The tribal warfare in Yemen and Libya and the sectarian tensions in Syria (between the ruling minority Alawites and the Sunni majority) and in Bahrain (between the ruling minority Sunnis and the Shiite majority) have less to do with promoting the cause of liberal democracy and more with the struggle for power between identity groups, not unlike what is taking place in Iraq (between Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds). http://venitism.blogspot.com
Greeks, Turks, and Britons have influenced the culture of Middle East for many centuries. Now there are many political transitions in the Middle East. Everybody recognizes this is a pivotal moment in the Middle East and North Africa. Hillary Clinton asserts the Arab Spring is an event comparable to the fall of the Ottoman Empire or the decolonization of the Middle East following the Second World War.
Members of the Khamis Brigade, a powerful Gaddafi military force run by Muammar Gaddafi's son Khamis, appear to have summarily executed detainees in a warehouse near Tripoli on August 23, 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. Within three days the same warehouse was set on fire but the cause is unknown, Human Rights Watch said.
Historians will long be debating these momentous developments. The ability of the West to shape the events in the Middle East is limited. The time has come for Arabs to start writing their own narratives. It might get ugly and end up being not the kind of narrative that Westerners like. But it will still be their own narrative. http://venitism.blogspot.com
Human Rights Watch inspected the charred skeletal remains of approximately 45 bodies, still smoldering, on August 27. The remains were spread throughout a warehouse in the Khalida Ferjan neighborhood in Salahaddin, south of Tripoli, adjoining the Yarmouk Military Base. At least two additional corpses were seen lying outside, unburned.
"Sadly this is not the first gruesome report of what appears to be the summary execution of detainees in the final days of the Gaddafi government's control of Tripoli," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "These merciless murders took place in the midst of Ramadan and those responsible should be brought to justice and punished."
The future of the Middle East will be written by its own people, not by any foreign power. We should stand with those in the region who call for peaceful, democratic transitions, for tolerance and pluralism. Western policy approach should be both pragmatic and in keeping with Graecoroman principles, values, and interests. http://venitism.blogspot.com
Human Rights Watch interviewed a survivor who said that guards at the warehouse, used as a prison, read out 153 names of detainees in the roll call the day of the killings. He estimated that 20 escaped from the attack and said that around 125 of the 153 detainees were civilians. Human Rights Watch observed that one building in the compound had spray-painted on it "32nd Brigade," which is part of the Khamis Brigades.
The Arab Spring consists of a mishmash of anti-government demonstrations triggered in most cases by police over-reaction and fuelled by economic hard times (Tunisia and Egypt), ethnic and religious tensions (Syria and Bahrain), tribal rivalries (Libya and Yemen), and by growing public perception that Planetarch Uncle Sam is tired of the Middle East.
Human Rights Watch spoke with one man who said he survived the shooting and grenade attack. Human Rights Watch also spoke to three others: one man who said he was detained in the warehouse until about August 10, a neighbor who heard the shooting and grenade explosions on August 23, and a National Transitional Council (NTC) fighter who discovered the remains on August 26, when the NTC forces first entered the area. Both detainees said they were civilians accused of supporting the rebels, and that no charges had been brought against them.
Our response to the upheaval in the Middle East has been rooted in a consistent set of principles: We have opposed the use of violence against peaceful protesters and supported the universal rights of free expression, assembly, and association and the right to participate in the affairs of the state. We have strongly condemned, including in multilateral forums, the killing, torture, and abuse of peaceful protestors. We have made clear our view that people's legitimate demands and aspirations must be met by positive engagement from governments, in the form of meaningful political and economic reforms.
The survivor, Abdulrahim Ibrahim Bashir, 25, said that at sunset on August 23 guards of the Khamis Brigade opened fire on him and the other detainees from the roof, shooting through the roof's tin sheeting, while another guard threw grenades in from the entrance. He survived by escaping over a wall while the guards were reloading their weapons.
Abdulrahim and the man detained earlier at the warehouse, Moiayad Abu Ghraim, 28, who was interviewed separately by Human Rights Watch, said that the commander overseeing the warehouse was Muhammad Mansour of the Khamis Brigade. Neither of them had ever seen him. http://venitism.blogspot.com
Abdulrahim said that Khamis Brigade members had held him in the warehouse for three months. The forces that detained him in his hometown of Ghadamis accused him of being "one of the revolutionaries." He escaped his detention in the warehouse unharmed together with Abdulsalam and Hussain, last name unknown, who were brothers from Zlitan. The brothers were wounded after the guards began firing on them. Hussain later died.
We are keeping a close eye on religious minorities, who are often even more vulnerable to violence and abuse during such tumultuous times, and who rightly view religious freedom as part and parcel of the universal rights democracy promises. We are also concerned with ensuring that democratic change, where it comes, is inclusive – that means that women have an equal voice at the bargaining table and minorities are fairly represented. http://venitism.blogspot.com
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