Which dictator killed

It also made unsuccessful attempts to merge Libya with other Arab nations. Known as the Green Book, the manifesto became required reading in Libyan schools.

During the s, tensions increased between Qaddafi and the West. Libya was linked the April bombing of a West Berlin, Germany, nightclub frequented by American military personnel. Two people, including a U. On December 22, , Pan Am Flight , traveling from London to New York , was blown up over Lockerbie, killing people on board and 11 people on the ground. The U. He also declined to surrender a group of Libyans suspected in the bombing of a French passenger jet over Niger that killed people.

Subsequently, in , the United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Libya. Qaddafi's government had turned over the Lockerbie suspects in ; one was eventually acquitted and the other convicted.

Also in , Qaddafi agreed to dismantle his weapons of mass destruction. Diplomatic relations with the West were restored by the following year. Qaddafi remained a deeply controversial figure, who traveled with a contingent of female bodyguards, wore colorful robes and hats or military uniforms covered with medals, and on trips abroad set up a Bedouin-style tent to receive guests.

After more than 40 years in power, Qaddafi saw his regime begin to unravel in February , when anti-government protests broke out in Libya following the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia earlier that year.

Qaddafi vowed to crush the revolt and ordered a violent crackdown against the demonstrators. However, by August, rebel forces, with assistance from NATO, had gained control of Tripoli and established a transitional government. You will see, you dog! The man agrees, and asks the others to leave, and the video clip ends.

Human Rights Watch knows the identities of the individual who filmed these sequences showing Mutassim Gaddafi, as well as one of other members of the Lions of the Valley militia who was also present in the room at the time. Both are members of the Misrata Lions of the Valley militia. Mutassim Gaddafi was dead by the afternoon of October 20, just hours after his capture. Libyan television broadcast footage of his dead body on a hospital stretcher in the afternoon of October 20 the footage was filmed during daylight hours.

Another large gash is visible on his lower stomach. The throat wound thus must have been inflicted after the videos of a captured Mutassim were recorded, strongly indicating that he was killed in the custody of his captors just hours after he was detained. Because Human Rights Watch was not allowed to turn over the body, we could not determine whether the wound was a bullet exit wound, or inflicted by other means.

Following the end of the battle that led to the capture and death of Muammar Gaddafi, the militias captured an estimated Gaddafi loyalists alive around the scene of the battle. Human Rights Watch researchers observed a group of about 70 of these captives loaded on the back of a large military truck outside the Sirte field hospital operated by the militias on the western outskirts of Sirte, shortly before these captives were moved to Misrata around mid-day on October Some higher-value detainees, such as Mansour Dhao and the two sons of Abu Bakr Younis who also surrendered at the scene of the battle, were transported separately to Misrata immediately after their capture.

Not all of those detained at the scene of the battle were transferred to Misrata. On the morning following the final battle, the bodies of at least 66 apparent execution victims were found at the nearby Mahari Hotel, located just a few hundred meters north of the site where militiamen had captured Muammar Gaddafi.

The grass beneath and around many of the bodies was stained in blood. Some of the men had their hands tied behind their backs with rope or plastic ties. It is unlikely that the men had been killed at the scene of the final battle and then transported to the hotel.

The scene of the battle was in fact littered with the bodies of more than persons, whom the rebels had left behind.

Human Rights Watch found no evidence of any gun battle at the scene where the bodies were found, or any damage from a gun battle visible on the walls of the hotel facing the scene where the bodies were found. The bodies were first discovered by Sirte locals on October 21, the day after the battle with the Gaddafi convoy, and visited by international journalists on the same day.

Human Rights Watch has obtained a copy of a seven minute-long video recording made on a mobile phone, appearing to show militiamen from Misrata beating, cursing, abusing, and threatening a group of 29 members of the Gaddafi convoy after the end of the fighting with the Gaddafi convoy. In the video, the captured persons are shown seated against the outer wall of the compound used by the Eastern Coast militia group of Misrata, located just opposite the road from where the final battle with the Gaddafi convoy had taken place.

The men are asked about their town or origin and tribal affiliation, and many are beaten, cursed, and spat upon in the video. Captured detainees identified as being from the town of Tawergha are singled out for harsher abuse, as are members of the Gaddadfa tribe to which the Gaddafi family belonged, as well as residents from Sirte. At least 12 of the 29 captured men shown in the video appear to match those later found executed at the Mahari Hotel. Volunteers photographed and numbered the bodies at the hotel prior to their burial in Sirte on October 25, A review of some of the post-mortem photos made available to Human Rights Watch found six persons visible in the video who appear to match those photographed post-mortem at the Mahari Hotel.

