ASHM Research: Timeline Clues, and Hospital Delineation

June 30, 2012 
(incomplete - updates July2)


<< Abu Salim Hospital Massacre {Masterlist}
    << ASHM Research {Masterlist}

We know Abu Salim trauma hospital was opened for media scrutiny mid-day on August 26. At that time, it was painted with blood that sprayed and poured from executions by bullets and blades, and scatted with rotting corpses. These had been Black men and apparent loyalist fighters, so clearly Rebel fighters are the natural culprits. We turn now to what was reported or can be ascertained about what happened there in the days before that.

The Last Working Hospital?
One possible lead, with questions was published August 23. Hurriya alerts me of this Sky News broadcast by Alex Crawford, "apparently the abu saleem hospital."
http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16054621 (original link-now directs to:) http://news.sky.com/story/875946/children-shot-amid-sniper-attack-in-libya

The hospital isn't named, but is said to be "in a particularly bad geographical position because it is very close to the Rixos hotel (where western journalists stay), and very close to the Gaddafi compound and Green Square." This fits quite well with Abu Salim trauma hospital, which we suspect was taken out of commission at about this time; it's near the Rixos and Bab Al-Aziziyah. Green Square is quite a ways from both of those, really.

The interior shots are not conclusive, but it seems much livelier - and lighter-skinned - than Abu Salim sounded at the same time. No outside shots are shared. I decided to make this graphic after Googling a few places. I think Tripoli Central Hospital is not the same as Tripoli Medical Center, for one thing. For another, there's another hospital (anyone get that name?) in a spot even more like what Crawford describes.

That would seem to be a place called "Green public hospital," reportedly used a lot for treating wounded Gaddafi soldiers. We've heard very little of the situation in this facility right next to the Rixos, but it was apparently the center of fighting, with reports that loyalist snipers were stationed there and that someone or other verifiably knocked at least one corner out of it with some powerful rocket. Clearly worthy of more study...(details forthcoming, or see comments)

It could also be the northernmost central hospital, only one kilometer south of Green Square, that Crawford visited. Whichever one, she called it "the capitol's only working hospital," which isn't likely true, but the pool was clearly diminished just then. If this is Abu Salim, and it was the last, that would leave zero hospitals running for a spell, and that's not the case.

Inside this hospital: mostly wounded rebel fighters being treated, rebel fighters running around inside, a three-year old dying of a stomach shot (by snipers) and we hear an 11-year-old dead, shot in the head by same snipers. A mortar round fired by someone hit a perimeter wall, while Crawford was there, to illustrate the plight. It was grim, but she was not taken to the hospital in Abu Salim.

The Red Cross Help Before the Storm
The last we heard verifiably from there was the day before that. On the 22nd, the Red Cross/Red Crescent delivered medical supplies to several hospitals, including our subject.

22-08-2011 News Release
http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/news-release/2011/libya-news-2011-08-22.htm

“Today, our team started providing medical facilities, including the Abu Slim Trauma Centre, with some of the supplies they need in order to treat casualties. We are delivering enough medical supplies to treat at least 300 casualties. The consignments include surgical kits, dressing materials and intravenous fluids,” announced George Comninos, the ICRC's head of delegation in Tripoli. 

 “In one of the hospitals we visited today, only one doctor was left to look after 25 patients, including 15 seriously wounded,” added Comninos. “We are mobilizing a complete surgical team to support the medical staff and help hospitals cope with the situation.” 

 The ICRC is maintaining regular contact with the main hospitals, so that the organization can evaluate their needs and respond accordingly. "So far, we only have limited access because of the fighting. However, we have managed to maintain dialogue with all parties ever since the beginning of the conflict, so we are able to operate despite the highly fluid front lines,” explains Comninos. “It is still difficult to get a clear picture of the overall humanitarian situation. We continue to urge both sides to respect civilians and to let medical workers treat the wounded.”

The lines would soon get too "fluid" to maintain contact with that hospital. Another source confirms the situation described above was at the one hospital named. The Telegraph reported on Aug. 23 from Tripoli Central Hospital.

There are two other major hospitals in Tripoli – they were overflowing with casualties as well, and so were all the private hospitals." Yesterday the Red Cross said its teams had made contact with about six medical facilities in Tripoli. They have confirmed the main problem they is an acute manpower shortage. At the Abu Slim Trauma Centre a team found just [one] doctor looking after 25 patients including 15 very seriously injured.

