Warning

Warning: This site contains images and graphic descriptions of extreme violence and/or its effects. It's not as bad as it could be, but is meant to be shocking. Readers should be 18+ or a mature 17 or so. There is also some foul language occasionally, and potential for general upsetting of comforting conventional wisdom. Please view with discretion.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

The Tripoli Massacres: PHR Shed Massacre Report

January 2, 2012
lat update Jan. 14


<< The Tripoli Massacres
      << The Khamis Brigade Shed Massacre

I recently discovered this December report, in PDF form, from "Physicians for Human Rights" (PHR), a credible-seeming U.S.-based group sucked in by the rebel stories of the "32nd Brigade Massacre." This is the most serious competitor yet to the exhaustive research I've done, along with contributors, of what I call the "Khamis Brigade shed massacre" (see the link above), the largest and most famous alleged crime of the fleeing Gaddafi regime in the Tripoli area.

The PHR report is a monstrous document in more ways than one. Three case studies of alleged prisoner of the shed behind behind the Yarmouk base are included. All three names (Ali, Mohammad, and Omar) are pseudonyms given for "protection." One, "Ali," was transferred elsewhere (into another bizarre story), all retell heinous and poetically revealing abuse at Yarmouk, and two (Mohammad and Omar) say they escaped the shed massacre itself.

Both of these witnesses corroborate each other on how heroic guard "Mustafa" tried to help them escape but failed. That's neat, but no other witnesses recalled that guy. (El Hitri alone, among the 20 others, cites a different guard, Abdul Razaq, who helped differently and succeeded). But despite their corroborations, even these two witnesses disagree on the incident date. "Mohammad" cites it as happening early evening of August 23 as most do, and "Omar" has it late night on the 22nd. Why PHR didn't notice that or find it significant, I do not  know.

They also interviewed other "key informants" and have a fourth case study of "Laskhar," who claims to be one of the soldiers running the camp,overseeing beatings, torture, executions, and the burning of the bodies. He's also a cousin of one of the detainees, "Ali."

One bad sign, as Petri Krohn noticed in the report's ackowledgments:
PHR expresses its sincere gratitude to Dr. Mohamed Othman and Dr. Salem Al-Fergani for their inestimable support in carrying out this investigation.
"Dr. Salem al-Farjani, also known as Dr. Salim Rajub, has already been exposed as the fabricator of the Khamis Brigade massacre fable," Petri notes. That may be a little strong a diagnosis, but he's clearly at least one fabricator of it among many, and now a rebel government functionary in this area...
Otherwise, for now, I leave open comments for anyone who wants to analyze and critique this important roadblock to truth.
---
Update Jan. 14: Global Post reports the other day “New Libya needs justice and accountability
Opinion: After Gaddafi, Libya must investigate suspected war crimes committed by all sides.
Richard SollomJanuary 12, 2012 13:03

... alleged war criminals from all sides of the recent conflict remain at large, however, and must be brought to justice. Holding these individuals accountable is the most effective way to end impunity and establish the rule of law.
But he only named one such person, the commander of the Yarmouk base, framed by the rebels to give themselves impunity, with the assistance of fakers and easily-duped Human Rights groups.
One whom Libyan authorities should detain and hold accountable is Lt. Col. Mansour, who ordered his troops to kill 153 men in late August.

With a team of forensic experts from Physicians for Human Rights, I investigated this massacre by Gaddafi’s 32nd Brigade soldiers. We interviewed four eyewitness survivors as well as one of the alleged perpetrators, conducted medical evaluations of surviving detainees, and assessed the crime scene using forensic methods. … we provide the first comprehensive forensic account of the massacre and produce evidence of torture, rape, and summary executions of these detainees.
Forensics! They verified that "Mohammed" and "Ali" had injuries, not where they were sustained. That came down to misplaced trust in the men's words.

They found some 9 mm bullets, no real mention (that I noticed) of the gobs of Kalashnikov shells there should be, nor of any study of the hanger for grenade shrapnel and its signs. The bodies were surely gone before they had their look. They missed the surrounding victims, 34 or more, nearly everyone of them a black-skinned man.

They don't know the clues for an early rebel victory there, suggesting almost exactly the given massacre date. They missed the contradicting dates the two escapees gave for that event, missed the contradictions between them and all the others, and that Dr. al-Farjani, likely their primary source throughout, is a proven transparent faker and liar with regards to this very case.

