Libyans have long been racist against black Africans and have tried to chase them out. "Rebels" now in charge thanks to US taxpayer dollars are even more violent toward blacks. The BBC seems unaware of Libya's longstanding racism. "Libyan people don't like people with dark skins."
9/18/11, "Libya conflict: Black African migrants caught in backlash," BBC
"When rebel fighters moved into Tripoli last month, an immediate hunt began for former regime loyalists and African mercenaries accused of working for Col Gaddafi.
Evidence has emerged in a series of interviews that suggests that some engaged in a violent campaign of abuse and intimidation
- against the black immigrant community in Tripoli.
Hundreds of men have been arrested with little or no evidence, homes have been pillaged and people beaten up. Most victims are too afraid to be identified but they contacted the BBC to air their grievances.
One man showed us around another home that had been ransacked. A thick iron bar in the corner of the dark room had been used to beat the men and the women there as the rebels made off with their money and few possessions.
He told us he was glad when Col Gaddafi was overthrown, expecting a better life. Instead he and hundreds of others black Africans have become victims, a soft target.
"This is the African continent, I am an African, this is my land. Is it because of my colour, because I am a black man? We don't have a voice. Who would you to turn to?"...
There are no figures for how many foreign mercenaries Col Gaddafi employed.
It is almost certainly far fewer than the rebel fighters suspected. Most black Africans in Libya have been living here for years
- doing casual manual labour.
The transitional council has told its fighters to avoid revenge attacks and there has been far less violence than many had feared. But the city's jails are still full of men detained with little or no evidence, with no access to lawyers or even their families. One woman showed us the black eye she received for arguing with the fighters as they dragged her husband away:
"There has been no communication. I am scared of everything happening in this country. I am now begging them to just leave my husband, he's innocent, he's very quiet, he couldn't even fight me," she said.
The leadership of the National Transitional Council has repeatedly called for restraint from its fighters, urging them to avoid revenge attacks.
- But it is clear that some appear to have ignored this....
"A group of armed men came to our house. They started knocking, they came in saying 'murtazaka'. They locked my mother inside a toilet. Six of them raped me. They took our belongings and money. My father tried to stop them but they hit him and carried him away."
That was nearly three weeks ago and she has not seen or heard of her father since."...
-----------------------
"Libyan people don't like people with dark skins." This has been known well before US taxpayers were forced to support them via Obama and a worthless US congress.
8/30/11, "Libyans don't like people with dark skin, but some are innocent'," UK Independent, Patrick Cockburn
"Any black African can expect arrest without proof he was not part of Gaddafi's forces. Patrick Cockburn reports from Tripoli"
-------------------------
The idea that Gadaffi always favored blacks turns out not to be true:
3/18/11, "Border Blues," Think Africa Press by Ben Judah, reporting from the Tunisia side of the Libya-Tunisia border
"“Libya bad for the black....” said a Malian arrival at the camp, “rebel chase us....Gadaffi chase us.”...Unconfirmed claims of tens of thousands of black Africans fleeing southwards into Niger and Chad have also been reported in the region."...
.
No comments:
Post a Comment