A/HRC/19/68
Commission was able to corroborate the testimony with photographs showing decomposing
bodies.
29.
The Commission found that other mass executions had occurred in Bani Walid, and
a significant number of individual killings had been committed elsewhere.
3.
Thuwar
30.
In its first report, the Commission found that a number of Chadian nationals had
been executed by groups of thuwar in Benghazi in late February 2011. The Commission
confirmed further similar killings during phase II of the conflict. In February 2011, in Al
Zawiyah, eyewitnesses told the Commission how two captured Qadhafi soldiers had been
killed by a mob: one beaten to death, the other hanged from a bridge.7
31.
The Commission received reports of executions by the thuwar. Around 22 and 23
February 2011, in a village between Al Bayda and Darnah, more than a dozen Qadhafi
soldiers were reportedly shot in the back of the head by the thuwar. The reports were
corroborated by mobile telephone footage. Scores of Qadhafi soldiers and alleged loyalists
(estimates ranging from 65 to 78) were executed by the thuwar in October 2011 at the
Mahari Hotel in Sirte. The victims had their hands bound behind their backs and were shot.
Physical evidence and video footage corroborated witness testimony of the killings. Some
of the dead were captured fighters, while others were believed to have been those
previously receiving treatment at the Ibn Sina Hospital. Still others were civilians
reportedly arrested at checkpoints established by the thuwar. The Commission also
documented 12 cases of men who died in custody in detention facilities controlled by
thuwar. The cases involve either agents of the Qadhafi security apparatus or Tawerghans, a
community targeted by the Misrata thuwar.8 Bodies were abandoned in hospitals with
visible signs of torture. The Commission’s forensic pathologist concluded that the injuries
were consistent with torture.
4.
Death of Muammar and Mutassim Qadhafi
32.
Both Muammar and Mutassim Qadhafi were captured separately on 20 October
2011 outside Sirte by Misrata thuwar. Though wounded, both were alive at capture, and
subsequently died in thuwar custody.
33.
With regard to the death of Muammar Qadhafi, the Commission was not given
access to the autopsy report despite the numerous requests addressed to the authorities. The
Commission was provided with photographs of the body of Muammar Qadhafi and
reviewed by its forensic pathologist, who was unable to determine the cause of death
conclusively from the photographs provided. While the Commission received eyewitness
testimony from persons with Muammar Qadhafi at the time of capture, it was not able to
obtain a first-hand account of the circumstances of his death, and received inconsistent
accounts from secondary sources. Consequently, the Commission was unable to confirm
that the death of Muammar Qadhafi constituted a case of an unlawful killing, and considers
that further investigation is required.
34.
With regard to the death of Mutassim Qadhafi, the Commission reviewed video
footage showing him alive and in the custody of thuwar post-capture, but was unable to
obtain any account of the circumstances of his death. Consequently, the Commission was
7
8
8
For individual cases of the killing of members of communities perceived by the thuwar to be Qadhafi
loyalists, see A/HRC/19/CRP.1, chap. IV.
See ibid., chap. III, sect. E.
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