46 comments:

  1. Stefan Schmitt is here in conversation with Jessie Graham of Human Rights Watch,30 September 2011. Schmitt was quoted in the article Libya Counts More Martyrs Than Bodies,Rod Norland, New York Times on 16 September: “The numbers you’re hearing in the press, they’re just basically guesses,” said Stefan Schmitt, a forensic anthropologist with Physicians for Human Rights, who was in Libya recently to advise the authorities on how to handle mass graves. “It’s too early to really know.”
    In the published document, Schmitt says he documented the shed massacre site on 9/10 September 2011. Listen too to Fred Abrahams.

    Here's Dr Hani Mowafi from Boston.
    Mowafi also belongs to the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and examined "Ali" and "Mohammad" around the same time. (notice "Ali stated he was not given any medical treatment, and he treated his own wounds by pressing
    barley chaff from the floor of the agricultural co-op into his wounds to dry them out")


    Mowafi doesn't leave much internet trace...
    Boston Medical Centre Department of Emergency Medicine
    Director, Global Health Section, hani.mowafi@bmc.org, residency Virginia Commonwealth University Class of 2005.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Notice the use of the phrases agricultural co-op and agricultural compound to describe the yard in the PHR report. Where have we heard this phrase before?? Why, here: A British diplomatic team, including six soldiers believed to be SAS, have been freed two days after being detained in eastern Libya.

    They were held after going to an agricultural compound when Libyan security guards found they were carrying arms, ammunition, explosives, maps and passports from at least four different nationalities, witnesses told the BBC.

    (6 March 2011)

    What else happened at that time? It was when Chris Cobb-Smith was apprehended along with the two reporters.(they were initially taken to the Khamis base at the 27th Kilometer mark, west of Tripoli) - (7 March 2011) and, allegedly, the compound at Khilet al-Ferjan.
    A perceptive blogger and journalist, Christopher Dickey has noticed a discrepancy in the transcripts regarding the mock executions that Cobb-Smith and his accomplices were said to have undergone.

    It is Clemens Höges for Der Spiegel who describes the use for the shed:
    "Before the war, it was used by the local agricultural cooperative. But now it is a place of horror..." . Nobody else used the term.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The most valuable part of the report may be the few outside photographs of the compound. All the cars and vehicles that are shown are in exactly the same positions as they are in the August 20th satellite image, including the two front loaders. The time of day is around 10 am. There are no people seen in the outside photos, nor any of the rebel cars that crowded the place on the 27th and 28th.

    The report also shows photos of the burnt bodies in the shed – i.e. before they were removed on August 28th. Are these two sets of photos taken by the same photographer on the same day?

    Were these photos taken when the team visited Libya on September 9th? Or is this the undisturbed crime scene in the morning of August 27th? If so, who took the photos?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hmmm... If I were a rebel propaganda team setting up the cover-story, I'dtake some crime scene photos. Best guess at a single person who'd take these - Dr. al Farjani.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I extracted the images from the PDF file using these tools and instructions for Linux (Mac tips)

    I then used Google Image Search to see if any of the images had been published elsewhere. Google had not seen them before. The only eception is the cover image, attributed to Benjamin Lowy/Getty Images and published here in a higher resolution.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The photos attached to the pdf are obviously some kind of non-professional digital camera uploads from the numbering sequence. Perhaps by Salim? Would be interesting to see the time stamp on them. Might be worthwhile comparing with the Alex Thomson footage which is among the best for 360 degree views. (time of AT's Channel 4 visit Petri?)

    ReplyDelete
  7. The wellcare of the :

    http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/issues/mass-atrocities/war-crimes-in-libya/libya-conflict-timeline.html
    Libya Conflict Timeline

    active from the beginning of the civil war.
    any idea of sponsoring?

    ReplyDelete
  8. The cover image, attributed to Benjamin Lowy/Getty Images shows the same two men as this photo from August 27th by Ron Haviv/VII:
    http://viiphoto.wg.picturemaxx.com/id/00109194

    The photos are taken only a few seconds apart. The time of day can be seen from the streak of light, it is about 4:30 pm. solar time.

