Libya sought Thursday to refute crimes against humanity charges at the UN Human Rights Council, but states including France and Spain said they did not recognise Moamer Gaddafi’s regime. Mustafa Shaban, Libya’s head of delegation, told the council that demonstrations which began in February were “not peaceful protests but an unprecedented armed insurgency.” “The protests only lasted for a few hours on 15 February.
This was dealt with by Libya without any human rights abuses,” he said during a hearing at the council on the situation in Libya. “But this was used by criminal organisations and terrorist organisations and turned into widespread and armed rebellion,” Shaban charged. Shaban also accused NATO forces of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in their offensive against Gaddafi’s regime.
“NATO is violating human rights in Libya tantamount to crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression,” he said. “We request investigation into violations of human rights caused by NATO.” But other states dismissed Shaban’s speech, saying they considered the rebel National Transitional Council to be the Libyan authority. “France considers that the National Transitional Council is the only government authority… We therefore do not recognise the legitimacy of the delegation from Tripoli to represent the Libyan people,” French ambassador Jean-Baptiste Mattei said.
