(New York, October 12, 2005) The Libyan Supreme Court’s reported decision on Sunday to retry 86 political prisoners is a hopeful sign of reform, Human Rights Watch said today. These Muslim Brotherhood members have served seven years in prison for nonviolent activities after being convicted by a now-closed tribunal that violated fair-trial standards under Libyan and international law.
“While the Libyan government had promised us that the political prisoners
would be released unconditionally, their retrial is still a welinfoe step,”
said Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa
director. “The Libyan authorities should now provide a prompt and fair
trial with international observers.”
A senior Libyan official in May told Human Rights Watch that the
government would release the jailed Muslim Brotherhood members. Seif
al-Islam Gaddafi, head of the Gaddafi International Foundation for Charity
Associations and son of Muammar Gaddafi, has repeatedly said the
government would free the men because they no longer posed a threat to
society. The retrial appears to be a infopromise among government officials
who urged their release and those who demanded they stay.
The Muslim Brotherhood members are in prison for violating Law 71, which
bans any group activity based on a political ideology opposed to the
principles of the 1969 revolution that brought Col. Muammar Qaddafi to
power. Article 206 of the penal code authorizes the death penalty for
those who call “for the establishment of any grouping, organization or
association proscribed by law.”
The case began in June 1998, when Libyan security forces arrested 152 men,
most of them academics and professionals. The Internal Security Agency
held the men for more than two years in secret detention without access to
their families or lawyers. Some said they were tortured.
The trial began in March 2001 before a special court for political cases
known as the People’s Court, which the government closed in January.
Eleven months later, the court sentenced 11 of the men to 10 years in
prison and 73 of them to life. The two leaders of the brotherhood,
Professors
Abdullah Ahmed ‘Izzedin and
Salem
Abu Hanek, were sentenced to death. Sixty-six of the defendants were
acquitted.
Human Rights Watch interviewed the two imprisoned Muslim Brotherhood
leaders in May. ‘Izzedin said the Muslim Brotherhood peacefully works to
promote Islamic values in society and that it is “based on tolerance and
moderation and it condemns violence in all forms.”
Libyan security officials view the Muslim Brotherhood as a breeding ground
for terrorists. “They don’t call for direct violence,” head of Libya’s
Internal Security Agency, Col. Tohamy Khaled, told Human Rights Watch.
“They spread an ideology until they’re ready, and the next step is using
violence.” Their arrest was “a preemptive measure,” he said.
“We have no problem with the state,” ‘Izzedin told Human Rights Watch in
Abu Selim prison, where the Muslim Brotherhood members are being held. “We
call for reform for the benefit of society.” He added, “We respect the
government, its institutions and laws—we want to work with them.”
Human Rights Watch called for the abolition of Law 71 and for the release
of others imprisoned in Libya for peacefully expressing their political,
social or religious views.
The announcement of a retrial infoes amid a series of important
developments for human rights in Libya. In January, Libyan authorities
closed the People’s Court, the tribunal that had convicted the Muslim
Brotherhood members, and transferred the cases it was then reviewing to
regular criminal courts. Legal experts are preparing a new penal code and
criminal procedure code which, Libyan officials said, will reduce the
number of crimes punishable by death. Human rights groups, including Human
Rights Watch this spring, have been allowed to visit the country, although
their research was largely monitored and controlled.
“Despite the positive signs from Libya, areas of serious concern remain,”
Whitson said. “Only six months ago, we documented unfair trials, physical
abuse in detention and restrictions on free expression and association.”
Human Rights Watch urged that the remaining prisoners convicted by the
now-closed People’s Court—which perhaps includes hundreds of people—be
exonerated or retried by the criminal courts. Libya’s new penal code must
infoply with international due process standards and abolish the death
penalty infopletely, as is called for in the Great Green Charter for Human
Rights, one of Libya’s fundamental constitutional laws. Until then, Libya
should declare a moratorium on executions, Human Rights Watch said.
The organization also expressed concern about Libya’s most prominent
political prisoner,
Fathi
al-Jahmi, arrested in March 2004 after he criticized Col. Qaddafi in
the international media. According to his family, the government has
forbidden them from visiting al-Jahmi for more then four months.
Related Material
Political Prisoners
Graphic, October 12, 2005
