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.http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/in-libya-the-peril-of-being-black/2011/09/09/gIQAY2FoFK_print.html
In Libya, the peril of being black
By Leila Fadel, Published: September 10
TRIPOLI, Libya --- Vivienne looked out through the bars of the Tripoli
jail cell where rebel authorities had held her for five days. She is one
of a group of 90 Nigerian migrants who were rounded up during the
climactic battle here last month against Moammar Gaddafi's troops,
accused of possessing weapons and killing Libyans.
Vivienne said her only crime is her black skin.
"They think because we are black, we are fighting for Gaddafi," she said
this week, afraid to give her last name. "We were hiding. We were
afraid. There were gunshots and bombs." Around her, other women ---
hairdressers, housekeepers, one pregnant --- told the same story.
Since the uprising against Gaddafi's 42-year-long rule began in
February, many dark-skinned Libyans and sub-Saharan Africans here have
feared for their lives. They have been targeted for arrests and
killings, they say, because of perceptions that they colluded with the
autocratic leader, who is accused of using foreign African mercenaries
to mow down his opponents and counted black Libyans among his staunchest
supporters.
More than 1.5 million sub-Saharan Africans are thought to work in Libya,
a country of 6.5 million, according to Refugees International, most of
them as day laborers in low-paid jobs. The International Organization
for Migration said that it has evacuated about 1,400 migrants from the
capital and that about 800 others have taken refuge in the fishing port
of Janzour, just west of the city.
Driven from home
At a makeshift camp in the port, the migrants sleep under decrepit boats
hung with blankets and cook in tin pots over fires. Some said they were
forced out of their homes at gunpoint. Others said they ran when they
lost family members or heard of friends being killed. With no money,
they say, they don't want to go home but feel that they cannot stay in
Libya.
Peter Bouckaert, the emergencies director for Human Rights Watch, said
there was violence throughout the uprising against black Libyans and
sub-Saharan Africans in the capital, adding that his group had confirmed
Gaddafi's use of foreign mercenaries there. The persecution, he added,
was still going on.
"It really is racist violence against all dark-skinned people,"
Bouckaert said. "This situation for Africans in Tripoli is dire."
Dealing with racism that came to a head during the uprising is among the
biggest challenges facing Libya's new rebel authority as it seeks to
replace Gaddafi's repressive rule with a transparent and accountable
democracy.
The rebels' Transitional National Council has called for restraint and
an end to revenge attacks, but as it struggles to gain control of the
country, it has done little to curb racial persecution.
On Friday night, troops loyal to the new Libyan authority launched
military offensives against two of Gaddafi's final bastions of support,
according to fighters whose relatives were participating in the assault.
Fighting broke out outside Sirte, 300 miles east of Tripoli, and
fighters entered the town of Bani Walid, 96 miles southeast of the
capital, where three of Gaddafi's sons are believed to be holed up. The
offensives came a day earlier than the rebel-imposed deadline for the
towns to surrender or fight.
In Janzour, meanwhile, migrant families sleep on bug-infested
mattresses. Before aid groups began providing fresh water and medical
support this week, they drank and bathed in salt water from the sea. The
women go in fear of rape.
"They need to be moved somewhere where they are safe," said Niklas
Bergstrans, the communications officer for Doctors Without Borders in
Tripoli. "It's disappointing. We haven't seen any concrete actions from
the Transitional National Council and other international organizations."
On Friday, Edobar Igwe, 27, sat in the shade of a fishing boat. He has
been sleeping in the Janzour camp for a month after fleeing Misurata,
131 miles east of Tripoli, when armed men came to his home and killed
his girlfriend, he said.
Misurata residents are particularly vengeful toward black Libyans and
African migrants because of Gaddafi's use of the predominantly black
neighboring town of Tawargha as a base during the long battle for their
city this spring. Many of their women, they say, were raped by Tawargha
residents and pro-Gaddafi forces. Now Tawargha is abandoned, and if the
residents return, they will likely be beaten or killed, Misuratans say.
Igwe fled to the capital and hid until he heard that Janzour was "a safe
place for blacks." A mason, he came to Libya from Nigeria three years
ago to find work.
"I can't stay here, and I can't go back because I have no money," he
said. "The rebels took $7,000 from me. They chase us with guns if we go
out. Because of this war, they think we are those people who came to
fight the rebels. But I don't have a gun."
Jailed in Tripoli
At the Maftouh jail in Tripoli, Aisha Mohammed pulled on the bars of her
cell. She and 10 other women --- from Chad, Mali and Nigeria, countries
where Gaddafi is said to have hired mercenaries --- were being held for
their protection, rebel fighters said. Of the 323 detaineeshere, 188 are
African migrants, held separately because of fears that they might carry
infectious diseases, the guards said.
"You treat us like animals. You cover your nose when you give us food,"
Mohammed screamed at the guard. "We are not animals. We just want to go
home."
The hairdresser said she was picked up while walking to the store and
has been in the prison for 18 days.
Mohammed al Dhamoudi, who oversees the jail, dismissed the women's
accusations of ill treatment, pointing to the clinic and the food
supplies. "We treat them well here, and if they didn't do anything, they
will be released," he said. "We'll send them to their countries, God
willing."
The authorities have yet to set up a judicial system to process
detainees, although they now require arrest warrants.
" What is really lacking is a judicial process that would quickly and
immediately, with a fair investigation and hearing, distinguish between
the unfortunate people caught because of their color or status and those
who committed atrocities," said Salah Barghani, a Libyan human rights
lawyer working with detainees. "More than 50 percent of these people
need to be released. They can't all be mercenaries."
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