Shed Massacre Trial, part two

December 30, 2012
last edits, Dec. 31, 2:35 AM(Pacific)
See Part one

The Captive Soldiers
The nine named men awaiting trial for the Khamis Brigade Shed Massacre, as announced by the Libya Herald, are largely know to us by name from previous study. They weren't necessarily all guards or commander at the Yarmouk alleged prison shed. Rather, they were part of an overall team that ran that plus another compound quite nearby at Qasr Ben Ghashir, at the facility here called "the Slovenian company." The alleged massacre there at about the same time as the shed massacre is at least as bizarre, having three different official dates given so far, for one thing, and approximately five prisoners killed, and 70 escaped when they suddenly realized they could let themselves out of their cells.
- The Tripoli Massacres: Killings at Qasr Ben Ghashir
- See also A Question Mark Over Yarmouk (QMOY, PDF link), section 1.4, pp 20-31.

So ... the four men accused over that smaller alleged incident are to go up in the dock second, on January 8. Two days before, the five tagged for atrocities at the larger site have their turn. A high-level commander is named in the lesser case, and in his own separate military tribunal. Let's take a look now at the men named and, more importantly, a couple who were not mentioned.

The main source for about 50% of the info we have previously collected is an amazingly useful piece by Robert F. Worth, New York Times, May 2012. This was based on visits to rebel-held prisoners in Tripoli and the Western Mountains (but not Misrata), who stood accused of the atrocity he had earlier written about. (side-note: in that, I suspect, he was advised by Dr. Salem Al-Farjani, under yet another pseudonym: see QMOY p. 88)

Jan. 6 Trial:
Yakhlif Sifawi, Abdul-Razak Baruni, Juma Daqdouq and Mohamed Harous

Mohammed Harous and Yakhlif Sifawi are new names to me. We have nothing to add, unless Mohammed is the same one mentioned by alleged escapee M.M. Zedan: “someone called Ibrahim Tajouri came, with him another one called Mohamed from Abou Salim and some Tuaregs…” (QMOY p. 76) A "Jumaa" was seen on supposed loyalist torture videos by Worth, made to dance in such a way the rebels always busted up when they saw it. The family name Daqdouq is new. Although it wasn't specified by Worth, I wonder if he's a Black Libyan of sub-Saharan descent. (open questions to Mr. Worth - is either hunch so far ventured correct?)

Abdul-Razaq Barouni is a special case. In a couple variegated names, he’s been hailed by alleged escapees as a hero. He was a guard, but had a good heart and even acted on it. He helped them, or tried to, in several conflicting ways, with maybe another guy named perhaps Mustafa or Osama. Depending on the version, Abdulrazaq tried to free the prisoners 30 minutes before the attack (but they never made it out the unlocked door), or successfully released the survivors after the worst of the killings, or offered no help at all, leaving the prisoners to die or escape on their own. He then ran away, it was said, perhaps with the other semi-hero guard(s). Later, he was arrested by rebels, apparently Misrata ones.

Mr. Barouni presumably struck a plea deal long ago, as his name has been written into the rebel cover-story from day one. He sounded more like a legend at first, an added detail of the script the "survivors" were working off of. But he shows up as a named captive in Robert Worth's report in May 2012. One Tripoli fighter said the Misratans shot the guard in the foot during interrogation, and took him back to Misrata with them. (see QMOY report pp 74-76 for the varying legends, and p. 63 for Barouni as an unseen captive) According to the Herald's announcement, he's still alive and ready to face the charges both ways, perhaps to some dramatic acquittal. We might finally get to see the guy.

Jan. 8 Trial
Hamza Mabruk Muftah Harizi, Marwan Emhemed Khalifa Gaddoura, Musbah Mohamed Musbah Ajim, Naji Massoud Najjar and Sami Saleh Ragie

Hamza Harizi, the base commander, is a special case that will be covered below. Musbah and Sami are new names to me. Marwan and Naji, however, we know, again mostly via Robert Worth. The following summaries are directly from the report QMOY, pages 63-64:

Naji : Naji Najjar, a former Yarmouk guard, is now apparently a base trustee, whipping boy, and clown. He reportedly is happy to beg for beatings, and for family of his alleged victims to beat him at will and break broomsticks over him. A letter from his brother was read out: “Naji is being held by an illegal entity, being tortured on a daily basis, starved and forced to sign false statements.” They all laughed, even Naji. Ragai’s rebuttal to torture, starvation, and false confessions by an illegal entity was “there is no legal entity for us to hand the prisoners over to.”

