24 rights groups urge US and EU to confront Libyan massacres

PRESS RELEASE

24 rights groups urge US and EU to confront Libyan massacres
in UN Security Council and Human Rights Council

NGOs demand Libya's suspension from UNHRC; UN Watch calls
for urgent dispatch of medical supplies to hospitals

For Immediate Release
Contact: media1@unwatch.org

GENEVA, February 20, 2010 - An international coalition of 24 rights groups urged world powers to convene the UN Security Council and the Human Rights Council to protect Libyan civilians from government killings, in a letter sent today to the U.S., the EU and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. (See full text below)

Signatories include the U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy and Physicians for Human Rights, the Geneva-based UN Watch, and 21 other groups from Switzerland, India, Liberia, Italy, Nigeria, Germany, Sudan, Venezuela, Somalia, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.

The letter asserts that the widespread atrocities committed by Libya against its own people are "particularly odious" actions that amount to war crimes, requiring member states to take action through the Security Council under the responsibility to protect doctrine.

The appeal also calls for an emergency session of the Human Rights Council, in which Libya's membership on that body would be suspended, and an international inquiry team dispatched to he country.

"The muted response of the US and the EU to the Libyan atrocities is not only a let-down to the many Libyans risking their lives for freedom, but a shirking of their obligations, as members of the Security Council and the Human Rights Council, to protect peace and human rights, and to prevent war crimes," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, and an international lawyer who represents Libyan torture victims.

"Baroness Ashton's call today for Libyan forces to exercise 'restraint' is entirely inappropriate. We're dealing with the deliberate murder and massacre of hundreds of peaceful protesters. By signaling diplomatic caution in the face of a bloodbath -- instead of urgency and action -- the EU is failing the victims. It's time for basic human rights to come before oil," said Neuer.

"The EU should also urge the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to send urgently-needed medical supplies into Libya, particularly for hospitals in Benghazi. Ashton should attempt to visit Libya after her trip to Cairo tomorrow." Exiled Libyans in Cairo and members of Egypt's Doctors Syndicate have sent urgent medical supplies to Libya, but the international community needs to step in, said Neuer.

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Urgent Appeal to Stop Atrocities in Libya

Sent by 23 NGOs to US President Obama, EU High Representative Catherine Ashton,
and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, 20 February 2011

We, the undersigned non-governmental, human rights, and humanitarian organizations, urge you to mobilize the United Nations and the international community and take immediate action to halt the mass atrocities now being perpetrated by the Libyan government against its own people. The inexcusable silence cannot continue.

As you know, in the past several days, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi’s forces are estimated to have deliberately killed hundreds of peaceful protesters and innocent bystanders across the country. In the city of Benghazi alone, one doctor reported seeing at least 200 dead bodies. Witnesses report that a mixture of special commandos, foreign mercenaries and regime loyalists have attacked demonstrators with knives, assault rifles and heavy-caliber weapons.

Snipers are shooting peaceful protesters. Artillery and helicopter gunships have been used against crowds of demonstrators. Thugs armed with hammers and swords attacked families in their homes. Hospital officials report numerous victims shot in the head and chest, and one struck on the head by an anti-aircraft missile. Tanks are reported to be on the streets and crushing innocent bystanders. Witnesses report that mercenaries are shooting indiscriminately from helicopters and from the top of roofs. Women and children were seen jumping off Giuliana Bridge in Benghazi to escape. Many of them were killed by the impact of hitting the water, while others were drowned. The Libyan regime is seeking to hide all of these crimes by shutting off contact with the outside world. Foreign journalists have been refused entry. Internet and phone lines have been cut or disrupted.

There is no question here about intent. The government media has published open threats, promising that demonstrators would meet a “violent and thunderous response.”

Accordingly, the government of Libya is committing gross and systematic violations of the right to life as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Citizens seeking to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are being massacred by the government.

