsibility to use necessary and appropriate measures to protect civilians from large-scale atrocities, Human Rights Watch said.

"Libyan security forces' possible capture of Benghazi heightens concerns of more abuses as we've seen elsewhere in Libya, including killings and disappearances," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The world should not ignore the serious abuses by Libyan security forces over the past month, as well as Gaddafi's demonstrated disregard for human rights over four decades."

Since the Libyan uprising began on February 17, Human Rights Watch has documented cases in which government forces opened fire on peaceful protesters and the arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance of scores of people.

...


Gaddafi's deplorable human rights record over 41 years in power enhances the deep anxiety for the safety of the civilian population, Human Rights Watch said. Since he assumed power in 1969, Gaddafi has repeatedly used arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearances, and political killings to maintain control.

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As the United Nations General Assembly recognized in 2005, each state has a responsibility to prevent war crimes, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and genocide within its borders. When it fails in that duty, other states, through the United Nations, have the responsibility to use those measures that are necessary and appropriate to protect civilian populations from such crimes.


http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/17/libya-benghazi-civilians-face-grave-risk

[tabatha]

1. A little positive news.

Ajdabia AJA -- Revolutionaries in Benghazi report that 4 Gaddafi war planes have been shot down today, + 2 other planes defected.