Members of the staff at Ibn Sina hospital in Sirte confirmed another 6 of the 29 people in the video were among the dead found at the Mahari, meaning that at least 12 of the 29 people in the video appear to have been executed. Human Rights Watch has not been able to obtain a complete set of the post-mortem photographs from the Ibn Sina hospital, so it is possible that more of those visible in the video were among the dead bodies found at the Mahari Hotel.

Human Rights Watch has also established that at least some of those in the video are alive and out of custody, while others remain detained in Misrata. Among those identified in the video as alive by Human Rights Watch and later found dead at the Mahari Hotel are:. In addition to the six persons who were identified in the photos obtained by Human Rights Watch of the bodies at the Mahari Hotel, hospital officials at the Ibn Sina hospital identified an additional six persons visible in the video who they confirmed were among the dead found at the Mahari hotel.

They include a bleeding, bearded man in a blue outfit and grey jacket, identified as Hussein al-Agmati; a father and son from the Hissouni tribe whose names are unknown; [56] a young bearded man from Sirte identified as Hussein Dhao al-Agmati; [57] a young man from Bin Jawad with a red Kaffiyeh tied around his head; [58] a thin, dark-skinned man who is believed to be from Tawergha, wearing a blue and white checkered shirt, with a bandaged stomach wound.

In addition to the 12 persons identified by hospital records among the dead from the video, at least five additional bodies at the Mahari Hotel were identified by family members and friends as Sirte residents, according to the volunteers working to remove the bodies from the hotel: Ezz al-Din al-Hinsheri, a former high-ranking Gaddafi official, Muftah Dabroun, a military officer, Hussein Muftah Gossi age 23 , Muftah al-Deley, and Mahmoud Saleh.

Visiting the Mahari Hotel on October 23 and 24, Human Rights Watch researchers found the walls of the hotel covered with graffiti indicating the names of Misrata-based militias that had been based at the hotel. This brigade reportedly lost two of its commanders in the battle for Sirte.

On the evening of October 24, Human Rights Watch researchers met with two men who described themselves as the two main commanders of the Tiger Brigade at their base in Misrata, Omran al-Oweib and Abdal-Salaam last name unknown. The commanders acknowledged that the Tiger Brigade and its associated militias had been in control of the Mahari Hotel for at least several weeks prior to the final battle with the Gaddafi convoy, and had used the hotel as a lookout and firing point because of its prominent position overlooking District Two.

The commanders of the Tiger Brigade acknowledged that a large number of Gaddafi loyalists whose hands were bound had been executed at the hotel, but denied any knowledge of the event. According to Omran al-Oweib, their fighters left the Mahari Hotel in the morning to join the fight with the Gaddafi convoy, and returned about midday to find the bodies already at the hotel:. The version of events presented by the commanders of the Tiger Brigade is difficult to reconcile with the chronology of events documented by Human Rights Watch.

The Tiger Brigade and its associated militias were present at the scene where Muammar Gaddafi was captured, and where at least some of the men later found dead at the Mahari Hotel were initially questioned and beaten, as shown on the mobile phone footage reviewed by Human Rights Watch.

Since Muammar Gaddafi was captured at about 11 a. Establishing responsibility for the apparent execution of at least 53 and perhaps as many as 66 persons at the Mahari Hotel will require further investigation.

However, given the fact that dozens of persons are seen on the video footage interrogating and abusing the captives, and the logistics involved in transporting and killing so many persons within a relatively short time-frame, it is likely that a large number of Misrata-based militiamen were involved in, and have knowledge of, the apparent executions at the Mahari Hotel.

The evidence collected by Human Rights Watch strongly suggests that these killings were not the actions of a few lower ranking rogue militiamen. The fighting in Libya between the armed forces loyal to Gaddafi and armed opposition groups amounted to a non-international internal armed conflict, regulated by Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions and the Second Additional Protocol of to the Geneva Conventions Protocol II , as well as customary laws of war.

The fighting between the armed forces acting under Security Council SC Resolution the NATO forces and the Libyan armed forces loyal to Gaddafi amounted to an international armed conflict, and was governed by the Four Geneva Conventions of and customary laws of war.

The laws of war—whether in international or internal armed conflict—seek to minimize unnecessary pain and suffering during wartime, particularly by protecting civilians and other noncombatants from the hazards of armed conflict.