Then there's Marwan Gdoura, the 28-year-old newly-devout Muslim scholar, involved in the execution of prisoners at “Yarmouk,” Worth writes, but apparently at Qasr Ben Ghashir by the details. There, on August 24, he ignored Dr. Omar Salhouba/Salhoba’s plea to “fear God” and killed him, along with five others. Interrogator Nasser Salhoba, Dr. Omar’s brother, says he still wanted to kill Marwan and once beat him severely for reflexively failing to step on a green Jamahiriya flag, showing a lack of remorse, and “that he would kill all of us here if he could.”

Hamza Harizi: Hazy
Harizi alone among these nine gets a military trial for some reason. Given as Hirazi in Worth's article, he was held in or near Az Zintan, apparently, with no visit managed. His jailer Eissa Gliza cited security concerns, explaining that the prisoner had to be moved frequently due to repeated death threats, two of which became thwarted assassination attempts by unspecified parties. No rank was there given, but a high one implied; he was “the Yarmouk prison commander.”

Sgt. Maj. Hamza el Harizi is mentioned in a late 2011 report by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), as “the officer-in-charge” of the Yarmouk detention facility. there his superior was Lt. Col. Mohammed Mansour (see below), whoin turn reported directly to the Libyan leader's son Khamis Gaddafi. Thus, Harizi was ostensibly set just two degrees from Khamis. UN report, March 2 the commission found the “immediate commander” of the Yarmouk base was the soldier called [056], reporting to a brigadier [028] who in turn reported to Khamis. Thus, [056] is most likely Harizi. It doesn’t seem the UNHRC commission spoke with him and it’s not clear if he was in custody at that time or still at large. But by the time of Worth's visit, Harizi was locked-up. As QMOY summed up (p.64)

The CIWCL was eager to learn what the second link said, but for security reasons, there was no meeting. Worth too wrote “I was eager to talk to him,” hoping for insight into “one of the central mysteries” of the massacre: “Why? And who gave the orders?” [RW2] The presumptions so far has been “evil,” and “Khamis,” but perhaps Worth was hoping to have an expertly handled captive spell it out with alleged second-hand authority.

And now this prisoner of opaque condition is slated to get his day in court, under whatever rules of fairness and transparency govern military trials in "Free Libya."

Note: Harizi was heavily implicated, by alleged eyewitnesses and at least one alleged subordinate, with the Yarmouk shed massacre. They have him directly passing on the order to kill the lot, overseeing the elimination of survivors, and the burning of (about 50 of) their bodies back inside the shed days later. According to what's reported, he will be tried not in connection with that crime, but on the 8th, in connection to the smaller alleged massacre at the "Slovenian company" prison, as well as by tribunal. That's slightly interesting.

The Lesser Missing Names
There are more sources than Robert F. Worth feeding into the CIWCL's previous knowledge base, but only a few alleged accomplices fall outside his roster, mostly excluded from this trial list.

The first notable exception is actually  one of Worth's central interviewees, a young Ibrahim Lousha, mentioned in part 1. The oft-cited Ibrahim Lousha/Tajouri/Sadeq-Khalifah, aged 20, of Tajoura Tripoli, says he did it all. Devil child. He threw the grenades, headed up the heavy shooting, finished off the survivors 'til 2 am, and/or burned them alive. He left little for the other four or so alleged executioners, but candidly confesssed to everything and helped his jailer Ibrahim Bietalmal prove there was no torture in Misrata's jails. I mean, just look at this kid!

Yes, can we have a look at him now? He's not listed as about to stand trial for his crucial and shifting role. Has he been forgiven and released, or knocked off? Perhaps fake-knocked-off, his character forgotten or written out of the show with a wink?

Massachusetts-based Physicians for Human Rights witness "Laskhar" may or may not be missing from the list – the name was a pseudonym. One likely real/alleged name behind that is Wajdi Kikly (QMOY p. 57), from Az-Zawiya, who reportedly helped execute and later burn the victims, along with his boss, Hamza Hreji/Harizi (see below). Laskhar was from Az Zawiya, it was said, turned in by his uncle after taking a solid and all-seeing role in the Yarmouk killings. (QMOY p. 56) Laskhar also related the ridiculous days-long clean-up process with his commander Harizi, that consisted of burning them on about the 25th. His account was especially well-suited to the mainstrean understanding of the evidence, and was supported with curious precision by PHR's other well-managed witneeses. But of course, it's contradicted by most of the other information from sources not so well-meshed.

