15/02/2008

Press Release

The 17th February is a date many Libyans remember with great sadness.

Eighteen years ago, while Libyans were celebrating "'Eid al-Mailood", Gaddafi’s revolutionary infomittees (RC) executed nine young Libyans accused of murdering Ahmed Musbah al-Werfalli, a known member of the RC, in Benghazi in August 1986. On February 17th 1987, six of the accused were publicly hanged in Benghazi's sports arena. The other three were executed in their military barracks. The executions were repeatedly shown on Libyan television.

On February 17th 2006 Libyans gathered outside the Italian Consulate in reaction to the Italian reform minister, Roberto Calderoli wearing a T-shirt depicting the Danish racist cartoons that caused an outcry from the Muslim world earlier that year.

The anger outside the Embassy was not only about the cartoons, but turned into an angry anti-regime demonstration. Gaddafi who is secular and an enemy of fundamentalists ordered the Police to throw teargas grenades and opened fire with live ammunition on the 1,000 demonstrators. The outinfoe was 11 protestors died and many more were wounded.

On February 17th 2007, Libyan security agents in Tripoli arrested 14 organisers of a peaceful demonstration planned to infomemorate the anniversary of the deadly crackdown on demonstrators in Benghazi in 2006. At least 12 of the detainees are currently on trial and could face the death penalty on allegations that they planned to overthrow the government, arms possession, and meeting with a foreign official (apparently from the US). To Human Rights Watch’s knowledge, none of the 14 men has advocated violence.

Dr Idris Boufayed, the demonstration’s main organiser, whom the government had previously detained for 55 days in November-December 2006, is an outspoken critic of Muammar Gaddafi. Jamal al-Haji, also detained, is a Danish citizen to whom Libya has refused to grant Danish officials access. Two other detainees, Ahmad Yusif al-Ubaidi and Al-Sadiq Salih Humaid, are reportedly not receiving treatment for medical ailments.

Most disturbingly, two of the detainees have mysteriously disappeared. Abd al-Rahman al-Qotaiwi, a fourth-year medical student involved in planning the demonstration, and Juma Boufayed, who had given media interviews following the arrest of his brother Idris Boufayed, have been missing since their arrests.

Disturbing and terrible events of torture, imprisonment, executions and murder that show the true face of the Libyan Dictatorship under the rule of Gaddafi – history repeating itself down the decades. The only thing that has changed is the reaction to Gaddafi from the West, Gaddafi the Dictator is now a man that the British Government has decided it can do business with. In return for Arms and fuel deals the British Government has kept silent about the massacre in Benghazi in 2006 and has not demanded the release of the political prisoners arrested last year. Tony Blair assisted Shell the Anglo-Dutch oil giant negotiate a contract with Libya, and more recently he took BP to Sirte to negotiate a $900 million exploration contract. The Blair government’s Ministry of Defence has been in negotiations to supply Libya with missiles and air defence systems in what is rumoured to be the largest arms deal ever supplied to the country. In May last year Tony Blair said “Gaddafi is very easy to deal with – we get on pretty well” A strange statement from a man who made it his personal crusade to remove another vicious Dictator from power in Iraq.

The British Libyan Solidarity Campaign has organized a protest outside the Libyan Embassy in Knightsbridge on Monday 18th February and invites Human Rights campaigners to join the protest at 2.00 pm.

British Libyan Solidarity Campaign

15/02/2008
blsc@hotmail.co.uk

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