Libyan Rebels Accused of Pillage and Beatings
\nBryan Denton for The New York Times
\nPublished: July 12, 2011<\/p>\n
ZINTAN, Libya \u2014 Rebels in the mountains in Libya\u2019s west have looted and damaged four towns seized since last month from the forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, part of a series of abuses and apparent reprisals against suspected loyalists that have chased residents of these towns away, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The looting included many businesses and at least two medical centers that, like the towns, are now deserted and bare.<\/p>\n
Rebel fighters also beat people suspected of being loyalists and burned their homes, the organization said.<\/p>\n
The towns that have suffered the abuses are Qawalish, which rebels seized last week, Awaniya, Rayaniyah and Zawiyat al-Bagul, which fell to the rebels last month. Some of the abuses, Human Rights Watch said, were directed against members of the Mashaashia tribe, which has long supported Colonel Qaddafi.<\/p>\n
The organization\u2019s findings come as support for the war has waned in Europe and in Washington, where Republicans and Democrats alike have questioned American participation on budgetary and legal grounds.<\/p>\n
They also raise the prospect that the NATO-backed rebel advances, which have stalled or slowed to a crawl, risk being accompanied by further retaliatory crimes that could inflame tribal or factional grievances, endangering the civilians that NATO was mandated to protect. …more<\/a><\/p>\n