Human Rights defenders, bloggers and journalist being targeted by Libyan militias

The murder and the mayhem continue in Libya three years after the US/NATO alliance with Arab/Islamic militias in the overthrow the country’s government. It still baffles the mind that more pundits are not asking questions pertaining to why the United States government would help Islamic radicals take out a stable country in Libya and a government that was also a leader in the real fight to prevent terrorism in Africa. What occurred in Libya after its President Muammar Gaddafi was killed on orders from the US State Department, was a nightmarish hell for those who happen to not be Muslim, not be Arab or remained loyal to overthrown Gaddafi government.

The human rights crimes continue to mount while the countries most responsible for the lawlessness and murder now sit on the sidelines and watch in silence as their proxies tear through Libya.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recently issued a press release condemning ongoing acts of violence and particularly the targeting of human rights defenders and the need for those responsible to be held to account.

Human rights defenders, political activists, bloggers and media professionals have been under increasing attack from armed groups in Libya since mid-May, when fighting between rival factions intensified in and around Benghazi and later erupted in Tripoli, UN Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein warned Tuesday.

High Commissioner Zeid said UN human rights staff had received numerous reports of intimidation, harassment, abductions and murder of members of civil society, causing some human rights defenders to flee the country while others have curtailed their activism or gone into hiding, seeking protection for themselves and their families. Individuals have been shot in the street while going to work or coming out of mosques after prayers. Many have received text messages or have been the subject of social media posts threatening them or their families with death, abduction or rape.

“The work of civil society activists, journalists and human rights defenders is particularly crucial in the context of the ongoing conflict in Libya,” High Commissioner Zeid said. “Victims of human rights violations and abuses in Libya rely on these important actors to document and draw attention to their plight. The climate of fear created by such attacks, coupled with the total impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators, threatens to silence the few independent voices emerging from within the country.”

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