Missing: Mansour/Brigadier [028]
And then there's the top link between the multi-dead Khamis Gaddafi and the highest acknowledged captive, Hamza Harizi. This is Lt. Col. Mohammed Mansour, as perviously given, and according to the Herald, Mohammed Mansour Dhau, a continuing threat.

The Yarmouk association has urged survivors as well as families of those killed to attend the trials and keep track of the cases. It added that a number of people believed to have been involved in the massacre are still at large, including the officer in charge of the camp at the time, Colonel Mohamed Mansour Dhau.

It's never been clarified 100% that Mansour was in custody, but previous research had suggested it pretty strongly. The QMOY report had taken it as likely true, which was perhaps an over-estimation, especially since it suggests the lack of confirmation suggested he was killed, as opposed to never held.

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) deputy director Richard Sollom wrote in late 2011 that “alleged war criminals from all sides of the recent conflict remain at large” and that “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, from one side; “one whom Libyan authorities should detain and hold accountable is Lt. Col. [Mohammed] Mansour, who ordered his troops to kill 153 men in late August.” PHR were told, and believed, that he “reported directly to Khamis Qaddafi,” who originated the order.

PHR's witness "Laskhar" had Mansour firmly in his overly-clear picture of the command loop (QMOY p. 56):

At 12:30 pm on the day of the execution, Laskhar said, Khamis Gaddafi was there at the base conducting a meeting, with bigwigs including Lt. Col. Mansour and the deputy chief of military intelligence. A few hours later, Laskhar says he also saw his boss Sgt. Maj. Harizi get a call from Mansour, relating the order to kill all the prisoners that very night. Unsurprisingly, Hamza also confirmed for Laskhar that the order came straight from the younger Gaddafi.

The name twist "Dhau" suggests two villainous brigade commanders on record - a Mohammed Mansour and a Mansour Dau - are one and the same (while other clues argue against that). The latter was named as a mind-controlling rapist by alleged girl executioner Nisreen Al-Farjani (no known relation to Dr. Salem). She later allegedly escaped rebel custody and claimed all this was a lie extracted under torture and rape. But she said, while shackled to a bed under rebel guns, that a female controller named Fatma "had an office at the 77 Brigade base and there was a room with a bed next door." She was sent there one day, and "Mansour Dau, who was the commander of 77 Brigade, then came in and shut the door" and raped her. Thereafter, she became a regime slave, she said (more willing than that, others smirked), forced to shoot at least a dozen rebels point blank in the face just for the added evil and insult. She was 19 at that time.

If Col./Lt. Col. Mansour/Dau is currently at liberty, it might be that he escaped. A commander code-named Brigadier [028] was met by the UN’s investigators. Brigadier is sometimes a general term for a higher-ranking officer, so this could without contradiction be Mansour/Dau. He had been in command of “the Khilit al-Ferjan zone,” which includes the Yarmouk base. Mansour is said to command that base but, since his subordinate Harizi ran it, Mansour's turf might have been the broader area.

The UN commission related as a fact they believed, based on what rebels told them, that 028 "reported directly to Khamis Qadhafi," as did Mansour, allegedly. Although they believed it, he didn't confirm it; "he denied this to the Commission.” Both Mansour and 028 are said to have visited Yarmouk on the day of the massacre, but then left-after passing on the order but prior to its execution. (see QMOY p. 55) This crucial, high-level, witness – a link if not the link to the leader’s son – says there was no such link. This lack of "confession" is unusual among those captured. Perhaps he was one of those not being tortured, or not yet broken by it. His denial had a little more detail:

“He told the Commission he was simply in charge of personnel at the Military Intelligence (Istikhbarat). … he says he never was tasked directly by members of the Qadhafi family. When asked about his knowledge of the massacre, he claimed he only heard about it after the event and “if you’re interested inhuman rights violations then I don’t know why I am here.”” [UH p.70]

I suspect Brigadier [028] has died in the interim, whoever he was. Robert Worth visited in the spring of 2012 and heard exactly one past-tense reference to Mansour, by young Ibrahim, as a giver of the kill orders. (QMOY p. 62)

[Ibrahim Lousha] names commander Muhammad Mansour, who “arrived late in the afternoon and ordered the guards to kill all the prisoners in the hangar.” He previously said Mansour threatened them with his gun, but Worth adds, as the UNHRC does, Mansour / [028] then left the site, with his gun. With the threat removed, Lousha says: “the other guards had the grenades. I told them, ‘Give the grenades to me.” He threw two of these in on the prisoners...

