World

Hundreds of Women Report Rapes by Gadhafi Forces

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — At first, the responses to the questionnaire about the trauma of the war in Libya were predictable, if tragic: 10,000 people suffering post-traumatic stress, 4,000 children with psychological problems. Then came the unexpected: 259 women said they had been raped by militiamen loyal to Moammar Gadhafi.

Dr. Seham Sergewa had been working with children traumatized by the fighting in Libya but soon found herself being approached by troubled mothers who felt they could trust her with their dark secret.

The first victim came forward two months ago, followed by two more. All were mothers of children the London-trained child psychologist was treating, and all described how they were raped by militiamen fighting to keep Gadhafi in power.

Sergewa decided to add a question about rape to the survey she was distributing to Libyans living in refugee camps after being driven from their homes. The main purpose was to try to determine how children were faring in the war; she suspected many were suffering from PTSD.

To her surprise, 259 women came forward with accounts of rape. They all said the same thing.

“I was really surprised when I started visiting these areas, first by the number of people suffering from PTSD, including the large number of children among them, and then by the number of women who had been raped from both the east and west of the country,” Sergewa said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Rape has been a common weapon of war throughout the ages, most recently in conflicts from the Balkans in Europe to Sri Lanka in Asia and in sub-Saharan Africa, where Congo has been described as the epicenter of sexual crimes.

Across the world, rape carries a stigma. But it can be a deadly one in conservative Muslim societies like Libya, where rape is considered a stain on the honor of the entire family. Victims can be abandoned by their families and, in some cases, left in the desert to die. Speaking to a journalist is out of the question.

Sergewa’s questionnaire was distributed to 70,000 families and drew 59,000 responses.

“We found 10,000 people with PTSD, 4,000 children suffering psychological problems and 259 raped women,” she said, adding that she believes the number of rape victims is many times higher but that woman are afraid to report the attacks.

The women said they had been raped by Gadhafi’s militias in numerous cities and towns: Benghazi, Tobruk, Brega, Bayda and Ajdabiya (where the initial three mothers hail from) and Saloum in the east; and Misrata in the west.

Some just said they had been raped. Some did not sign their names; some just used their initials. But some felt compelled to share the horrific details of their ordeals on the back of the questionnaire.

Reading from the scribbled Arabic on the back of one survey, Sergewa described one woman’s attack in Misrata in March, while it was still occupied by Gadhafi’s forces.

“First they tied my husband up,” the woman wrote. “Then they raped me in front of my husband and my husband’s brother. Then they killed my husband.”

Another woman in Misrata said she was raped in front of her four children after Gadhafi fighters burned down her home.

“She ran away with her children and tried to escape to the port, but then they started shelling the port. In the chaos, she was separated from the children,” Sergewa said.

“She was distraught when I interviewed her, not knowing if her children were dead or alive. I wish I knew the end of her story, but I don’t know what happened to her.”

Doctors at hospitals in Benghazi, the rebel bastion, said they had heard of women being raped but had not treated any. The first international airstrikes on March 19 saved the city from falling into the hands of Gadhafi forces who were advancing in columns of tanks.

However, a doctor in Ajdabiya, 100 miles (150 kilometers) south of Benghazi, said he treated three women who said they were raped by Gadhafi fighters in March when the town was invaded.

“These women were terrified their families would find out — two were married, one was single,” Dr. Suleiman Refadi said. “They only came to me because they also were terrified that they may have been infected with the AIDS virus.” He said they had tested negative but doubted they would return for follow-up tests.

Gadhafi’s fighters were forced out of Ajdabiya weeks ago and the town now is largely deserted but for the rebels.

In a highly publicized case in Libya, Iman al-Obeidi burst into the hotel housing foreign journalists in Tripoli in March and accused pro-Gadhafi militiamen of gang-raping her because she is from rebel-held eastern Libya. Her anguished disclosure was captured by Western cameras and shown around the world.

Earlier this month, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Luis Moreno-Campo, said he has “strong evidence” of crimes against humanity committed by Gadhafi’s regime, including serious allegations of “women arrested and gang raped.”

One of Libya’s leading psychiatrists, Dr. Ali M. Elroey, told the AP that he has set up three mobile teams to treat trauma victims of the war in their homes or in temporary shelters: one for PTSD, one for other psychological problems and one for rape survivors.

Elroey said they need to reach out to people in their homes because the stigma associated with psychiatric care is leaving large numbers of patients untreated.

His outpatient clinic at Benghazi’s psychiatric hospital has treated more than 600 patients in two months, many responding to radio and newspaper advertisements offering psychiatric help for war trauma. He said most were women, though none had acknowledged being raped.

