Human rights violations during the Gaddafi regime

During Muammar Gaddafi's rule over Libya, many crimes against humanity were committed by government forces against the Libyan population. Some of these include extrajudicial killings, public executions, and the torture of civilians. These violations are what caused the Libyan population to revolt against the regime.

Student protests

On April 7, 1976, university students all over Libya protested against human rights violations and authoritarian military control over all aspects of civilian lives. These protesters called for free and fair elections to take place and a more democratic system to be implemented in Libya. These protests were then violently suppressed by government forces through shootings and beatings, with many of the students being captured and detained. Universities and secondary schools were then all raided by Gaddafi in order to "silence and eliminate" the protesters.

The detained students were kept in prisons until April 7, 1977, the anniversary of the event, which Gaddafi called "The Day of Judgement". On this day, the students were publicly executed by hanging in Benghazi with thousands of people watching the event live on television and in real life. April 7 then became an anniversary that was celebrated by publicly executing civilians as well as defected government officials. This lasted until the late 80s-early 90s.

War with Chad

Gaddafi's war with Chad did not only have a negative impact on Chad, it had a detrimental impact to the Libyan economy and the army. In the Toyota War alone, Libya had lost over US$1.5 Billion and an unbelievable amount of military equipment. This war was widely condemned by the Libyan population as they felt they had no right to invade another country that didn't belong to them.

During this war, thousands of Libyan underage high school students were kidnapped from schools (in Benghazi, Tripoli, and the South) by the government without the consent or knowledge of their parents. After these boys were forcefully taken out of their schools, they were loaded onto busses and sent to Chad. Some of them were killed in battle, and some were deserted in Chad by the Libyan army. Thousands of families were left confused and unaware as to what happened to their sons, with most never hearing from them ever again.

Executions

The Gaddafi regime was notorious for its common use of public executions as a sentence for Libyans who either spoke out against the regime, or lived abroad and were victims of Gaddafis "physical liquidation" against Libyan diasporas. These would come in the form of public hangings as well as gunfire. Some of the most notable victims of these executions were:

• Omar A. Dabboub, 7 April 1977, Benghazi. A teacher who was executed by public hanging, for participating in the '76 student demonstrations.
• Mohammed bin Saud, 7 April 1977, Benghazi. A teacher who was executed by publicly hanging alongside Omar Dabboub, for participating in the '76 student demonstrations.
• Mahmoud A. Nafi', 21 April 1980, London. An attorney and a business man who was assassinated in his office in London.
• Mahmoud Banoun, April 1980, Tripoli. An engineer who was arrested in early April, died a few days later as a result of torture. His body delivered to family in sealed box.
• Abdul Jalil al-'Arif, April 1980, Rome. A successful business man who was a victim of Gaddafi's campaign of "physical liquidation" of opponents abroad.
• Naji bu Hawiya Khlyif, April 1982. A student who was arrested and died under torture, Aug. '82, Benghazi.
• Ahmed I. Makhluf, April 1982, A student who was arrested by Gaddafi security. He died under torture, Aug. '82, Benghazi.
• Mohammed M. Hfaf, 7 April 1983, Tripoli. A student who was imprisoned in April '73, and accused of membership in Islamic Liberation Party, despite there being no proof. Ten years later, on 7 April '83, he was executed by hanging in College of Engineering, Tripoli.
• Abdallah A. al-Mesallati, April, 1984, Tripoli. A student who was arrested on April 16, 1973, and sentenced to prison. Retried by Revolutionary Courts, sentenced to death, and executed in Tripoli Central Prison.
• Abdul Aziz al-Gharably, April, 1983, arrested. A student in Tripoli, suspected of membership in political party. Died in Jan. '84 as a result of torture and lack of medical care.
• Hafed. al-Madani, 16 April 1984, Tripoli. A student who was arrested following unrest at Engineering College, Nov. '80. Executed by public hanging at the College of Agriculture, Tripoli.
• Mustafa R. an-Nuwairy, April, 1984. A student who was elected President of the Student Union, academic year 1975–76. Elected Secretary of Benghazi chapter of Student Union. Expelled from Benghazi University and arrested in 1976. Arrested again in 1980 and sentenced to death and executed by the Revolutionary Committees in front of university students and staff.
• Hasan A. al-Kurdi, April 1984. Arrested among hundreds in Spring '73 in June. Accused with nine others of membership in Islamic Liberation Party and of writing articles opposing the regime, despite there being no proof whatsoever. On 7 Dec. '73, the Revolutionary Council issued resolution to stop the courts and release the accused. Re-arrested on the same day and held without trial until Feb. '77, sentenced to 15 years in prison, days later, the sentence increased to life imprisonment. Executed in prison without trial, April 1984.
• Ahmed Rafeeq al-Barrani, 3 April 1985, Cyprus. A business man who was assassinated in his office.
• Khamis al-Ghanai, executed alongside many others for allegedly calling the "Fatih Revolution" blasphemy, his body was dragged through the streets as hundreds of government forces would stomp and beat him up.

