Libya: International Specialist
/- What reasons does Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon give for intervention in Libya?
- What evidence does the Libyan representative provide when calling for international support against Qaddafi?
[...] The Secretary-General: I wish to thank the Council for the opportunity to brief it this afternoon. On our agenda is the issue of peace and security in Africa. [...]
We meet at a critical moment — potentially a defining moment — for the Arab world. Fundamental issues of peace and stability are at stake, most immediately at this moment in Libya.
Since my Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Lynn Pascoe, briefed the Council earlier this week (see S/PV.6486), there have been continuing reports of violence and the indiscriminate use of force. Estimates indicate that more than 1,000 people have been killed. The eastern part of the country is reported to be under the control of opposition elements, who have taken over arms and ammunition from weapon depots. There are daily clashes in at least three cities near Tripoli. The streets of the capital are largely deserted. People cannot leave their houses for fear of being shot by Government forces or militias. Colonel Al-Qadhafi’s supporters are reportedly conducting house-by-house searches and arrests. According to some reports, they have even gone into hospitals to kill wounded opponents.
Today, clashes broke out again, with high casualties reported. In their public statements, Colonel Al-Qadhafi and members of his family have continued to threaten citizens with a civil war and the possibility of mass killing if the protests continue. There are other allegations of the killing of soldiers who refused to fire upon their countrymen.
Let us speak frankly: these accounts from the press, human rights groups and civilians on the ground raise grave concerns about the nature and scale of the conflict. They include allegations of indiscriminate killings, arbitrary arrests, the shooting of peaceful demonstrators and the detention and torture of the opposition and the use of foreign mercenaries. We are also hearing reports of women and children being among the victims, as well as reports of indiscriminate attacks on foreigners believed to be mercenaries. We know from the Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross that there are dangerous impediments to medical treatment and access for humanitarian workers. We do not have conclusive proof, but the reports appear to be credible and consistent.
I strongly believe that the first obligation of the international community is to do everything possible to ensure the immediate protection of civilians at demonstrable risk. Indeed, if further proof is required, it should be sought simultaneously with measures to afford protection. [...]
In that regard, I would like to underscore the statement of Ms. Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights, to the Human Rights Council. She reminded member States that, when a State manifestly fails to protect its population from serious international crimes, the international community has the responsibility to step in and take protective action in a collective, timely and decisive manner. [...]
We have seen strong statements from many international leaders and international organizations, among them the League of Arab States, the European Union and the African Union. They have called for an immediate end to the violence and condemned what appeared to be gross violations of human rights. In my conversations with the leaders of the region and the world, and in my public and private statements, I have spoken out bluntly and repeatedly. The violence must stop. Those responsible for so brutally shedding the blood of innocents must be punished. Fundamental human rights must be respected.
My Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect have reminded the national authorities in Libya, as well as in other countries facing large-scale popular protests, that the heads of State and Government at the 2005 World Summit pledged to protect populations by preventing genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, as well as their incitement. The challenge for us now is how to provide real protection and do all we can to halt the ongoing violence.
As the Council looks to its next steps, I urge it to consider a wide range of options for action. Some of the proposals being considered by the Council include the imposition of trade and financial sanctions, including targeted measures against the leadership, such as a ban on travel and the freezing of financial assets. Some Member States call for a comprehensive arms embargo. Others draw our attention to the clear and egregious violations of human rights taking place in Libya and urge the Security Council to take effective action to ensure real accountability.
It is time for the Security Council to consider concrete action. The hours and days ahead will be decisive for Libyans and their country, with equally important implications for the wider region. The statements and actions of the Security Council are eagerly awaited and will be closely followed throughout the region. Whatever its course, let us be mindful of the urgency of the moment. In these circumstances the loss of time means more loss of lives. [...]
The President: I thank the Secretary-General for his briefing.
I now give the floor to the representative of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
Mr. Shalgham (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya): Allow me, at the outset, to express our gratitude to you, Madame President, for calling this meeting on the situation in my country and the events unfolding there. I would also like to commend the Secretary-General for his concern about the situation in my country.
Pol Pot, head of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, was asked why he executed one third of his people. He said he did it because of the people. Before invading the Soviet Union, Hitler recalled Rommel from Libya and told him, “General, I intend to invade the Soviet Union”. Rommel told him, “Operation Barbarossa will cost us 2 million lives”. Hitler responded, “What does it matter if 2 million Germans die in service to the glory of the Führer?”
What is taking place in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya is indeed very dangerous. On 15 February, a group of peaceful civilians protested, calling for the release of a lawyer named Tarbel who was representing the families of 2,000 prisoners who were killed in the Abu Salim prison in 1996. This group faced gunfire aimed at their heads and chests, as if the soldiers who opened fire did not know that human beings have heads, hearts and legs, or that there are other parts than can be shot at, that there are such things as tear gas bombs or roadblocks that can contain demonstrations.
Libyans are asking for democracy; they are asking for progress; they are asking for freedom; and they are asking for their rights. They demonstrated peacefully. They did not throw a single stone. They were killed. What did Brother Muammar Al-Qadhafi say? He said that these people were using hallucinogens. These tens of thousands of people would need mountains of such pills to lose their minds in such a way. One million turned out in Benghazi yesterday. A pile of pills the size of the Akhdar Mountains would not be enough for that many people.
Muammar Al-Qadhafi and his sons are telling Libyans: “Either I rule you or I kill you”. That much is clear this evening after dozens of our brothers were killed in Tajura and in eastern Tripoli. He gave a speech to a crowd of children who were brought in from asylums and soldiers dressed in civilian clothes. He told them “I will burn Libya; I will distribute arms to the tribes. Libya will run red with blood”. Is this for glory, or is it for the people? Muammar Al-Qadhafi cannot give a single weapon to any person in Libya, because they will not be used for him, they will be used against him.
I regret being in this position. The first time I heard Muammar Al-Qadhafi, he was addressing a secondary school, in the south, in 1959. He was talking about how he wanted freedom for the Congo. In 1960, I listened to him denounce the French nuclear tests in Algeria. In 1961, I listened to him speak out against the separation of Syria and Egypt. Today, I listened to him telling his people “Either I rule over you or I destroy you.”
Fear not, Libya is united. Libya will remain united. Libya will be a progressive State. But I say to my brother Al-Qadhafi, leave the Libyans alone. However many of these steadfast people you kill [...] they will not surrender. Libyans will not surrender. Omar Mukhtar said it best: “We will not surrender. Either we achieve victory or we die.” We will not surrender. Victory, or death.
When I was a member of the Security Council, representing my country, I talked openly about the murders we saw in Gaza. Muammar Al-Qadhafi said they were followers of Bin Laden. I ask my brother, “Is a six-month-old child who was killed a follower of Bin Laden?” Libya was established by a resolution of the United Nations. Please, United Nations, save Libya. No to bloodshed. No to the killing of innocents. We want a swift, decisive and courageous resolution. [...]