Eman Flashback/Mass Rape Charges in a Nutshell

July 18, 2011

Below are the comments I just posted at an old Daily Beast (Newsweek-affiliated) article.
Alleged Libyan Rape Victim Speaks. Eliza Griswold, March 30, 2011. What got me set off to spout off was the title suggested by the URL (the original one, I presume): "Emad al Obeidi sued for being raped in libya."

Otherwise, it's not especially bad, and reads like just about everything else written upon the outside world's first blush with Iman al-Obeidi. This one came just four days after the Libyan dissident burst into the one spot in Tripoli where Western journalists were clustered at that moment, the Rixos hotel in Tripoli, and announced that the Libyan government they were all active against had in fact ordered her raped brutally for days, for supporting the rebellion. She named some of the men involved, recognizing one as a relative of a government official.

For reference or just in case, I'll re-post my comments here:

Three and a half months later, sure I'll provide the first comment.

As the intro states, Ms. al-Obeidi is "the woman who ACCUSED Gaddafi’s soldiers of rape to a hotel-full of journalists," and ones inclined to believe the rope marks on her ankles, but no one noticed any on her wrists. Her wardrobe, stunning for just escaping such torture. Her timing and instinct taking her tale straight to the Rixos? Professional.

The tile here is fine, but the URL (original title) is wrong. emad-al-obeidi-sued-for-being-raped-in-libya. I believe the suit specifies the crime is LIYING about being raped. She wasn't shot dead to silence her, she was sued for libel.

But she was sneaked off before the trial could decide whether or not she was a fraud. Shuttled to rebel-supporting, Moussa Koussa-hosting Qatar, then for some reason flown by them back to Benghazi, with everyone predicting Gaddafi would try to kill her there with sleeper cells. But she was beaten up again! Not raped, but bruised and cuffed by Qatari aythorities this time, she said.

From Benghazi the drama queen was sent with he father to quietly disappear in Romania. Now the strange saga will be allowed to die - she got out the same way she got in, it seems.

Thanks for covering the first part of that, if a bit selectively.

Follow-up:

ETA: "Tile" should be "title," and I meant to note Emad (from the url/original title), in Arabic, is a man's name. That's why hers is Iman or Eman. Other typos, sorry. Will do better next time.

Also:

"It’s too early to know for sure if rape is being used as a crime of war in Libya, but anecdotes ranging from Eman Al-Obeidi’s to that of two male doctors hundreds of miles away indicate that such a crime may already be under way. "

The idea took off in the meantime, becoming a major theme, with erectile dysfunction medicine, children, African mercenaries, rape parties with alcohol and dancing, all kinds of perversions alleged. None of it panned out evidence-wise. All experts who've gone and really looked found the claims unproven at best, downright stupid at worst.

Nonetheless, Gaddafi, his son, and a top aide are still wanted by the ICC, in part, for their role in ordering mass rapes.

It's awesome when the first comment(s) can slay the original article, even if it takes them nearly four months to do it.