No one else even mentions Mansour/Dau at all. He may well have been dead already by then, and he may not have gone out comfortably. If [028] is someone else, we apparently have a missing captive anyway; this Khamis-linked non-confessed commander doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere else; no one higher in rank than Harizi has been acknowledged. The UN investigators should come clean whether it was Mansour they spoke to or someone remarkably similar. Because if it was him, he’s since been eliminated and erased as a captive, and turned into a ghost at large. And that's not how "Free Libya" was supposed to work (or was it?)

The neighbors enter the "massacre" site

May 8, 2012

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

As more evidence emerges, the Khamis Brigade shed “massacre” site is starting to look more and more like Schliemann's Troy – which turned out to be but one of nine different archaeological layers spanning three millenia.

There seems to be three different "massacres" or episodes of violence that differ by location, ethnic makeup, and level of decomposition of the bodies. One of them is the charred bodies in the shed; most likely a morgue. Another layer are the black bodies outside the shed.

The recently discovered amateur video from the shed compound adds a third layer, which may represent the very last chapter in the violent events at the shed.

The video is filmed on August 26, in the twilight, a few minutes after sunset at 19:40 local time. It shows a group of local people from the neighborhood exploring the compound. None of the people are armed, one man in a traditional dress is carrying a pickax, evidently for self protection. A fire is seen still burning in the side chamber of the shed.

The atmosphere must be extremely tense; not so because of the smoldering bodies in the shed, but because of the two fresh victims that lie in the center of the compound and thus dominate the scenery. The men are clearly civilian, they carry none of the visual indications or uniform that would label them rebels or loyalist soldiers. In fact, their dress suggests they are two locals unfortunate enough to end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

These two victims  represent an urgency and immediacy not seen in any of the other evidence. If the two men were shed massacre victims, as the rebel narrative would suggest, why were they not carried back into the shed along with the other escapee bodies and burned with the rest?

The two men are never seen in any of the media reports from the shed; they appear in a set of three photographs by Seamus Murphy (available trough photo agencies) as they are being loaded on a flat-bed truck in the morning of August 27th, and are possibly briefly seen in the background in the Sky news report by Stuart Ramsay, as the truck speeds away through the open gate.

From the state of the bodies – As seen on the August 26th video – it is possible to reconstruct the preceding events and deduce who killed the two men, when and how.

Victim number #2, The Crawler lies in front of the shed.

He may be dead, but he has yet to bite the dust. 

(composite view)

A young man lies in the sand in front of the shed – identified as #2, The Crawler in the list of exterior victims. He is still holding his body upright by his upper arms. His head is resting atop his right forearm. In the sand we see signs of crawling. A path of footsteps is just starting to form around him.

From the position of the body alone, it is possible to see that his death happened recently, possible less than an hour ago. He may be dead, but he has yet to bite the dust.

In the photos from the morning of August 27th we see that his face is all covered by sand, the result of a long contact with the ground.

The body is totally undisturbed. The locals have not checked if he was still breathing. If he was shot by someone in control of the shed compound – who ever that was – he has not followed through on his intentions and checked if the man needs “finishing off.”

The position of body is another clue. He is lying right in front of the shed, nearly blocking access to it. If any activity was still going on at the shed after his death – killing, burning, moving of bodies – he would have hindered this activity. Yet, no one has kicked him over to his side.

Victim number #3, The Runner has collapsed while

running toward the gate. He has lost both his sandals.

(composite view)

Another victim, a middle aged man wearing a traditional white shalwar khameez – The Runner, #3 in the list – is lying on the ground some 30 meters away. He has been shot mid sprint, losing his shoes just before losing his balance. One sandal has been thrown several meters, the other is still besides him.

It is not clear what he is running away from. What is clear however is where he is running: toward the gate. Why there, when he could have sought shelter among the numerous vehicles or tried to climb over the wall as all the other alleged shed massacre escapees did. Did he expect the Gaddafi guards to just open the gate for him? Nobody else tried that.