International humanitarian law provides a number of fundamental protections for noncombatants which includes civilians as well as captured combatants, those who have clearly indicated an intention to surrender, and former combatants unable to fight because of wounds or illness. It prohibits violence against such persons, particularly murder, cruel treatment and torture, as well as outrages against their personal dignity and degrading and humiliating treatment.

The prohibition against the extrajudicial killing of captured combatants, or combatants placed hors de combat because of their injuries or other reasons, is considered a fundamental principle of customary international law.

Murder is also specified as a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court with respect to both international and internal armed conflict. The relevant civilian and military authorities of a state must investigate war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law allegedly committed by their forces or nationals of their country, or on their territory, and must prosecute the suspects where appropriate. Amnesties for war crimes are prohibited.

Libya is not a state party to the ICC. However on February 26, , the UN Security Council adopted Resolution , which referred the situation in Libya to the ICC, giving the court ongoing jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed there since February 15, The ICC could prosecute these crimes, including the alleged executions documented in this report, taking into account, among other factors, whether the Libyan authorities are willing and able to prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes.

Resolution requires the authorities in Libya to cooperate with the ICC. In addition to prosecuting those who committed, ordered, or were otherwise complicit in such crimes, the ICC could also prosecute senior civilian officials, military commanders, or persons acting effectively acting as military commanders for serious crimes committed by forces or subordinates under their effective command and control.

Absent a complete autopsy report, it is not possible to establish the cause of death for Muammar and Mutassim Gaddafi with certitude, as both had sustained serious wounds from the final battle, and the forensic evidence that they were executed later is inconclusive. Human Rights Watch researchers briefly inspected the bodies of Muammar and Mutassim Gaddafi in Misrata on October 21, but were not allowed to turn the bodies over to examine their backs.

However, no exit gunshot wound was visible on the exposed parts of the head of Muammar Gaddafi, a fact difficult to reconcile with claims he was shot at close range, and the presumed entry gunshot wound on his head coincides with the location of a shrapnel wound, apparently from a grenade thrown by one of his own guards.

As explained above, Mutassim Gaddafi had a major wound on his throat that did not exist when he was filmed in the custody of Misrata fighters, strongly suggesting that the fatal wound was inflicted on him while he was in the custody of the fighters.

No autopsies or investigations were carried out by any Libyan authority into the deaths of at least 66 persons at the Mahari Hotel in Sirte, nor into the deaths of at least persons whose bodies were left behind at the scene of the final battle with the Gaddafi convoy. The bodies were left out in the open until October 25, five days after the battle, when volunteer workers from the city of Sirte came to collect them, already in a state of decomposition, photograph their faces, and bury them in individually numbered plastic body bags in a mass grave in Sirte.

No similar investigation into the deaths at the Mahari Hotel has been announced. At the same meeting, the Misrata chief prosecutor told Human Rights Watch that the investigation into the killings at the Mahari Hotel had stalled because no families had brought a complaint to his attention, and no primary evidence had been collected suggesting a crime had been committed.

The prosecutor said he was unaware that video footage existed showing some of the victims found at the Mahari alive in custody before their death, that journalists had taken many photographs and video clips of the bodies at the hotel, and that the Ibn Sina hospital in Sirte was functioning at the time and had photographed the bodies. Due to the often hostile relationship between the populations of Misrata and Sirte, and the difficulties this may create for any investigation, the general prosecutor of Libya should refer the case to another court from an area that is not involved in the alleged crimes.

Under the Geneva Conventions, the Libyan authorities have a duty to investigate and prosecute possible war crimes. Their failure to do so could mean that the ICC, taking into account a number of factors, including whether the Libyan authorities are willing and able to prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes, could open an investigation.

Human Rights Watch wrote to the transitional Libyan authorities on June 20, , [79] summarizing the findings of its research contained in this report, and asking for a response from the authorities. The Human Rights Watch letter, reproduced in appendix A of this report, specifically requested an update from the transitional Libyan authorities on steps taken to investigate the alleged crimes documented by Human Rights Watch, on which the authorities had been briefed by Human Rights Watch on several previous occasions in Libya, including in the immediate aftermath of the events.

The 5-page response, reproduced in Appendix B, dwells extensively on the crimes committed by the Gaddafi government during its year dictatorship and during the civil conflict, and details the steps taken by the transitional authorities to promote human rights in the post-Gaddafi Libya.