What a strange staff, about the same as the one we'd see doing the same thing on the 26th. No nurses at all, one presumes. Is this visit of the 22nd before or after the rebel takeover of management? That would have accompanied the massacre, presumably. Is it possible the foreigners were brought in but didn't see the dead people? Yes, with a tight-enough guided tour. They wouldn't really start smelling right away.

It's also possible the massacre happened after this, as the rebel occupiers wondered what to do with their "mercenary" captives. Or after they took over and killed the one remaining doctor after the restfled for whatever reason. (??) Maybe seeing outsiders trying to help the "criminals" inside infuriated them enough to go on safari that night.

There would be no further news for three days  (or was there? - I'm not sure). It was pretty quiet if so.

Other Clues
Rebels speaking to the media on the 26th and 27th cite time spans of varying number of days (two to five?) since the victims passed away. I'll later cite examples.

 The bodies and the maggots can tell the time, but not precisely as read by us, but ... bloating and discoloration suggests days have passed- maggots can hatch whithin 24 hours, but to be visibble size and of any grat number, at least two. Images start only on August 26. One photo ([AM1] as listed here) shows numrous but small maggots on this dead Black man's face as he's wheeled out. Other photos show maggots on the floor, crawling through the blood soup. Thus we're looking at an event most likely at least 2 days prior to this, as many as four days. Massacre date suggested: Aug. 22/23 most likely, 24 possible. Even the 21st is possible, but least likely for being so early in the invasion.

Last Silence before the News Storm
At the end of that three-day's silence after the ICRC visit, the New York Times' Kirkpatrick and Fahim filed a report on August 25 on the hospital situation. Reporting from Tripoli Central Hospital, they found "two doctors said the hospital had treated as many as 500 patients a day this week for gunshot wounds as the rebels..." had nothing to do with it, of course. "Snipers" they usually said. The fighting was described so:

"In their drive to take command of Tripoli, the rebels concentrated their forces on a block-by-block battle for the streets of the Abu Salim neighborhood, a center of Colonel Qaddafi’s support. By late afternoon, the fighting had once again swamped Tripoli Central Hospital with wounded civilians and combatants.” 

 This piece makes no mention of the hospital(s) in Abu Salim knocked so brutally out of commission. It's as if it never existed - until the news the next day, when bodies mostly dead about 3 days were revealed. The loss of this hospital, plus the loss of any others that were "closed" by the fighting, surely increased the load and decreased survival rates at the overworked remaining major hospital(s). And that's just among those - mostly rebel fighters - the rebels would let be sent to any hospital. They kept their own captives, bandaged a bit or not, or killed them on the spot, usually.

As the rebel militias squeezed Abu Salim, it seems they meant to make it quite clear, as they later would with the city of Sirte, that there would be no medical escape possible from their wrath.

First Views Before that Silence:

On August 25, an MSF medical team rescued two patients in very critical condition from Abu Salim hospital, which was surrounded by intense fighting at the time, and transferred them to Tripoli Medical Center. 

Libya: MSF Scales Up Response in Tripoli Amid Shocking Scenes in Hospitals (Aug. 27)

There should have been a shocking scene there by that date, but no news cameras 'til the following day, late afternoon (I think - Al Jazeera English footage, from the 26th, first video? photos not analyzed to get chronology yet...). What did they see there?

“When we arrived at Abu Salim, we faced quite a shocking scene: dozens of dead bodies were lying in the hospital’s compound,” reports Jonathan Whittall, MSF emergency coordinator. “Abu Salim hospital had been completely cut off by the nearby fighting and 22 patients were stuck inside, together with five medical staff. We managed to evacuate the two most critical patients—who would have probably died otherwise. Later on, the remaining patients were transferred to safer facilities.”

Two early removals well before the news cameras - the rest were only taken out the next day.

MSF sent three tons of dressing materials and much needed surgical material, including external fixators, from Tunisia into Libya.

What they really needed there was lots of lime powder and garbage bags. It seems they were supplied with enough.

It's interesting to note this visit was not reported on the same day, in a MSF dispatch from Aug. 25, but only after everyone else mentioned it first. Perhaps the visit was late in the day of the 25th and missed this deadline, but neither did they pipe up on the 26th,