There is only one conclusion that can be drawn. When the man was shot, the gate was open!

In all the war footage we see from Libya, almost every body has been covered by some canvas or cloth by the time it gets captured on film. With all the trash lying around, there certainly was not a lack of covering material. Unattended bodies point to a no man's land. The only explanation that can be given to the two bodies is that they were killed by someone who was not truly in control of the shed compound, most likely from outside the perimeter walls.


From this visual evidence it is possible to reconstruct the preceding events. The fire and the burning bodies alerted the locals to situation in the shed complex. Some came to investigate, possibly along with some rebel entourage. It is likely that the rebels or the group of locals themselves became the target of loyalist snipers in some counteroffensive. Some parts of the Khamis Brigade base are said to have been in loyalist control up to the evening of August 26th. There are a number of places that could have been in loyalist control and give a line sight into the shed compound.

Who ever did the shooting, it clearly caused the party to scatter, leaving behind these two dead.

Media reports

The shooting incident was in fact reported by the media, in a report by Evan Hill for Al Jazeera published at 18:44 GMT on August 26th, 2011.

Rebels tighten grip on Tripoli

Evan Hill in Libya – Last Modified: 26 Aug 2011 18:44

By late Friday, rebel troops using automatic weapons and trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns and field artillery had control of the Abu Salim district and was pushing further south, into the Salaheddin and Tartouk areas.

The fiercest remaining pocket of resistance was in Tartouk, around the barracks of the Khamis Brigade, considered Gaddafi’s best-trained fighting force.

At around 7 pm, a crowd of civilians and rebels near the barracks scattered under rifle fire coming from nearby residential buildings.

Rebels responded in force, turning their guns in the direction of suspected snipers and blasting chunks out of the buildings' concrete facades.

More loyalist fire came from other directions and the barracks, indicating that rebels were still battling for control of one of the final bastions of Gaddafi's military power in the capital.

The report does not specify the exact location “around the barracks,” but the “crowd of civilians” could only have been drawn to this danger zone by the smoldering bodies.

The event is also described by Salem al-Farjani, vice chair of the Libyan "National Missing Persons Commission" in his cameo role as shed massacre witness Dr. Salim Rajub. "Dr. Salim" must  be considered an extremely unreliable witness. Unless he truly happens to live 200 meters away from the shed, his testimony amounts to perjury. What he seems to be doing, is repeating and translating testimony of genuine witnesses and alleged escapees, and passing it on in first person as his personal experience. As with any oral tradition, the story may be accurate in its details, but the general context, in this case the dates, may be totally wrong. One would expect that previous nights shooting incident and the two victims would weight heavily in what the locals have to say. Yet, when retold by Dr. Salim none of this seems to make it into the narrative.

To get to the bottom, one must twist Salim's words to extract from them the original survivor testimony. This is how I interpret Dr. Salim Rajub.

We're but 5, 10 people, we, we want to come here to see what's happening. And then when we just come by near, we found some snipers there, above that (pointing) and they're start shooting. So we went back, right? after one hour or so, everything is quiet. And there were about three people, injured.

Next day morning [August 27th] we are tried to come. We find some [rebel] militias here who are carrying this guns on the cars and then they told us please go back or otherwise we will search you

Salim Rajub is pointing at the batching tower in the ARA cement factory across the street. This must be the testimony of someone who was in the shed compound at the time of the shooting. If he had only seen the shooting from some other vantage point, it would be difficult for anyone to point out the structure with such confidence.

In the end we may never know who was shooting and from where. This becomes irrelevant. What is important is that we can identify the victims and their time of death.

Interpretation

...to be continued.

New Shed Massacre Video!

April 18, 2012
last update May 5

<< The Khamis Brigade Shed Massacre After all the material we've been over regarding the Khamis Brigade shed massacre, we still haven't seen it all. Just now Felix alerted me to this Rebel amateur video that predates all others and has whole bloody clues the others lack.

