Libyan Observatory for Human Rights

July 14, 2013

There's the famous Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, with at one point two competing versions, which are interesting sources to follow for versions of events you can compare with other evidence. In Libya, not that I knew or noticed it while actively researching, has its own answer. Later I stumbled across the Libyan Observatory for Human Rights ( المرصد الليبى لحقوق الإنسان ) official Facebook page, all Arabic
, as well as a different page claiming the same name (I thought, maybe it was just similar) but with different and intriguing content. I saw that one just a few days ago but it disappeared before I got around to this post. The original url ended /moummer698 but it just re-directs to home now. It had continued into 2013, several posts in January. These show some of the militia crimes committed against decent Libyans - mangled fingernails, horrifically lashed backs, and skin-peeled legs, from later last year I think. Also, some posts had pictures of the Gaddafis, and it seemed in a positive context (however the translation of text was confusing). I took heart for my negligence of Libyan suffering to focus on Syria that even this dedicated site paused for months, with only a single post just appearing in July, discussing Syria. I didn't save any of it.

One of these Facebook pages had run some valuable new photos of the shed massacre un-burnt victims earlier last year. Probably the one just pulled, which inspired this post that now feels barely worth it (I did save those photos, however.

There's also a competing NTC-sponsored Libyan Observatory for Democracy and Human Rights, in Denmark at least (video, inaugurated April 2011) The Observatory less about democracy was cited in this July 2012 IPS article on worsening human rights after the war, which included some info on founder Nasser al-Hawary, an Islamist who's now upset at the militia crimes against Gaddafi loyalists, random blacks, etc. He might be genuine in that. On June 22, 2012, the BBC reported, the observatory implicated the NTC in the assassination of a judge investigating the assassination of Mustafa Abdel-Jalil a year earlier.

The more boring but existent Facebook page is pretty active. What's this on June 10? Is that Bashir al-Sadeq/Omar/whatever? And yet more injected strangers? Yep... "documenting" now a "Holocaust Yarmouk..." Wow, better get someone to really tell you on video what happened there.

Alright, well I was going to say the field is partly covered, and point readers to that, feeling better for my absence. But fucking Facebook just pulled it. I guess impostering, if that was it, was not the best strategy. It's not really covered, not by this observatory anyway.

- C.L.
Question for readers: Who is critically covering ongoing abuses, who's launching protests and efforts to change things, etc.? Please leave comments below directing people to useful links, or thoughts of your own.