TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Rebel forces and armed
civilians are rounding up thousands of black Libyans and migrants from
sub-Sahara Africa, acccusing them of fighting for ousted strongman Moammar
Gadhafi and holding them in makeshift jails across the capital.
Virtually all of the detainees say they are
innocent migrant workers, and in most cases there is no evidence that they are
lying. But that is not stopping the rebels from placing the men in facilities
like the Gate of the Sea sports club, where about 200 detainees — all black —
clustered on a soccer field this week, bunching against a high wall to avoid
the scorching sun.
Handling the prisoners is one of the first major
tests for the rebel leaders, who are scrambling to set up a government that
they promise will respect human rights and international norms, unlike the
dictatorship they overthrew.
The rebels' National Transitional Council has
called on fighters not to abuse prisoners and says those accused of crimes will
receive fair trials.There have been little credible evidence of rebels killing
or systematically abusing captives during the six-month conflict. Still, the
African Union and Amnesty International have protested the treatment of blacks
inside Libya, saying there is a potential for serious abuse.
Aladdin Mabrouk, a spokesman for Tripoli's military
council, said no one knows how many people have been detained in the city, but
he guessed more than 5,000. While no central registry exists, he said neighborhood
councils he knows have between 200 and 300 prisoners each. The city of 1.8
million has dozens of such groups.
Justice Minister Mohammed al-Alagi told reporters
this week that he'd visited several detention centers and found conditions
"up to international standards."
"We are building a Libya of tolerance and
freedom, not of revenge," he said.
Oil-rich but with a relatively small population of
6.6. million, Gadhafi's Libya welcomed hundreds of thousands of black Africans
looking for work in recent decades. Many young citizens of Mali and Niger who
flocked to Libya in the 1970s and 1980s were recruited into an "Islamic
Legion" modeled on the French Foreign Legion. In addition, Gadhafi's
military recruited heavily from black tribes in Libya's south
As a result, people with roots in sub-Saharan
Africa and black Libyan citizens have been targeted by rebel forces in the
messy and confusing fight for control of the country.
In the Khallat al-Firjan neighborhood in south
Tripoli, Associated Press reporters saw rebel forces punching a dozen black men
before determining they were innocent migrant workers and releasing them.
The Gate of the Sea club near Tripoli's fishing
port became a lockup Monday night, when residents rounded up people in the
surrounding area.
Guards at the club said they looked for unfamiliar
faces, then asked for IDs. Those without papers or whose legal residences were
distant cities were marched to the club.
This week, an armed guard stood by a short hallway
that led through two metal gates onto a soccer field surrounded by high walls.
There was no roof, so the detainees clustered against the wall to get out of
the heat.
One black Libyan from the southern city of Sebha
said he had worked for a Tripoli cleaning company. A French-speaking man from
Niger said he had a shop nearby. One black Libyan said he was in the army but
quit during the uprising.
In an office nearby where sports trophies still
lined the shelves, Ibrahim al-Rais, a 60-year-old fisherman, acted as prison
director. A bag held wallets and IDs taken from the captives. Another was
stuffed with cell phones, which occasionally rang.
He acknowledged that many of the detainees were
likely innocent migrant workers stranded in the country but he insisted that a
"big percentage" were mercenaries.
"These people were fighting against our
people," he said.
As proof, his team pointed to ID cards issued in
Libya's south that he said were fake and a document issued by the Niger Embassy
in Tripoli. He said Gadhafi gave many mercenaries Libyan IDs so they could
fight. He also said many had been carrying dollars or euros — which al-Rais
said were mercenary wages.
Sabri Taha, a fish merchant in short and flip-flops
who was prisoners, said one had a video on his phone of a soldier shooting
children. When asked by an AP reporter to play it, he couldn't find it. The
prisoner said he didn't know how the video got on his phone.
In another man's wallet, Taha found a photo of the
detainee in a green military uniform and accused him of fighting for Gadhafi.
The detainee said he had manned a regime checkpoint, but had defected to the
rebels when they reached the city.
The captors insist their prison is temporary and
that the local military council will question the detainees before releasing them
or transferring them elsewhere.
In the meantime, they started a handwritten list of
the men's names, ages and nationalities.
"You see, we have no experience, but we have
figured out how to get organized," said Abu-Bakir Zaroug, a local
volunteer.
They still didn't know how many prisoners they
held.
"The danger is that there is no oversight by
any authorities, and the people who are carrying out the arrests — more like
abductions — are not trained to respect human rights," said Diana Eltahawy
of Amnesty International. "They are people who carry a lot of anger
against people they believe committed atrocities."
For about a week, the Tripoli Local Prison has been
receiving inmates and now holds about 300, said Anwar Bin Naji, a former prison
employee who helps run the facility. About 50 are Libyans. The rest are from
Ghana, Nigeria, Niger and other African countries.
"They are all arrested by rebels or by
civilians who love the homeland," Naji said.
As he spoke, two rebel trucks carrying about a
dozen black men entered the prison, honking their horns.
"Those are all mercenaries, or most of
them," he said before speaking to the men.
In the cellblock, captives clustered by the barred
doors of their cells. All said they were migrant workers who had come to Libya
to work. Some said they'd lived here for years.
They said they hadn't been beaten, and were given
simple food once or twice a day. They had drinking water, but none for bathing,
they said.
Of the 28 people in one five-by-six meter cell, one
had blistering burns on his face, neck and arm. Naji, the guard, said
volunteers were still setting up a medical clinic.
The burned man, Ahmed Ali, said he'd come to Libya
from his native Chad two years ago and worked as a house painter before the
uprising.
"When the rebels entered Tripoli, some guys
came and burned down my house," he said. He escaped and ran to some rebel
fighters, hoping they'd protect him.
"They brought me here," he said, adding
that he'd received no medical care in the six days since his arrest.
"They believe that most of the black in Libya
are mercenaries, so now all the blacks on the street, they pick them up,"
he said.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
Photo
Caption: Men suspected of being mercenaries for Moammar Gadhafi, are held in a
district sports center next to the medina, set up as provisory jail in Tripoli,
Libya, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2011. Libyan rebels are demanding that Algeria return
Moammar Gadhafi's wife and three of his children for trial after they fled,
raising tensions between the neighboring countries. Algeria's decision to host
members of the Gadhafi clan is an "aggressive act against the Libyan
people's wish," said Mahmoud Shammam, information minister in the rebels'
interim government. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