ثوار الهضبة يدخلون كتيبة خميس ليكتشفوا المجزرة

Posted by Batruna August 29, 2011.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF_yCX5ffCc


Word for word title translation, proper order: Rebels the plateau entering battalion Khamis to discover the massacre. More intelligible: Rebels (of?) al-Hadhbah (road, on which the Yarmouk base sits?) enter the Base (Katiba) of Khamis to discover the massacre. These people look kind of like locals, possibly rebel fighters, but not armed at the moment. Neither do they seem nervous about remaining loyalists. It might've been in rebel hands for a day or longer prior to this. It was apparently filmed shortly after sunset (about 7:45 to maybe 8pm) on Friday, August 26. We had previously seen no video or photos or anything from that day. Rebels claim it was the first day, sometime at night, or even the next morning, when they first held the base and could enter. In actuality the video could be from one of the days prior even to that, but I find that unlikely. What matters are the various obvious clues it can't be the dates we've looked at before.

The red thing (gas can?) isn't under the ladder yet, something that happened 10-11 am on the 27th (see Exterior imagery chronology).

Of note is the open fire flaming away in the side-chamber, seen in the first seconds and again at 1:00. One thing to note is that these are rebels not handling weapons, or rebel-affiliated locals - ostensibly good people. They just found ostensible victims of a Gaddafi massacre, horrifically set alight, and still burning. No one seems interested in putting them out. Open flames in the main chamber are over by this time. The total darkness inside testifies to that, but doesn't give us much view of what the smoke was doing (an issue of great interest examined here)

There are three dead bodies laying about that weren't there later. Well, they were all seen once more, a bit later, in three photos by Seamus Murphy/VII images, but then gone. A body laid just outside, between the main and side chamber doors seems to have died while crawling. The sand around him and along his path looks pink. By his apparent light skin and clothing, he's the left victim of the two laid out on a truck bed the following morning, as seen in this photo.

The body on the right, extremely bloodied and wearing a Shalwar Khameez, is apparently also seen in this video. I thought he was black, but perhaps not (is that a hint of pink, as well as red, where his face would be?) What must be his body is shown out in the middle of the dusty yard at 1:26, face-down, one shoe nearby.

The other body, burned face, extremely bloodied, shown being dragged from one truck to another here and here, is shown at 0:35 inside the truck he's later pulled from, face down in a pool of blood. His right arm looks tortured. More on this poor guy later...

The mattress victims are also shown, about as later, at 1:09. The bound-feet victim is sporting a longer stretch of green rope than we've seen, and a lot of things in their area are arranged differently. There is a splash of fresh-looking blood (?) next to the broomstick that I don't think is visible later. Much of the graffiti is there already. This often accompanies rebel orgies of bloodletting.

April 19: The green truck is noteworthy, not there earlier than this or later. It's got capacity, possible refrigeration, and might do for transporting bodies. The company doesn't probably matter much, but any Libyans recognize the logo and what that company's known to ship? Cold things?

Petri, in comments, was saying this is the most significant new clue. I thought maybe until just now. When I re-number and re-organize the dead outside the shed, the body I'll have a #1is the ugly burnt face one. Some real insane Gaddafi brutality was done to that guy. Again, I've said he was black, and I still say the hair suggests, actually a mixed-race person with some African blood. Perhaps too light to pass for "mercenary." The slight overweight to me suggests an middle-aged man, so perhaps a commander at the base, stripped to his undershirt. He had special treatment - the video shows him in a pool of blood, soaked around the neck area (slit throat?), right arm splayed out, looking discolored and twisted, likely tortured, forearm cut just below the elbow perhaps. The skin of his left shoulder, seen in the morning, besides varying from burnt raw to toasted dry, also also suggests serious bruising beneath. This guy was beaten all about, it seems.

Below a before and after.

I've enhanced two stills of different exposure to show what this video best can, left. I tried "levels" to salvage some details in the dark, but there wasn't much to save, sorry. This is before, late on August 26. To the right is the same body the next morning. What seems to be lacking theday before is a burnt face and neck. Cheeks look smooth and normal color. Shoulder looks normal. Next morning his shoulders were burnt and cracked in an odd way, and his face rendered lobster-red and crusted charcoal gray with bits of boiled-out eyes. I think we can say he probably didn't die from that, blessedly. But it looks like he might've been "necklaced" with a burning tire around his head. He'd have to be propped upright, and the truck should have smoke stains after...  Note the slit throat - bottom middle - this might have been done to obscure (but it failed)

Clearly, the rebels were in charge of his body when this apparently happened.

More stills and notes:

The fire burning still in the side-chamber. Foreground, outside victim #1, the crawler.