Moreover, the government of Libya is committing crimes against humanity, as defined by the Explanatory Memorandum to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The Libyan government’s mass killing of innocent civilians amount to particularly odious offences which constitute a serious attack on human dignity. As confirmed by numerous oral and video testimonies gathered by human rights organizations and news agencies, the Libyan government’s assault on its civilian population are not isolated or sporadic events. Rather, these actions constitute a widespread and systematic policy and practice of atrocities, intentionally committed, including murder, political persecution and other inhumane acts which reach the threshold of crimes against humanity.

Under the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document, you have a clear and unambiguous responsibility to protect the people of Libya. The international community, through the United Nations, has the responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, in accordance with Chapters VI and VIII of the Charter, to help to protect the Libyan population. Because the Libyan national authorities are manifestly failing to protect their population from crimes against humanity, should peaceful means be inadequate, member states are obliged to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, through the Security Council, in accordance with the UN Charter, including Chapter VII.

In addition, we urge you to convene an emergency Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council, whose members have a duty, under UNGA Resolution 60/251, to address situations of gross and systematic violations of violations of human rights. The session should:

• Suspend Libya’s Council membership, pursuant to Article 8 of Resolution 60/251, which applies to member states that commit gross and systematic violations of human rights.
•
• Strongly condemn, and demand an immediate end to, Libya’s massacre of its own citizens.
•
• Dispatch immediately an international mission of independent experts to collect relevant facts and document violations of international human rights law and crimes against humanity, in order to end the impunity of the Libyan government. The mission should include an independent medical investigation into the deaths, and an investigation of the unlawful interference by the Libyan government with the access to and treatment of wounded.
•
• Call on the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights and the Council’s relevant Special Procedures to closely monitor the situation and take action as needed.
•
• Call on the Council to remain seized of the matter and address the Libyan situation at its upcoming 16th regular session in March.
•
Member states and high officials of the United Nations have a responsibility to protect the people of Libya from what are preventable crimes. We urge you to use all available measures and levers to end atrocities throughout the country.

We urge you to send a clear message that, collectively, the international community, the Security Council and the Human Rights Council will not be bystanders to these mass atrocities. The credibility of the United Nations -- and many innocent lives -- are at stake.

Sincerely,

1. Hillel C. Neuer, United Nations Watch, Switzerland
2. Dr. Sliman Bouchuiguir, Libyan League for Human Rights, USA
3. Bhawani Shanker Kusum, Gram Bharati Samiti, India
4. Carl Gershman, President, The National Endowment for Democracy, USA
5. G. Jasper Cummeh, III, Actions for Genuine Democratic Alternatives, Liberia
6. A. Frank Donaghue, Physicians for Human Rights, USA
7. Michel Monod, International Fellowship of Reconciliation, Switzerland
8. Esohe Aghatise, Associazione Iroko Onlus, Italy
9. Harris O. Schoenberg, UN Reform Advocates, USA
10. Myrna Lachenal, World Federation for Mental Health, Switzerland
11. Nguyên Lê Nhân Quyên, Vietnamese League for Human Rights, Switzerland
12. Sylvia G. Iriondo, Mothers and Women against Repression (M.A.R. Por Cuba), USA
13. David Littman, World Union for Progressive Judaism, Switzerland
14. Barrister Festus Okoye, Executive Director, Human Rights Monitor, Nigeria
15. Theodor Rathgeber, Forum Human Rights, Germany
16. Derik Uya Alfred, Kwoto Cultural Center, Juba - Southern Sudan
17. Carlos E Tinoco, Consorcio Desarrollo y Justicia, A.C., Venezuela
18. Abdurashid Abdulle Abikar, Center for Youth and Democracy, Somalia
19. Dr. Vanee Meisinger, Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women's Association, Thailand
20. Simone Abel, René Cassin, United Kingdom
21. Dr. Francois Ullmann, Ingenieurs du Monde, Switzerland
22. Sr Catherine Waters, Catholic International Education Office, USA
23. Gibreil Hamid, Darfur Peace and Development Centre, Switzerland
24. Nino Sergi, INTERSOS - Humanitarian Aid Organization, Itay

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