July 19, 2005
Kofi Annan, Secretary-General
The United Nations
First Avenue and 46th Street
New York, NY10017
Dear Secretary-General Annan:
We refer to our letter on July 7, 2005, where we enumerated
countless human rights violations by the Libyan regime against
its own citizens both inside and outside of Libya and citizens
of other countries. Although crimes of the regime against
Non-Libyans have been investigated, and restitutions have
been made, no such investigations were ever made in the
countless crimes against Libyan citizens. The reason being,
the cases against foreign nationals were championed by their
respective governments, while the Libyan government is the
one responsible for killing its own citizens.
Since we sent our letter of July 7, another heinous crime
was committed against an elderly gentleman, Mohamed Omar
Shalluf, who was 85 years old, brutally murdered in front
of his elderly wife of similar age. The murderer had severed
all telephone lines leading to the home before committing
his heinous crime. Due to the vigilance of the deceased’s
neighbors, the killer was apprehended and taken into custody;
however, no serious charges were filed. Mohamed Omar Shalluf
was the father of Dr. Hadi Shalluf, a prominent Libyan lawyer
living in Paris. Dr. Hadi Shalluf has recently founded a
political party to promote Justice and democracy in Libya.
We believe that the murder of his father is directly related
to Dr. Shalluf’s political activity. Gadhafi has frequently
threatened to execute all those who oppose him and has a
record of using collective punishment against families of
his opponents.
This pattern of murder had occurred before at another
location in Tripoli when the mutilated body of Musa Ahmed,
a former army officer, was discovered in his farm on the
outskirts of Tripoli. His killers severed all lines of communications
to his farmhouse before killing him; his murder was never
seriously investigated. Musa Ahmed was one of those who
lead the military coup that brought Gadhafi to the seat
of power in Libya. However, Musa Ahmed was subsequently
imprisoned for many years and only recently released. Although
released from captivity, Gadhafi continued to view him as
a potential risk to his totalitarian rule. We also believe
that his murder bears the fingerprints of the Libyan regime.
We believe that the presence of the Gadhafi regime under
the roof of the United Nations, an institution dedicated
to preserving peace and to the promotion of justice and
human rights, is an indelible mark of shame that can only
be erased by severing all ties with the Gadhafi regime and
to make it accountable for all his crimes. We are urging
you to stand firmly beside our people, not alongside their
oppressor.
Sincerely,
Mohamed M. Bugaighis, Ph.D.
Chairman, American Libyan Freedom Alliance (ALFA)
C.C: Chairman of the UN Human Rights Committee
Amnesty International
Human Rights Watch
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Department
of State |