According to the letter, translated from Arabic by Human Rights Watch, the deaths in question occurred during clashes between Gaddafi loyalists and opposition forces:. The letter provides no further details about the status of the investigation into the events. The claim in the letter that Muammar Gaddafi, Mutassim Gaddafi, and the other persons were killed in battle rather than after being taken into custody contradicts the evidence collected by Human Rights Watch and presented in this report.

The assertion by the Libyan authorities that the deaths were all battle-related is inconsistent with the evidence collected and presented by Human Rights Watch and other sources. As documented in this report, Muammar Gaddafi was filmed wounded but alive and in the custody of opposition fighters.

His son Mutassim Gaddafi was filmed wounded and alive at the scene of his capture, and again being questioned by his captors after being transported alive to Misrata, but was filmed dead that same evening.

Many of the individuals whose bodies were found among the estimated 66 executed persons at the Mahari Hotel were filmed alive in the custody of opposition fighters before their execution, and some of those bodies were found with their hands still bound behind their backs. The apparent failure to investigate what appears to have been among the most clearcut instances of extrajudicial executions carried out by opposition fighters during the internal conflict shows that the new Libyan authorities have a long way to go to make their professed commitment to the rule of law and ending impunity for human rights abuses a reality.

The failure to investigate and prosecute the apparent crimes documented in this report is no anomaly: Human Rights Watch and other organizations have documented similar failures to investigate and prosecute a significant number of deaths in custody of Gaddafi loyalists since the fall of the Gaddafi regime.

This report was researched and written by Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch. Tirana Hassan, researcher in the emergencies division, contributed to the research. Osama al-Fitory and Yosra Nagui Saad assisted with the translation of video materials and interviews.

Grace Choi, publications director; Anna Lopriore, manager in the multimedia department; Ivy Shen, multimedia production assistant; and Fitzroy Hopkins, administrative manager, prepared the report for publication. Amr Khairy, Arabic translation and website coordinator, supervised the translation of the report into Arabic. Human Rights Watch is writing to share the preliminary conclusions of its investigation into the deaths of Muammar Gaddafi, his son Mutassim Gaddafi, and other members of the convoy that attempted to escape from District Two of Sirte on October 20, Our investigation has concluded that the circumstances of those deaths indicate that serious crimes were committed, including executions of detained persons that require a full investigation by the Libyan authorities and, where appropriate, prosecution by the Libyan authorities.

Human Rights Watch is preparing a report on its investigation, and wishes to reflect the views of the Libyan authorities in this report. We would therefore appreciate it if we could have a response to this letter no later than July 10, Human Rights Watch has been documenting human rights violations in Libya for years, pressing the former Gaddafi government to halt an array of abuses, including torture, forced disappearances, and political killings.

During the uprising, Human Rights Watch had an almost continuous presence in Libya, documenting violations by actors on all sides of the conflict. Human Rights Watch appreciates the responsiveness of the interim Libyan authorities to the human rights concerns we have raised, and we understand the challenges the new Libya faces in overcoming the legacy of the past, and stabilizing the security and human rights situation in Libya. We believe that justice for serious crimes committed by all parties is vital for victims, the rule of law, and stability in Libya.

Human rights violations should be investigated and prosecuted, to break with the impunity for violations that prevailed during the Gaddafi era.

Our team interviewed survivors from the convoy, eyewitnesses to the events, militia commanders who were present at the scene, and medical and humanitarian workers who responded to the aftermath of the fighting.

Our researchers also viewed the bodies of many of those killed in the battle, including the bodies of Muammar and Mutassim Gaddafi, Abu Bakr Younis, and more than persons killed at the convoy battle scene, and at least 53 bodies found at the Mahari Hotel in Sirte.

Our investigation points to the following preliminary conclusions:. It appears that by the time Muammar Gaddafi was loaded into an ambulance and driven away to Misrata, he was already dead or dying. In the absence of the release of his autopsy report, Human Rights Watch cannot establish whether Muammar Gaddafi died from a gunshot wound inflicted after his capture, or from injuries from the abuse he suffered.

However, the abuse apparently inflicted on him after his capture, whether it was fatal or not, requires investigation, and his death should be investigated as a possible extra-judicial killing.

He was dead by the same evening, with new wounds that are not present in the video clips recorded by his captors, strongly indicating that he was killed in custody. However, some of the bodies found at the scene of the final battle show signs of possible execution. At least 12 of those killed at the Mahari Hotel can be seen alive in a video recording of captured convoy survivors recorded by Misrata fighters at the scene of the convoy battle, and an additional five bodies have been identified by relatives and friends as having been on the convoy.

