This week, we saw a true reign of terror end in Libya. Muammar Gaddafi ruled the country for the past 42 years, the longest serving leader in the Arab and African world. He made many enemies at many different turns – when he attempted to acquire weapons of mass destruction, when he took responsibility of the bombing of the Pan Am plane that exploded over Lockerbie, when he reportedly ordered his soldiers to rape women, when numerous Libyan citizens were killed by security forces, the public, often televised executions under his reign – well, the list goes on and on. Eventually, the International Criminal Court (ICC) brought charges against Gaddafi and his sons for crimes against humanity.
But, that all ended this past week when Gaddafi and his son Mutassim were killed while on the run from revolutionary fighters. You probably saw images of a barely alive Gaddafi with an obvious head wound stumbling while the crowd gathered around him. An autopsy released yesterday showed that Gaddafi died of a gunshot to the head. What was not known was whether this came from crossfire shooting which erupted between the revolutionary fighters and Gaddafi loyalists or a shooting at close range.
People have been turning up in droves to see the dictator’s dead body, maybe just to confirm that it was actually him who was dead. After all, Gaddafi had been known to use body doubles.
This might lead you to think everyone was glad Gaddafi was dead, but that isn’t true. Gaddafi used some of his money to fund other impoverished African countries.
And another agency, while maybe not mourning his death, is questioning it. Many human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, want an investigation into Gaddafi’s last moments alive. It appears Gaddafi was captured alive, but how did he die? Human Rights Watch doesn’t feel that Gaddafi was killed by crossfire, but possibly was executed by the fighters.
Human Rights Watch emergencies director Peter Bouckaert told CNN that he believes the dictator fell victim to mob justice and was beaten before being executed.
I agree that the photos and videos released of the capture were disturbing, but should an investigation be held? Do you believe in social justice for some and not for all? Does a dictator who was hated by so many deserve basic human rights upon capture?