    ReplyDelete
  9. thanks, Petri - Lowy also took this compound photo - navigate to other Fall of Tripoli pictures, though these two are the only ones of the Khamis compound, afaics.
    Title: Grief stricken relatives and survivors of a Gaddafi loyalist massacre openly weep at the site where at least 50 burnt bodies were discovered in a construction shed near the base for the infamous Khamis brigade

    ReplyDelete
  10. Just found a YouTube video of an interview for ABC Australia on 29 August, given by HRW's Omar al-Issawi: Brutal prisoner executions uncovered in Libya where the familiar Khamis shed mantra is trotted out along with other familiar threads. Some footage of the Khamis shed from 0.44 to 1.18 involving Red Cross and Red Crescent at the compound.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Good Lowy photo, implications elsewhere

    ReplyDelete
  12. I had to turn Javascript of to be able to navigate the Benjamin Lowy site. This link goes directly to the Fall of Tripoli photo set:
    The Fall of Tripoli
    May even work with Javascript on.

    It is interesting how Benjamin Lowy of Getty Images and Ron Haviv of VII Photo have almost the same images in their sets.

    Here is one image of a dead rebel:
    image-Libya_Tripoli_0014
    The body of a Libyan rebel lies on the floor of a cramped stairwell after being shot by a Gaddafi loyalist sniper.

    The same scene by Ron Haviv:
    Image number: 00109121
    A rebel fighter is seen moments after being killed in Tripoli, Libya, Aug. 25, 2011.

    Here is one image of some "African mercenary" executed on a rebel roadblock on the Second Ring Road.
    image-Libya_Tripoli_0016
    The body of a dead Libyan, the victim of a sniper, lies covered in lime on a traffic overpass in Tripoli.

    The same scene by Ron Haviv:
    Image number: 00110243
    Dead bodies are covered in lime powder before they are picked up from the street in Tripoli, Libya, Aug. 26, 2011.

    The implication is that Benjamin Lowy and Ron Haviv were working or traveling together, possibly "taken on a tour" by rebel media controllers.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The notable feature about the report is not the evidence presented but the total lack of physical evidence of a massacre happening on the Khamis Brigade shed site, or of it ever being used as a prison.

    It is claimed that guards threw 7 hand grenades into the shed, and fired hundreds of rounds into the shed. (Several guards "stepped back" to reload their Kalashnikovs after emptying their 30 round magazines.)

    There should be hundreds of pieces of shrapnel and hundreds of bullets on the shed floor. An equal number of 7.62×39mm casings should be found in the sand outside the shed. None of this evidence is presented. As if to underline this point the one 9mm casing from a Glock pistol is shown:

    Picture 9. One 9mm cartridge casing with a percussion impression, consistent with having been discharged from a Glock pistol, was documented on the ground immediately outside of the warehouse entrance door on 9 September 2011. (PHR Forensic Crime Scene Report, photo DSC_684, supra note 2)

    For all we know, this could be the very round used by Khamis Gaddafi to shoot himself after the fall of Tripoli – using number six of his nine lives. It is not one of those 100+ Kalashnikov rounds.

    ***

    I have always suspected the massacre never happened, the "victims" were killed elsewhere, and the bodies bought to the shed for disposal, and to lay the blame on "Gaddafi." Originally I thought these were Black genocide victims, killed in downtown Tripoli.

    The new information on the dead loyalist in the "fridge" wan and the prison transport truck brings fourth another possibility. Given the evidence I am now starting to favor the following hypothesis:

    The Khamis Brigade shed was a loyalist morgue.

    The burning of the bodies poses a mystery. It is possible, that rebels burnt the bodies to create "evidence" for a fake massacre. It may also be that the bodies were burnt for hygiene. In the last hours of the regime there was no time to bury the bodies. The decaying bodies posed a health hazard. Either side could have burnt them.

    I still believe the black victims outside the shed were murdered on the spot – by NATO rebels.

    ReplyDelete
  14. @ Petri: A loyalist morgue, hmmm... A good thought, but I suspect they'd lay the bodies in nicer if so. I'm starting a post soon on the bodies inside the shed.There are some around the sides hinting at on-site executions (and I'll look for any shells I see). Otherwise, I'm seeing blasted dead tossed off a truck, burned to erase identities mostly and make room for yet another loyalist atrocity story (while also erasing signs of a rebel crime).

    On the lack of Kalashnikov shells, it hasn't been proven there weren't any, but it's true we haven't seen any large amount of them, at least. They shot holes in the door and roof at least, so I imagine there are some, but enough?

