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.
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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.