http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/libya-rape-claims-hysteria-investigator/story-fn3dxity-1226072781882
Libya rape claims 'hysteria' - investigator
From correspondents in Geneva
From: AFP
June 10, 2011 8:11AM
A UN human rights investigator has cast doubts over claims by the chief ICC prosecutor of evidence that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had ordered mass rapes.
The International Criminal Court's Luis Moreno-Ocampo had said today that there was evidence the Libyan authorities bought "Viagra-type" medicines and gave them to troops as part of the official rape policy.
But Cherif Bassiouni, who is leading a UN rights inquiry into the situation in Libya, suggested that the claim was part of a "massive hysteria".
Mr Bassiouni told journalists that he had heard those claims when he visited rebel-held eastern Libya.
But when he went to Tripoli, "the same story comes up".
"This time it's the government people telling us, 'you know what? The opponents have a policy of rape, we have discovered that they are giving out contraceptives and Viagra pills'," he recounted.
"So I told them, 'this is exactly what the other side told us'," he added.
"What it is, at least my interpretation of it is, when the information spread out, the society felt so vulnerable... it has created a massive hysteria," said Mr Bassiouni.
The investigator also cited the case of a woman who claimed to have sent out 70,000 questionnaires and received 60,000 responses, of which 259 reported sexual abuse.
However, when the investigators asked for these questionnaires, they never received them.
"But she's going around the world telling everybody about it ... so now she got that information to Ocampo and Ocampo is convinced that here we have a potential 259 women who have responded to the fact that they have been sexually abused," Mr Bassiouni said.
He also pointed out that it did not appear to be credible that the woman was able to send out 70,000 questionnaires in March when the postal service was not functioning.
Nevertheless, the investigator said his team will examine the claims.
"We're going to go back and we're going to look at it," he said.
For the moment, the team has only heard of three cases.
"We've not investigated these cases, we hope to be able to investigate them. These would be in the midst of a military operation, a field operation. These would clearly be a war crime," he added.
"For the moment the numbers are very limited, but they've had a tremendous socio-psychological impact on society. Everybody's talking about it. That's where we're at," said the investigator.
----- Original Message -----
From: kmjp47@indosat.net.id
To: wanita-muslimah@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2011 8:45 PM
Subject: [wanita-muslimah] FYI tentang Muammar Ghaddafi
Prosecutor says Gaddafi linked to rape policy
By REUTERS
06/09/2011 11:31
Libyan leader suspected of providing troops with Viagra as a part of rape policy in attempt to
crush rebellion.
Talkbacks (1)
UNITED NATIONS - International Criminal Court investigators have evidence linking Libyan leader
Muammar Gaddafi to a policy of raping opponents and may bring separate charges on the issue, the
ICC prosecutor said on Wednesday.
Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo requested arrest warrants on May 16 against Gaddafi, his son Saif al-
Islam and the country's spy chief on charges of crimes against humanity committed during attempts
to crush the country's rebellion.
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ICC judges are considering Moreno-Ocampo's request, but the prosecutor said that after their
decision, he might present new charges of mass rape.
The rape allegation is not new. It was raised in the UN Security Council in April by US Ambassador
Susan Rice, who said some of Gaddafi's troops had been issued with the impotency drug Viagra.
Moreno-Ocampo said in an interview with Reuters on May 2 he was investigating the allegation.
At a UN news conference on Wednesday, he said the question until recently had been whether Gaddafi
himself could be associated with the rapes "or is it something that happened in the barracks?"
"But now we are getting some information that Gaddafi himself decided" to authorize the rapes,
"and this is new," Moreno-Ocampo said.
"It never was the pattern he used to control the population. The rape is a new aspect of the
repression," he said. "Apparently, he decided to punish using rapes."
Moreno-Ocampo repeated the allegation of use of impotency drugs, saying his team was finding "some
elements" confirming the purchase of "Viagra type of medicaments." He said there was evidence of
Libya acquiring "containers" of such drugs "to enhance the possibility to rape women."
The prosecutor said it was difficult to know how widespread the rape was but he had received
information there were several hundred victims in some areas.
The UN Security Council referred the violence in Libya to the Hague-based ICC in February.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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