A UN panel charged with investigating the ongoing civil war in Libya found that both the government forces and the rebel factions committed “acts which would constitute war crimes. The panel added that the government’s forces committed some acts which would be considered “crimes against humanity.”
The panel provided an estimate that somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 people have been killed in the civil war. They said they were unable to investigate the charges of civilian killings in NATO air strikes, citing lack of data related to the thousands of strikes.
The war began in February but has largely stalemated since early April, with neither side able to take significant territory from the other. NATO’s commitment has likewise done little to change the situation on the ground, except to provide the rebels with an incentive to refuse international efforts for a ceasefire.
The report comes just a day after a seperate UN official reported that stockpiles of food and medicine are dwindling within Western Libya, the portion still under control of the Gadhafi regime. They expressed concern that the continuation of the war could create a considerable humanitarian crisis.
"They said they were unable to investigate the charges of civilian killings in NATO air strikes, citing lack of data related to the thousands of strikes". these people must be kidding.., lack of data from where.., NATO data.., are you stupid or a puppet.., off course NATO is not going to provide you with any data.., but you can look at their history from Yugoslavian war to Afghanistan and then Iraq and now Libya. NATO and US militarism regimes targeting civilians telling them that we are here to kill you not because of what you are but to show you that we can.., they have done that since the Vietnam war.., and now these idiots questioning the fact. UN what UN.., Hoonky Moon you better start calling it NATO head quarter with a big SS on the front door to your office.
I am sure both sides committed war crimes. But, the Geneva Convention allows for reprisal killings of civilian population areas. The media wants to focus on some incidents of war crimes for a few thousand killed overall in a civil war, but the Iraq war has been one on-going 10-year war crime.
When the mainstream media gets the log out of its eye then maybe it can worry about the splinter in the eye of someone else.
Sorry Joe, – You are quite wrong. The Geneva Conventions of 1929 were applicable to conduct of military belligerents only, but you might check the updated (at the end of WWII) version available at ICRC.ORG.
"Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949.
Art. 4. Persons protected by the Convention are those who, at a given moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict or Occupying Power of which they are not nationals.
Art. 33. No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.
Pillage is prohibited.
Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited."
Of course these are all legalese, but it is comforting to know that certain governments at one time were at least amenable to talking about atrocity. Of course if one is a regular reader at Antiwar he probably realizes that every war action is an atrocity and war destroys most everything respectable about all participants.
Ah ha! So that would be the way in which they justify a full occupation and the persecution…errr…I mean prosecution of anyone that opposes them. Brilliant!
What they don’t tell you is that Gaddafi was voted President of the African Union. Gaddafi started RASCOM to put up a commercial telecommunications satellite for 1/10th the price the US demanded. He paid off African loans to stop seizure of assets by the IMF. He built a 25-year and $21 billion dollar aquifer to turn Libya into the food producer for Africa. He started the African Investment Fund and was establishing and African Central Bank. This is why they want him dead. It is an imperialist war.
NATO’s War on Africa http://beforeitsnews.com/story/690/459/NATOs_War_…