Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The 40-year-Gaddafi abuse

While the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi fight with all his might to stay ahead of power in Libya, the demonstrators continued their protests demanding an end to the abuses that have marked 41 years his Government. Despite the images that people get to get on the Internet, where you can see the harsh repression of the regime against the demonstrators with bombings and indiscriminate attacks, the government denies such attacks and blames the international community and foreign press .

A position that contrasts with statements by Libyan leader's son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who in an appearance on Monday confirmed that the Executive is guilty of "some flaws" in human rights. Four decades are to record many of these 'failures'. Torture, disappearances, arrests and repression have been absolute standards since Muanmar Gaddafi took power in 1969.

Human rights groups and opponents of Gaddafi charged that over the 70's the police and security forces arrested hundreds of Libyans who resisted were Qaddafi or capable of doing. Student demonstrations were suppressed with great harshness by the authorities in what became a blood bath. The opponents were arrested, imprisoned, and in some cases missing.

Security forces detained academics, lawyers, students, journalists, members of the Muslim Brotherhood and anyone who was considered "enemy of the revolution", according to Human Right Watch. Gadhafi threatened anyone who stood him up with all their repression. "I could deliver at any time a death sentence because the execution is the fate of any person who is a political party," he said in a speech in November 1974.

Libyan television echoed executions, hangings and judgments. Gaddafi in 1976 authorized the execution of 22 officers who had participated in an attempted coup, in addition to running several civilians. In 1980 the authorities adopted a policy of extrajudicial executions for those opponents in exile, who was described as "stray dogs." According to a 2009 article in Forbes magazine written by Eljahmi rights activist, former deputy director of Gaddafi, Abdel Salam Jalloud issued a public justification in 1980 for the murder of dissidents abroad.

"Many people who fled abroad took property belonging to the Libyan people ... Now they are putting their illicit proceeds available to the opposition led by (then leader Anwar) Sadat, global imperialism, and Israel." The attempted coup in May 1984, apparently mounted by the exiled, killed thousands of activists imprisoned and executed hundreds.

In 1988, the Gaddafi regime opened a little hand and granted amnesty to hundreds of political prisoners. However, a year after that mirage, repression returned with more harshly. According to Amnesty International, the Government introduced "mass arrests, arbitrary detentions, disappearances, torture and the death penalty." In 1993, after a failed coup in which military was involved, Qaddafi began a military purge, eliminating potential rivals and replacing them with regime loyalists.

In what critics call, the bloodiest acts of repression, more than 1,000 prisoners were shot dead by security forces on 28 and 29 June 1996 at Abu Salim prison, according to Human Rights Watch. For years, Libyan officials have denied the murder at Abu Salim. The first public recognition came in April 2004 when Gaddafi said the killings took place there, and that the families of the prisoners were entitled to know what happened.

According to several NGOs, the authorities began the millennium with some improvement in human rights. Began releasing some political prisoners and allowed human rights groups to visit the country. In 2001 about 300 prisoners, including political prisoners were released. Among them was the political prisoner who has spent more years in prison, Ahmad al-Zubayr Ahmad Sanussi, accused of involvement in an attempted coup in 1970 and spent 31 years in prison.

But the riots that stagger the Arab world have once again given sample of what Gaddafi can do to stay in power. At the moment, nearly 300 dead in a few days of bombing and shooting at demonstrators calling for regime change.

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