The Observer has gained exclusive access to thousands of documents which show how the Libyan leader gave orders for the torture, arrest and bombardment of his own people
The Guardian
"The dark green box files are packed closely together in rows that stretch up to the ceiling – as dull as dull could be. But the papers hidden inside them will sink Muammar Gaddafi.
In these boxes, hidden at a secure location in the besieged rebel city of Misrata, lie thousands of documents containing the orders given by the Libyan leader and transmitted by his generals to unleash the torture, arrest and bombardment that have torn the country apart. For war crimes prosecutors, they are pure gold.
The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, has already filed indictments against Gaddafi, his son, Saif al-Islam, and his intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. These files provide the proof, according to the Libyan lawyers who collected them, that make convictions all but certain.
The Observer was last week granted exclusive access to view some of the files – documents that even the ICC has not yet seen. A glance at the paperwork is astonishing: on the top of one file is a letter from 4 March, two weeks after Misrata rose up to defy Gaddafi, signed by the general he put in charge of the operation to quell the protest: Youssef Ahmed Basheer Abu Hajar. Addressed to the "fighting formations", which had by then cut all roads into the city, it issues a blunt instruction: "It is absolutely forbidden for supply cars, fuel and other services to enter the city of Misrata from all gates and checkpoints."
Or, to put it more bluntly, he ordered his army to inflict starvation on every man, woman and child in Misrata....."
The Guardian
"The dark green box files are packed closely together in rows that stretch up to the ceiling – as dull as dull could be. But the papers hidden inside them will sink Muammar Gaddafi.
In these boxes, hidden at a secure location in the besieged rebel city of Misrata, lie thousands of documents containing the orders given by the Libyan leader and transmitted by his generals to unleash the torture, arrest and bombardment that have torn the country apart. For war crimes prosecutors, they are pure gold.
The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, has already filed indictments against Gaddafi, his son, Saif al-Islam, and his intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. These files provide the proof, according to the Libyan lawyers who collected them, that make convictions all but certain.
The Observer was last week granted exclusive access to view some of the files – documents that even the ICC has not yet seen. A glance at the paperwork is astonishing: on the top of one file is a letter from 4 March, two weeks after Misrata rose up to defy Gaddafi, signed by the general he put in charge of the operation to quell the protest: Youssef Ahmed Basheer Abu Hajar. Addressed to the "fighting formations", which had by then cut all roads into the city, it issues a blunt instruction: "It is absolutely forbidden for supply cars, fuel and other services to enter the city of Misrata from all gates and checkpoints."
Or, to put it more bluntly, he ordered his army to inflict starvation on every man, woman and child in Misrata....."
No comments:
Post a Comment