A/HRC/17/44 3. (a) Factual findings Violations committed by Government forces 204. The Commission received several reports of rape committed by Government forces. The Commission spoke with Iman al-Obeidi, whose case has received international media attention. She reported that, after being stopped at a check-point, she was raped over two days by 15 Government security force members, and subject to further degrading treatment. Journalists present at the media conference in which she first recounted her story noted that, “she displayed a broad bruise on her face, a large scar on her upper thigh, several narrow and deep scratch marks lower on her leg, and marks from binding around her hands and feet”.179 In Benghazi, the father of a 30-year-old Libyan woman informed the Commission that his daughter was detained in her house in Misrata for two days and raped by Government forces. She had returned to check on the safety and whereabouts of her brother when Government forces “came and restrained them for two days, keeping them in separated rooms. They were raping her, while trying to extract information from my son about the „rebels‟”. 205. In another case, a relative of a Libyan woman informed the Commission that a woman was raped in Ajdabiya by Government forces trying to abduct her brothers. The woman was beaten and raped in front of them. A female photographer working for the New York Times was arrested on 15 March at a check point near Ajdabiya and detained for six days, during which period she was subjected to sexual assault by Government forces. 180 The Commission received accounts indicating that minors have been subject to sexual assault in Misrata, Ajdabiya and Ras Lanuf.181 Several sources, for instance, spoke about a 10-year-old girl raped in Misrata by Government forces who was later treated at AlJamahiriya Hospital in Benghazi. More speculative information repeated was that members of the Kata’eb were found with condoms and Viagra pills, leading those recounting these occurrences to suggest that troops were given instructions to engage in rape and that they were supplied with both the pills and the condoms. A psychologist in Benghazi informed the Commission that out of 60,000 persons responding to a survey, 259 reported cases of sexual abuse.182 However, the Commission has no further details of the methodology or the findings of this study. 206. Reports of the threat and fear of rape by Government forces were frequently raised by interviewees. Libyan interviewees in Tunisia, for instance, noted that they had received phone calls from their relatives in Az-Zawiyah and Zuwarah reporting collective rape of residents by Government forces and “alleged mercenaries” as well as some unidentified armed men. Other interviewees coming from Misrata, told the Commission that the main reason for fleeing was to safeguard family members from rape, whilst at least one witness 179 180 181 182 David D. Kirkpatrick, “Libyan Woman Struggles to Tell Media of Her Rape”, The New York Times, 26 March 2011. Available from www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/world/middleeast/27tripoli.html?_r=2. This case is addressed in paragraph 141 of the present report. A number of Sudanese persons interviewed by the Commission mentioned that several women and minors (7–10 years old) were raped in Ajdabiya by Government forces, without providing further details. Moreover, an international NGO which conducted interviews with 200 children and 40 adults in four IDP camps in Benghazi reported that minors as young as 8 years were subject to sexual abuse. These reports were unconfirmed. Psychologist Siham Sergewa was interviewed by CNN on 23 May 2001. Sara Sidner and Amir Ahmed, “Psychologist: Proof of hundreds of rape cases during Libya‟s war” CNN, 23 May 2011. Available from http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/05/23/libya.rape.survey.psychologist/. The Commission has not yet been able to receive further details of the methodology used in the survey and its results. 59