Sadek Hamed Shuwehdy

One of the most notable Libyan executions is the execution of Al-Sadek Hamed Al-Shuwehdy. Sadek was a Libyan student and aeronautical engineer that had returned from America where he had been studying, and participated in peaceful protests against the Gaddafi regime. He was arrested and detained for several months before his sentencing was made. The regime labeled him as "a terrorist from the Muslim Brotherhood" in order to justify his sentencing. He was then executed in a large basketball stadium with thousands of people watching him from the stands, mostly children who were forced to attend as a school trip.

Extrajudicial killings

Abusleem massacre

The Abu Salim massacre was a massacre that took place on June 29, 1996, against 1,270 wrongfully convicted prisoners. Before the massacre, prisoners were forced to live in very dire and disgusting conditions, with many forced to eat rotten bug infested food and grass, urinate and drink out of the same cup, live in cells overrun by rats, and were even tortured on a normal basis with boulders and batons by security guards. This caused many of the prisoners to catch deadly diseases and fevers. Family visits were also heavily restricted.

Victims of the Massacre by Gadafi

A prisoner protest then took place because of these harsh conditions and food was distributed among the prisoners by other prisoners. The guards then opened fire, killing six prisoners and wounding 20. Government negotiators, including Abdullah Senussi, then met with prisoner representatives who asked for improved conditions, care for the sick and trials to be made in order to prove the innocence of these wrongfully convicted prisoners. Senussi did not accept to put prisoners on trial, but he agreed to the other conditions, once the captured guard was released. The prisoners agreed. Hundreds of injured and sick prisoners were told they would receive medical care and were taken away in buses. They were never seen again and their whereabouts are unknown to this day.

The next morning, June 29, many prisoners were rounded up into the courtyards of the central prison, and were shot and killed by gunfire from the rooftops. The survivors of the initial attack were then executed point blank. Eyewitnesses of the massacre recall hearing nonstop gunfire for a whole two hours. The bodies of the victims were burnt, and the bones were grounded up and dumped into the sea.

The Gaddafi regime would deny for years that these killings ever occurred.

2011

Shooting unarmed protestors

When the Arab Spring had reached Libya, thousands of Libyans took to the streets in demand of justice and freedom, as well as free and fair elections to take place. Government troops alongside mercenaries cracked down violently against them, shooting hundreds of unarmed civilians and even crushing them to death using tanks. Hundreds were killed, including many women and children, and thousands were injured in the eastern cities such as Benghazi, Al-Beida, Derna, and Tobruk. Bodies began piling up on the streets, while hospitals overflowed with many being injured and many on the verge of death, with most of being injured as to gunshot wounds in the head, neck, and chest. Eyewitness accounts spoke of tanks crushing civilians in their path. Ambulances were blocked by government troops from entering the place in order to save the lives of the ones who were shot. The same thing happened when protests erupted in Tripoli in solidarity with Benghazi.

Indiscriminate bombing and shelling of civilian areas

Gaddafi forces were also convicted of shelling towns with heavy weapons on almost every city, killing many civilians including women and children. Houses were constantly bombarded and destroyed by Loyalist troops and even hospitals were repeatedly bombed and targeted. Loyalist troops had reportedly targeted civilian vehicles, with one of the attacks killing a mother with her four children, the oldest being 13.

Benghazi was also a common target for bombing civilian infrastructure, during the Second Battle of Benghazi, multiple civilian houses were airstriked and destroyed. Constant shelling of civilian homes kill dozens of people, including many children.

In Yafran, Gaddafi forces had launched many attacks targeting civilian infrastructure using grad rockets, tanks, and fighter jets. Patients and doctors in Yafran were forced to flee hospitals due to the mass bombing and shelling against. Al-Qalaa had also faced harsh shelling and destruction by loyalists, killing many women and children.

Misrata faced a 4-month siege by Pro-Gaddafi forces alongside mercenaries. Hundreds of civilians were murdered by the bombing and shelling of homes and bakeries. Cluster bombs were even used to destroy civilian infrastructure and hundreds of rockets were launched on various neighbourhoods in the city. This constant shelling of houses and various buildings lasted for months until Misrata was liberated by rebel forces.

Rape of women

During the war, Gaddafis forces were accused of rape and sexual torture of hundreds of women and children. Many of these women were stripped naked, raped, and then killed in front of their male relatives.

Captured mercenaries admitted that they were forced by officers to enter homes, tie up and shoot the males, and rape the women and girls alongside Pro-Gaddafi forces. "The girls said nothing, they were tired and they were in bad shape because there were 20 officers before us. It happened in the morning, and lasted about an hour and a half. The officers brought in a music system and listened to pop music, and smoked and danced during the rapes. I want to emphasize that the officers forced us to rape" said one of the captured mercenaries.

Libyan psychologist Siham Sergewa conducted various interviews, showing visual proof of how sexual torture was used against Libyan women. Her findings included disturbing images of abuse, such as cigarette burns, bite marks, and bruises. Sergewa began investigating after hearing reports from displaced women in Ajdabiya. She conducted a mental health survey among refugees on the Libyan borders with Tunisia and Egypt, receiving 50,000 responses. Out of these, 295 women reported being raped, all attributing the assaults to Gaddafi's soldiers. These women described horrific experiences, including gang rapes and being raped in front of their husbands, who were then killed. Sergewa shared her research with the International Criminal Court.