Man with a pick walks by, coming from the direction of the toppled wall around outside victim #7. Is there white powder from those pulled down bricks on the pick? What was that all about anyway? (green "Star" refrigerated truck visible)

A gathering of men in the compound's southwest corner. Note the yellow-sided rebel fighter truck (Misratan?). As the camera approaches, they end the discussion and start dispersing.

The shed interior, main chamber, yields little. There is no visible smoke rising even in the fornt portion we can see, when there would be in the morning. It's just not good enough resolution to be sure they're done smoldering here. We can see two skulls near the front. On the right, up against the wheel rim, is body #15, according to my previous, intensive, mapping of the dead (article, graphic alone). By that, there is no skull in the left position in later images. This appears also to be attached to a body, perhaps the one I numbered 11, which was, coincidentally, filmed by Sky News only (that I've noticed) and removed for all later views. But it would have to be flipped around. Or it's another body by #11, making at least two from right there, obstructing the media's left-hand walkway, that were removed.

Shed Massacre Tweets

April 22, 2012 (incomplete) 
last updates April 27

 << The Khamis Brigade Shed Massacre

 Note: I posted all this because it confused me. I added more related confusion later, in the hopes of getting some reader help making best sense of it all. I figured it out mostly on my own, with some tips in comments. This information then formed a good chunk of this post and a section of the shed massacre report. To get the significance in a wider context and with most of the kinks worked out, read that. Below is for reference/whatever it's worth.
---
An unusual, and perhaps the first version of the shed massacre story (that specifies the location) came with a message tweeted by “dovenews Libyan™” no later than a re-post at 11:33 am on August 25:

“Gaddafi forces executed 170 detainess [sic] in #Alyarmook military base, only 4 detainees mangd 2 escape 2 from #AzZwayia & 2 from #Hey#Alforjan”

The number 170 lines up closely with the 180 dead Abdulatti Musbah Bin-Halim would report that day, and he was among four escapees, perhaps all of them it might have seemed, who were being treated at Tripoli Medical Center. But three of those were from Zlitan, none from Zawiyah. There are no specified locals from Khellet al-Forjan the CIWCL knows of among the escapees. At least three are given as from Az-Zawiyah (“Mohammad,” Hussein Al-Lafi, and the person who’s gone by Mohammed Bashir and Bashir Mohammed Al-Sedik/Germani and ”Omar”).

This report was echoed by another Aug. 25 message by a Joanne Joanne ("Joanne ♌ Leo"?) who was able to add a fifth escapee, an uncle of hers.

“...only 4 detainees Escaped 2 from #AzZwayia 2 from #Hey #Alforjan #Libya Plus 1 another: My uncle (from Alziziyah) who escaped from Yarmook CONFIRMS this, he said at least 150 massacred. [source: Libyan Uprising Archive, LUA]

Alzizyah may refer to Al-Azizyah, a town ten miles southwest of the airport. Another locality not specified amongst the laterpublicized escapees. It was almost all Zlitan people. SHould someone contact Joanne and ask her for info on this uncle?

Later in the day, "Free Libya" tweeted or re-tweeted "Some bittersweet news, found out that my uncle from my mum’s side has escaped from the Yarmook Military camp prison, badly tortured." This was followed shortly with “Allahu akbar, my family in Hadba are all free :) The FF came and liberated them completely last night:) Allahu Akbar” Then "Hayat" repeated "#TripoliPrisoners Massacred. I don’t know how many but I can confirm #Gaddafi forces took them out before #FFs got to them." [LUA] 

Joanne does seem to have a link to someone in the area, Qasr Ben Ghashir. Honestly, I'm not sure who's talking to who in these things...

FromJoanne Joanne #HELP Fam of @Ebnat_Alislaam Lives in GaserBenGasher nrAirport FIGHTING CONT. 8daysNO POWER PPL Slaughtered FF need 2HELP This AREA Libiya_min_Hollanda @FromJoanne finaly my bro called me, he is stressed out they do t have any elect for more then 8 days now, he is SCREAMING for help and…. they dont know what happend in Tripoli, he told me now its mainly street fights out of fear he spoke 2 me in Dutch not even knowing that Gadafi cant control the lines anymore

"Libiya-min-Hollanda" had been earlier tweeting, on the 24th, about the shelling of civilian homes in the area, the number of civilians flooding the hospital, and then thanking the FFs for liberating the area. I repost that all here for additional (if confusing) details it gaves about the area.