    9mm shell(s): the PHR report makes much of these, but the witnesses differ. Laskhar says he fired those after the massacre to finish people off, and Mohammad, IIRC, says it was the first thing fired against some Misarata guys just before the massacre really started.

    Clearly Laskhar is lying, as all loyalist captives like Nisreen do (but only about their own evil role, never about the plot itself-rebels are incapable of pressuring people to admit things they didn't do)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Holy crap! Moreno-Ocampo had initially hedged his bets on this:
    Aug 29: Might apply for Khamis'arrest, following the first shed massacre news, but "Khamis was the commander of the brigade that was more active on some of the crimes," and "We will see because the Libyans are willing to investigate some cases themselves. We will see what happens."
    Three months later, looking into Gaddafi's death, he gets the Moon treatment, a Dr. Salem tour of the place, a meeting with maybe 47 escapees. Wow,how could the man possibly NOT be fully convinced that... whatever, Khamis is dead for good this time (maybe not but probably so).

    This article with a 1px image (on my end anyway) is all about his visit.
    Moreno-Ocampo made the visit to the gruesome site, where a putrid stench rises from the ground, to determine whether to have the Netherlands-based court investigate it as part of its broader inquiry into alleged crimes committed by Gadhafi's regime during the war.

    ...spoke briefly with a man who believes his 18-year-old was killed in the alleged massacre...


    The Libyan Society of the Missing says that 106 prisoners were killed in the building on August 23 when Gadhafi loyalists threw grenades inside.
    (thatleaves 47...I made thatup first time...)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Also I should say I fully support further investigation, either to sort this stuff out properly, or give me a bigger face to laugh in, a bigger lie proven wrong.

    And for those inclined to wonder about such things, the invisible picture there is credited "AP Photo/Abdel Magid Al Fergany"

    ReplyDelete
  17. As I noted elsewhere, Abdel Magid Al Fergany also photographed, inter alia, the field containing a few camel bones for the Abu Salim massacre press day, plus much more ...for instance the treatment of "more than 20" rebel fighters in the USA (at a hospital amusingly in a place called Salem). The one in the picture was on crutches. How were these 20+ places allocated, one wonders, or were they perhaps combatant US citizens?? ("thousands have been wounded....")
    He also photographed Al-Megrahi, on release from Scottish Custody, in the Tripoli Medical Centre in 2009 for AP and the 2008 closure agreement in Tripoli leading a a (temporary) restoration of full diplomatic relations between Libya and the US...the man on the spot in Tripoli.
    Al-Fergani also photographed the release of 110 prisoners from Abu Salim prison on 16 February 2011

    ReplyDelete
  18. Yes, we need further investigation - in fact if such serious charges as war crimes are being levelled at members of the former regime, then all the witnesses who have presented themselves to the media so quickly ought to be subject to rigorous cross examination in a court. Who's to say the are either all telling the truth and the Gaddafi regime is guilty, or have all conspired together to tell a pack of lies and the rebels or TNC are guilty? From the analysis of the witnesses' statements and video footage available on this webste, certainly much of what is reported surrounding the alleged Khamis shed massacre quite frankly does not stack up imho.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Worth repeating - Najib Barakat, the health minister in the interim government said , quoted in the Times of India, ,29 August, :
    "efforts are being made to identify bodies. At the least, the corpses of suspected Gaddafi fighters, especially non-Libyans, are being photographed before burial, to allow for possible future identification by relatives."
    The new health minister since 22 November is Irish Citizen, Fatima Hamroush

    ReplyDelete
  20. i cant enter the blog

    ReplyDelete
  21. @ felix : chapeau for finding all these links
    Abdel Magid Al Fergany

    ReplyDelete
  22. In this ABC (Australia) Video of 29 August, Brutal prisoner executions uncovered in Libya , HRW'w advocacy and communications director for North Africa and the Middle East,Omar al-Issawi (ex-BBC Arabic service and start-up journalist on Al Jazeera...) discusses atrocities including the alleged Khamis shed massacre with some similar but not identical footage from the same visit of Ben Knight involving Red Cross/Crescent. Worth having a listen. Might transcribe for future reference ....

