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Statement by the group of
demonstrators opposite the Ruling Libyan Regime Embassy in London
On the 8th Anniversary of the Abu Sleem prison Massacre in Tripoli –
Libya, which took place on the 28th and 29th of June 1996, we the
demonstrators stand here today to condemn in the strongest possible terms
this deliberate and premeditated evil act. The Abu Sleem massacre claimed
the lives of more than one thousand two hundred prisoners utterly and
totally without any justification.
According to eyewitnesses, the massacre followed a peaceful demand by the
prisoners to the prison authorities to improve their living conditions and
to allow them to see their visiting family members. They were desperate
for a human-like treatment by their prison guards after years in captivity
without trial or redress. The demands of these young and tormented human
souls were met with lethal force, which was employed as the first option.
Their bodies were handled by bulldozers and transported in refrigerated
trucks to unknown mass graves.
The slaughter of these innocent human beings represents one of the worst
acts of mass murder perpetrated against the Libyan people by the regime of
Muammar Al Gaddafi over his 35 years of totalitarian and dictatorial rule
of Libya. Twelve hundred people massacred at Abu Sleem of the five million
people of Libya are much more in infoparison to the five thousand people
massacred at Halabja of the twenty five million people of Iraq! This mass
execution of innocent people will be remembered as one of the worst acts
of mass murder ever carried out to this day.
We call on all the international legal and human rights organisations and
all the supporters of justice and liberty to join with us in condemning
the regime of Muammar Al Gaddafi for allowing this to happen and to
support us in our demand to hold all those responsible for this vile act
to account for their actions.
While we hold the Libyan regime fully responsible for what happened at Abu
Sleem prison, we also take this opportunity to demand the following from
the regime:
1- A formal and infoplete acceptance of responsibility regarding this
massacre
2- To release the full facts of what happened including the names of all
those who were massacred and the
whereabouts of their bodies
3- To hold a full and independent investigation into the massacre, in
partnership with respected international legal
institutions, to investigate what happened at Abu
Sleem and to handover those responsible to the courts for
justice to take its course.
4- To release all political prisoners inside all Libyan jails
5- To dismantle all the exceptional laws and legislations implemented
by the Libyan regime.
To the families, the relatives and friends of those who have lost their
loved ones we offer our heartfelt condolences.
The demonstrators
Wednesday, 30th June 2004
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