LONDON – About 1,000 people are believed to have been killed in clashes between supporters and opponents of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the British government said in a human rights report published on Thursday.
“Whilst there has been no official death toll, several sources report that approximately 1,000 people have already been killed and many more have been injured during the recent violence,” the report from Britain’s Foreign Office said.
The Foreign Office also said it was “appalled by widespread reports of other serious human rights violations, including the use of torture and extra-judicial executions, illegal arrests and detentions (including incommunicado detention), denial of medical assistance and humanitarian aid.”
The quarterly update on human rights in Libya, covering the period since an uprising began against Gaddafi’s rule, noted “credible and consistent reports of…brutality with innocent civilians reported killed by indiscriminate shelling and air strikes by pro-Gaddafi forces in towns and cities in Libya where anti-government protests were taking place”.