    ReplyDelete
  23. @ felix : family of ?

    http://ceinquiry.us/2011-03-29-libya-issawi-privatization
    Mr. Ali Al Issawi
    A political and education Libyan who was born in the city of Benghazi in 1966. Has a PhD in pivatisation [sic] obtained from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest Romania. He occupied the position of Minister of Economy, Trade and Investment in Libya, and was the youngest minister to fill such a post. Before taking the ministerial position, he founded the Centre for Export Development in 2006 and became the first Director General for it. He also assumed the position of Director General for the Ownership expansion program (privatization fund) in 2005.


    http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/ambassadors-double-agent-role-libyas-revolution#
    Libya ambassador’s ‘double-agent’ role throughout revolution
    Ali El-Assawi , who talked in the past about "mercenaries" is now ousted by Jalil about Younes

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugwe3LreyJI

    ReplyDelete
  24. Dr. Hani Mowafi
    From the Global Health Desk: Dr. Hani Mowafi Contributes to PHR Report of Libyan Massacre

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A direct link:
      From the Global Health Desk: Dr. Hani Mowafi Contributes to PHR Report of Libyan Massacre
      Quote: Dr. Hani Mowafi, Director of Global Health Department, was in Libya in September with Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) investigating violations of medical neutrality and a torture center that was also the site of a massacre.

      First it was a "prison"; no it has been elevated to "torture center" – Libya really has centers for everything!

      Delete
  25. in an effort

    In an effort to advance the dialogue on ensuring accountability for crimes against humanity and genocide, ICTJ has launched a special podcast series on complementarity—a principle placing responsibility for prosecution of serious crimes at the national level. At the recent high-level meeting held at the Greentree estate in New York, ICTJ spoke with some of the leading global voices on justice.

    ReplyDelete
  26. At last : a link that works. Know now my fault : link must direct from browser

    ReplyDelete
  27. You'll like this one Hurriya! Not a very inquiring mind if he can contribute to that simplistic drivel of the PHR report .

    ReplyDelete
  28. @felix, lol, she can't be from Libiya, there all the women can cook very well , not need to go to English school , learn it from childhood from mother.Centuries of experience

    ReplyDelete
  29. @Peti :now it has been elevated to "torture center" lol

    this article was retweeted by hafed alghwell [ was he the one with job at Worldbank?]
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/9014670/If-MI6-did-the-work-of-Libyan-renditions-who-gave-the-orders.html
    He got this answer :
    @HafedAlGhwell Hafed, sir Mark who oversaw the renditions became a BP exec then BP got the fat gulf of Sirte oil deal..."follow the money.."

    ReplyDelete
  30. www.ripoffreport.com/.../tariq-a... - Verenigde Staten - Vertaal deze pagina
    26 Dec 2009 – Tariq Abdul-Hadi RSD Relief Aid Association of America Tariq Abdul-Hadi RSD Relief Aid Association of America Internet.

    Tariq Abdul-Hadi SITE IS BLOCKED SINCE 15 JANUARY 2012

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey! Sorry for the problems. Here is the link.Small-scale rip-off reported. Relation to aid groups not really clarified. No other internet trace for that exact name. Any direct connection you know of?

      Delete
  31. @caustic : no,not at the moment ,but this link is clear enough to me that there must be a relation.

    ReplyDelete
  32. An independent report published by Middle Eastern human rights groups says there is evidence that war crimes and human rights violations were committed by all the participants – Nato, rebel forces and those loyal to Colonel Gaddafi – in last year's Libyan uprising.

    The report, published today by the Arab Organisation for Human Rights together and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights with the International Legal Assistance Consortium, follows extensive fact-finding work carried out by law and war crimes experts. While the document stresses that findings are not conclusive, it adds weight to growing concerns about violations committed by all sides in the conflict.
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/nato-accused-of-war-crimes-in-libya-6291566.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @ Hurriya, thanks for that. Was going to read it before commenting, but I must re-start the computer now.

      Delete
  33. This "Khamis Shed revisted" video has just popped up,12 Jan,What happened at Yarmouk (allegedly) Watch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's one slick little piece of work, that video. The man at 3:27 and again at 5:43 seems to be Sabri Tabbal, doesn't it?
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soVI32OyvbI
      لسيد صبري الطبال احد الناجين من محرقة معسكر اليرموك يوجه نداء بخصوص الاهتما بأسر الشهداء
      Sabri Tabbal, survivor of holocaust camp of Yarmouk, appeals to survivors and families of martys, something like that

      The host -why does he smile so much? This would all mean so much more if I understood Arabic... The sad guy at the end walking away with a cane - an injured escapee?

