Tuesday, February 22, 2011

"The Libyan population is willing to risk his life to see its claims success"

Jean-Marie Fardeau, director of the Paris office of the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW), highlights the difficulties in collecting information in Libya and worries of even higher casualties, following the increasing violence. The figure of 233 deaths is the precise number of bodies whose names have been identified in the morgue.

This information shall consist of a collection of meticulous work of our informants on the spot, HRW does not have an office in Libya because of the risks that entails. Someone from our office in Cairo is in contact with hospital officials and activists in Libya. These are mostly from opponents whose families were slaughtered in Benghazi in the Abu Salim prison in Tripoli in 1996.

These opponents, who have since become the spearheads of the current dispute Jamahiriya, help us to realize the situation there. The collection of information is very difficult. Libya Internet connection is cut off since Friday, so the communication is done by phone or SMS but it is very erratic.

In contrast to Tunisia and Egypt, we are unable to make us in hospitals and so we depend on people who have the courage to take their mobile phones at risk of being arrested. In the country, people have disappeared three days ago, after posting a message on Facebook to rally support. We can not ascertain the number of casualties since the violence began, so we restricted ourselves to give the number of fatalities.

Unreliable sources suggest 900 to 1,000 injured, a number impossible to verify at the moment. We have no information about the city of Tripoli, as the troubles really began Sunday in the capital [according to Al-Jazeera, about sixty people have been killed since Sunday in Tripoli]. But there is concern that there is a growing number of casualties after the shooting that night.

We should know more in the day. It takes a most disturbing twist. Of further bloodshed can be expected after the speech until endian Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, a son of Libyan leader who has announced that the regime would maintain order in the next few days. Another worrying sign, we know with certainty that the security forces used automatic weapons on peaceful demonstrations.

Shots were recorded for public buildings, including the Katiba, the residence of Colonel Gaddafi. The army opened fire from hidden positions where it is safe. It targets the upper body of the demonstrators and not the legs. The novelty in this uprising is the fact that this time, Libyans took to the streets after the crackdown in Benghazi.

People are willing to risk his life to see its social and political demands success. Interview by Emily Cailleau

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