The evidence collected by Human Rights Watch strongly suggests that the bodies found at the Mahari Hotel are those of detained survivors of the convoy who were transported to the Mahari Hotel and executed there. The Mahari Hotel was occupied and used by Misrata-based militias, in particular the Tiger Brigade and four subsidiary brigades under its control. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly briefed the Libyan authorities on these findings. Despite early assurances by Chairman Mustafa Abdul-Jalil and the Chief Prosecutor that these apparent crimes would be fully investigated, Human Rights Watch has not seen significant progress, particularly on the investigation into the killings at the Mahari Hotel, which may represent the largest such episode of apparent summary executions of persons in custody attributed to anti-Gaddafi forces during the entire conflict in Libya.

Human Rights Watch would appreciate any information you can provide to us on the status of the investigation into the fatal incidents described above, the actions taken by the Libyan authorities to establish how these deaths occurred and who was responsible for them, the evidence collected and reviewed by the Libyan authorities, and the status of the autopsies conducted on Muammar and Mutassim Gaddafi and Abu Bakr Younis, which have still not been publicly released.

Human Rights Watch would also appreciate an update on the steps taken by the Libyan authorities to identify the remains of those killed at the Mahari Hotel and the more than persons found dead at the scene of the final battle, so their families can be informed. Thank you for your consideration. As noted above, we will be able to reflect any pertinent information that we receive from you by July 10, Click to expand Image.

This needs to begin with a genuine end to violence, marked by deeds not words. The regime has to pull back from the cities it is besieging, including Ajdabiya, Misurata and Zintan, and return to their barracks.

However, so long as Qaddafi is in power, NATO must maintain its operations so that civilians remain protected and the pressure on the regime builds. Then a genuine transition from dictatorship to an inclusive constitutional process can really begin, led by a new generation of leaders. In order for that transition to succeed, Qaddafi must go and go for good. Human Rights Watch was allowed to interview detainees in private at the detention facility.

Hideki Tojo was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He assumed the position of Prime Minister and held Army Minister concurrently. His major contributions to education were teaching militaristic and nationalist indoctrination. His version of homeland security was approving eugenics measures which essentially made a distinction between pure blood and mixed blood Japanese families. He really bought into the Nazi Kool-aid, and held steadfastly with Germany. When the tide turned, and he began losing, it was devastating.

Eventually he went into seclusion. He was tried for war crimes and found guilty of waging wars of aggression, wars in violation of international law, and waging unprovoked war against many countries.

Not to mention ordering, authorizing, and permitting inhumane treatment of Prisoners of War. Leopold II was the King of the Belgians, and believed in colonialism.

He thought acquiring colonies overseas was essential to a great country and was always scheming. He started a company that seemed like it was doing good called the International African Society. A year later he used that company to travel to Congo, laid claim to a plot of land 14 times the size of Belgium, and made 14 countries agree USA included that he was free to rule it with his own private militia.

He then forced the indigenous populations into forced labor, created a bustling rubber industry, and abused his workers grievously. The abject misery and utter abandon is positively indescribable. Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Nazi Party. He was the absolute dictator of Germany from to He gained support by promoting values like German nationalism and anti-semitism.

Hitler was appointed chancellor in and began the Third Reich. Hitler was power hungry as all hell, hated the shit out of Jews and others , and wanted hegemony in Europe. The militarization that was needed to complete such a lofty goal led to the outbreak of World War II. Nazi forces engaged in the systematic murder of as many as 17 million civilians, an estimated six million of whom were Jews, and 1.

Jozef Stalin was the first Secretary of the Communist Party from — Between it reached such catastrophic proportions everything went to shit. In Ukraine this dark period is known as Holodomor. Its widely believed that Soviet policies caused the famine there and was designed as an attack on Ukrainian nationalism. Estimates on the total number of casualties within Soviet Ukraine range from 2.

It was a paranoid campaign to kill off the people who opposed him, and his targets were often executed. In Stalin agreed to a non-aggression pact with the Nazis. Eventually Germany violated the pact, the Soviet Union joined the allies, and they racked up Mao, while controversial, is still widely considered a savior of the nation. His social programs the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution are two of the most ill-fated, poorly named, initiatives ever.

The first was an effort to rapidly industrialize China.