Gadhafi’s son accused of war crimes, mass killing in Libya

Story from The Takeaway. Listen to audio above for full report.

On August 23, dozens of people were killed near a small farm outside of Tripoli in Libya. “When the bodies were first discovered, it was very difficult to tell what had happened,” recounts Peter Bouchard of Human Rights Watch, “because the bodies were burnt beyond recognition.”

Bouchard says that at least 45 bodies have been discovered in the site, many others were detained there, and others were killed and moved to a different location. Bouchard says, “This was also an execution site over several days — officers who refused to obey orders were brought here and executed and their bodies were taken away.”

According to Mustafa El Hitri, a lawyer who witnessed the incident, the killing took place last Tuesday, August 23 under the personal supervision of Kamis Gadhafi, son of Muammar Gadhafi.

“They used to beat them up,” El Hitri says. “They used to swear at them. They used to release dogs at them.” He says he personally witness some 150 people being killed. He says that he survived only because he hid under the bodies of other dead.

Now the search to figure out what happened has begun. Some believe that more evidence of more atrocities will soon come out. “We are investigating these incidents as war crimes,” says Bouchard. “It should be investigated by the International Criminal Court. We have asked all the witnesses if they would be willing to testify at the International Criminal Court. And whether we can share their contact information with the International Criminal Court, so we certainly will push for accountability for these very serious crimes.”

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