      4:22-is that one more layer of brick added since the massacre? Why? Why all the digging on the west side? But they couldn't remove that last mattress.

      Delete
  34. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Some initial observations.. nobody else in August mentioned dogs. Nobody else I think mentioned the bricks being blown out of the wall. And if that were a torture chamber, it would surely have been presented as such to the journalists swarming over the place in August - what a great propaganda coup that would have been. But no.... This seems like yet more embroidery. The mattress and bricks leave me perplexed. And why weren't these heavyweight witnesses wheeled out in August?

    ReplyDelete
  36. don't laugh :


    http://www.facebook.com/LibyanLeague
    Libyan-Americans Detained, Interrogated, and Denied Entry into US

    ReplyDelete
  37. Mass grave Abu Saleem
    Moez
    Libyan forensics team highly skilled and working to exhume according to international standards with international observers
    they’re not digging this particular grave yet. We do have expertise – PHR visit said exceptional team
    the forensic lab team from #tripoli are there. They are considerably capable of dealing with it appropriately

    I hope for the objectivity of the research these doctors aren't also involved :
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgPHxyWZMTQ&NR=1
    Libya: Statement from Doctors in Tripoli (English Subtitles)

    ReplyDelete
  38. sorry link above didn't work :
    http://hrcpblog.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/international-federation-for-human-rights-fidh-libyan-league-for-human-rights-llh/


    Some Amnesty information :
    Compiled on 05 Apr 2012
    http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/reliefweb_pdf/briefingkit-bff7534cf8453fb5d177007792eb1eb9.pdf
    ReliefWeb Briefing Kit for Libya + Amnesty

    ReplyDelete
  39. some UN information :

    http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/

    ReplyDelete
  40. PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS JOIN THE RANKS OF PRO-IMPERIALIST NGO’S
    John V. Walsh

    The wing of the U.S. human rights movement which targets foreign countries can wind up as a cruel business, aiding the ruthless and violent actions of the U.S. Empire, wittingly or not.
    For the U.S. all too often uses human rights as a cover for taking action against countries that defy the Empire’s control.

    Some weeks back, I decided to look into one such group, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), an organization I had long refrained from joining out of skepticism. But perhaps, I thought, PHR had sidestepped the dangers inherent in this work. So I joined to find out.

    Some days later I received my first email from PHR. I was floored by the heading, “Protect Syrian Citizens: Help Make Sanctions Tougher.” The word “tougher” struck me. The email read in part: “Help us impose tougher sanctions on Pres. Assad’s brutal regime.

    The Syria Sanctions Act of 2011, S. 1472, will target Syria’s energy and financial sectors. Contact your Senators today and urge them to back S. 1472.” The sponsor of this bill was Kirsten Gillibrand, and among the 12 co-sponsors were two neocon leaders, John McCain and Joe Lieberman, the latter hardly a human rights stalwart when it comes to Palestinians. Did that not ring alarm bells at PHR?

    So what was this PHR member to do in the face of such a stance by his organization? This writer called the Boston office, the home office, to complain about the decision to back the Sanctions bill. I was given to understand by one staffer that I was not the only member to register dissatisfaction. I inquired who made this decision and how it was made.

    Initially I was told that such decisions were not made in the home office but at a smaller office in Washington, which works closely with Congress. In a subsequent email I was told that “the policy and program decisions are made by our Executive Management team.”

    Who is the “Executive Management Team”? This member does not know and has not been told. Furthermore the PHR web site does not contain any information about the Executive Management Team, as far as I can see.

    Are personnel of the U.S. government consulted in such deliberations? (The PHR membership clearly is not.) And should not such an important decision at least have some input from the members?

    http://syria360.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/physicians-for-human-rights-join-the-ranks-of-pro-imperialist-ngos/


    One wonders how they were able to obtain flawless forensic evidence of a crime in the midst of massive NATO bombardments, when investigations of NATO’s crimes was impossible, and in most cases, remains so.
    http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/issues/mass-atrocities/war-crimes-in-libya/
    PHR is funded by Soros’ Open Society Institute.

    ReplyDelete

Comments welcome. Stay civil and on or near-topic. If you're at all stumped about how to comment, please see this post.