PPL R SCREAMING 4 HELP #Tripoli GASR BEN GASHER close to airport FIERCE fighting #Media Pls contact @Ebnat_Alislaam #Libya Ppl DYING Just got info that FF from swani ben yadem are on there way 2 help Gaser Ben Gashir, I hope they get there fast! farms are of Bashir Salah he has 3 farms there, one next 2 gadafis farm, it has a very high wall of 4 meter the second one on the weat of the airport also with a 4 m high wall, 3 one the east side of the airport road, without a wall the one behind the center is the same one next 2 gadafis farm its about 10 hactare big also from a school called the school of Omran berabha in the center of gbg next 2 the school of Kmies Gadafi boys school the 3th farm is on the east side of the airport brige there has 2 be someth there even the comander of zintan FF said they noticed a mercides convoy near airport area the woman of my relatives left there homes and went more 2 the east, they r scared of the merc whom r everyw he Clashes are getting tuffer right now alot of injured civilians are at alafya clinc in GBG….. grad rockets figherd on civilian houses, they are fireing from the south!!!! Alafya clinic in gaser ben gashir is getting full of injured and dead civilians, doc there said he saw #Abdallah Mansoor GL Pls ppl let the world know what is happening in Gaser ben Gashir!!!!! the clashes are on the manara road, galet alferjan and next 2 the farm of #Gadafi BREAKING NEWS Gaser Ben Gashir has been liberated just reseaved a call from there!!!!! RT I will confirm later on again. FF from GBG, swani, zintan and misrata Thxxxxxxxxxxxx Joanne They need take photos RT @Ebnat_Alislaam Just heard #hannibal the son of Gadafi has been killed in Gaser ben Gashir not confirmed #Libya

Following some of the messages around, a "Cambo Donut" echoed some of the Misrata Military Council information Center's Aug. 25 e-mail, as if it had been tweeted.

“We have found possible mass murder in Tripoli prison. […] Drs at main Tripoli Hospital know more. Prisoners locked up, grenades thrown into their rooms.” “So far only retrieved 13 bodies. All badly burnt. Trying to get understanding from city morgue” “we believe event happen 4 days ago.” [LU]

That's August 21. Are they still saying, essentially, "yeah, we got here (wherever that is) late on the 23rd and found the bodies next morning, and they were killed days before we got here."? That's what they said later, just with this discovery erased, the massacre put in that time-slot, and conquest and discovery pushed up three days. The three tweets from Cambo Donut are listed elsewhere as messages 1-3 out of 4 from the info center (not at their previous account, or any other I could find). A Jess Hill/Jessradio re-posted all four parts (available only, per a Google search, here and here). The last one is given as follows:

4/4: Frm Misrata military coun: "A survivor we believe took the cloths of dead man & played dead for 10 hours until FLF free him." #Tripoli

The time and date are interesting: 8:22 PM - 24 Aug 11. What time zone? I cannot get a time stamp on Cambo Donut's re-tweets - the page as it stands only shows back to early March. (the dovenews channel goes way back 100 pages, to about a week too late to help with those early messages) April 24: I found all but the first of the four on original Jessradio pages with times. 8:18, 8:19, 8:22 pm, Aug. 24. Altogether, they read:

1/4: "We have found possible mass murder in Tripoli prison. We believe event happen abt 4 days ago." 2/4:"Drs at main Tripoli Hospital know more. Prisoners were locked up, grenades thrown into their rooms." 3/4: "So far only retrieved 13 bodies. All badly burnt. Trying to get understanding from city morgue." 4/4: "A survivor we believe took the cloths of dead man & played dead for 10 hours until FLF free him." [JRT]

How do the bolded parts line up? Four days prior would mean the 20th, putting the massacre three days before the discovery suggested by their previous e-mail. The fourth tweet adds “a survivor,” the first one mentioned, just about 24 hours after the now-accepted massacre date, and four days after by their reasoning here. How he was saved within ten hours is unclear; that’s the time-span between the Aug. 23 massacre and the first rebel e-mail, not between the Aug. 20 event and anything yet known.

The massacre time given: August 23, around 8pm/just after sunset/evening call to prayer
Misrata Military Council e-mail, August 24, 6:15 AM GMT, ten hours later:

The Information Center For Misurata Military Council claim to have found 140 bodies in a Tripoli prison. They claim the prisoners were killed by grenades thrown into their cells. So far 13 bodies have been recovered.