Sergewa said she has interviewed 140 of the rape survivors in various states of mental anguish, and has been unable to persuade a single victim to prosecute. None would speak to the AP about her ordeal, even with a promise to hide her identity.

“Some I diagnosed with acute psychosis; they are hallucinating,” Sergewa said. “Some are very depressed; some want to commit suicide. Some want their parents to kill them because they don’t want their families to bear the shame.”

Some already have been abandoned by their husbands and fear seeking treatment could get them ostracized or cast out of their communities. Others have kept the rapes a secret for fear of retribution from spouses. “They fear their husbands will take them out to the desert and leave them there to die,” Sergewa said.

It is likely more rapes could occur as the conflict drags on, Sergewa said.

“They are using rape not just to hurt women but to terrorize entire families and communities,” Sergewa said. “The women I spoke to say they believed they were raped because their husbands and brothers were fighting Gadhafi.

“I think it is also to put shame on the tribes or the villages, to scare people into fleeing, and to say: ‘We have raped your women,’” she said.

Sergewa says women will continue to be targets of the militiamen, and this makes it all the more urgent to finish her study and get it published.

“We must throw light on what is really happening in Libya and fight to bring justice for these women, to help heal them psychologically,” she said.

___

Associated Press writer Mike Corder contributed to this report from The Hague.

Comments (40)

  • Bernard
    Posted on May 31, 2011 at 4:47pm

    The rape of these women is a horrible act perpetrated by the current dictatorship. Yet they in secret told their tales without being punished. When Qaddafi finally falls and an Islamic theocracy replaces him these same women or other such victims to rape will face Sharia law that demands a rape victim produce three eye witnesses or be penalized and the penalty for not producing three eye witnesses would make that woman a liar and face the punishment of stoning as is the practice across the Middle East.
    So which is more evil? Qaddafi’s thugs? or a theocracy whose laws criminalizes the victim and rewards the criminal.

    Report Post »  
  • Bhaub
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 6:56pm

    Must’ve been how they were dressed, right Rush?

    Report Post » Bhaub  
    • glennisright.com
      Posted on May 31, 2011 at 3:19am

      Rush had never said anything like that bhaub, and I challenge you to find a credible source that says he did.

      Report Post » glennisright.com  
    • Bhaub
      Posted on May 31, 2011 at 1:18pm

      His January 11, 2011 show:

      “So yeah, just, that’s what they used to tell women who were raped, wasn’t it? Just sit back and enjoy it, put some ice on it, like Clinton said, put some ice on the lip, you asked for it, your dress asked for it, just sit back and enjoy it. Isn’t that how they used to tell raped women to deal with it?”

      Report Post » Bhaub  
  • Richard Compton
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 6:39pm

    Why does this not suprise me, that such a awful crime would be taking place. The people doing this have no values, they cannot see beyond their own needs or desires, they are godless thugs.
    May their victims find peace and the grace to forgive those who have violated them so cruely, my prayers are with them.

    Report Post »  
  • ED4237
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 6:05pm

    These reports are just that with no actual proff. These people are trying to find some lie that works to help them in the war effort. Anything they think will help them find support and tell us how bad Gaddfi is they will do. In the muslim world there is no rape women are complete objects for men to use as they see fit. They no this over ther and no how the westerns view of rape is so they now try and get support any way they can and this works on the big war hawkes here to be able and stand up and tell us what we are doing is for humanitarian purposes. You help in Libya and get Gaddfi out in comes the nuts like the Brotherhood and Alqeda. We are now helping them out so they can now take over governments and then stop selling the USA oil and grind us to a halt. We need to be thinking here and our government is not thinking at all.

    Report Post »  
  • Cold War Vet
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 5:30pm

    The Muslim Brotherhood in action! Arab Spring! There is more of this on the way. It’s called Sharia Law, and our dear elected officials and their brainless liberal leftist sheep are trying hard to bring it here!

    Something to think about…

    Report Post » Cold War Vet  
  • Zeke48
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 12:50pm

    What is wrong with this religion, these men are nothing but animals. Putting our women in the military should be restricted to duties in secure areas in the rear and not allowed anywhere out in the field. These muslim call themselves men, their nothing but cowards. I have seven sisters and I would end a mans life if they ever did that to anyone of them. Sorry, this would be my mercy killing. This religion is perveted and their own ladies can’t even speak up against it. This isn’t a religion, it’s a sickness if you think you can rape anyone you want and think you are doing justice. God help these girls.

    Report Post »  
  • ChiefGeorge
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 11:44am

    This regime is the reason for War! Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword. What do think it means? That they up and kill themselves? It is the righteousness of some nation that have been put in place over time by God to stand up to evil….unfortunately America is quickly becoming an unrighteous nation no longer fit to be the worlds policemen thus without her righteous might, we will see more evil of nations sprouting up. America is on the ropes right now and its due in part because the policitians want it that way and will not act in such a way to literally wipe out evil nations like we did in WW2. Wake Up!

    Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
  • GeorgieJo
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 10:55am

    Easy Peasy
    Send CODE PINK over there
    They will straighten Kadhafi out
    LMAO

    Report Post »  
  • NuffSaid
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 10:45am

    This is so disgusting. Rape is a standard item on every Muslim woman’s menu and now suddenly the media takes notice? I can’t wait for NOW to weigh in on this one.

    Rape is part of Muslim strategy. If the other guy is blind with rage, he will make a mistake in battle. Even more important in warfare are the stories of rape. The women under Qaddafi’s protection can expect no less that the rebel women.

    Don’t get excited about atrocities and tales of atrocities. In warfare, the enemy must be destroyed. After it’s all over, liberal lawyers can pick through the bones of the dead for nickles and dimes.

    Report Post »  
    • JoeAmerica
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 11:39am

      A far greater number of women get raped, and murdered in the US. What does that say about us? Your too quick to judge. Don’t forget the Middle East is more conservative the those whackos who ran to the U.S. in search of Freedom and Liberty from everything.

      Report Post » JoeAmerica  
  • rienheart
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 10:34am

    Liberals will say anything to disparage America. they will even support Jihadists who will Kill them for being Liberal Infidels.

    Report Post »  
  • temple62
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 10:06am

    Lets hope these liberal media reporters!

    Report Post » temple62  
  • Mateytwo Barreett
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 7:57am

    I fail to understand what is news in this story. W A R! I believe the US to be the ONLYcountry tat does not grasp the concept. Savagery is the name of the game. Why else do it? I believe, (but I’m from the US, so I may be wrong) the object is to defeat your enemy, not “come top terms”. As a matter of fact, on this memeorial day, I wonder how many American service members have died or been grossly maimed by “playing by the rules”?
    I would also venture to guess that this isn’t the first nor the last time this subject comes up!

    Report Post » Mateytwo Barreett  
  • quicker
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 7:23am

    @ joeamerica .In every population there is always a few bad apples the differance is we prosicute them.

    Report Post » quicker  
    • JoeAmerica
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 11:34am

      With %90 of the cases going unreported I think it’s fair to say we scare the hell out of the women not to report sexual assault for fear of retaliation. Being only %10 seem brave enough to stand up and admit what happened to them.

      Report Post » JoeAmerica  
    • dontbotherme
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 10:20pm

      Joe – There is no way of knowing that “90% of raped” women are not reporting the crime. Your lie is a fool’s statement. Also, in our Country, we do not stone rape victims to death. We punish the rapist. I take offense at your attack of our honorable Military, but this is your task. It is one step to try to destroy our Country. You should also practice your English writing skills more. You are caught.

      Report Post »  
  • 101
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 3:54am

    BHO loves Libya

    Report Post »  
    • starman70
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 9:54am

      Yeah! and when his Osama Bin Obama’s, The Moslem Brotherhood takes over, all these women will be stoned for having sexual relations with someone other than their husbands. All these women should flee to some country whitout Shariah law. You can bet your bottom dollar Obama won’t decry these actionsw.

      Report Post »  
  • reform
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 3:38am

    No comment on how the left reports these type of things!

    Report Post »  
  • SilentReader
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 3:01am

    This not only happens in Libya. This happens to Muslim women in all Islamic countries, and everywhere they go. Sharia condones it. The Islamist Supremacists think they are entitled. They’re entitled to pillage and rape and take women as their booty.

    The Islamists are the greatest marauders and enslavers of all time. They specialize in making everyone their slaves, and in killing. In the name of their pedophile prophet of doom.

    And the dhimmis of this world aid and abet them. They’ve been aiding and abetting them for 14 centuries now. Since the advent of their totalitarian and theo-political ideology that they call Islam. Islamism is the scourge of this earth but noone is willing to fight it because they’ve deceptively clothed it under the name of “religion”.

    There’s only one “religion” on the face of this earth that condones kidnap, rape, pillage, and lifelong slavery by the male supremacists and that’s Islamism. It’s as evil as any totalitarian fascist or Marxist ideology.

    One thing I know for sure is that they‘re going to spend eternity in hell for what they’ve done here on earth.

    Report Post » SilentReader  
  • staythecourse
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 1:34am

    It is called “war” for a reason. The realities of war are harsh and many. What are we doing there? Why are we there? It was nauseating to watch McCain call for even more involvement in this ‘war’. obama has promised money to support people of whom we know nothing. And now Russia will be acting as the NATO representative to the Libyan people bringing gifts of money (from the US) and support (US involvement) while taking all the credit to the Libyan people for ‘saving them’ from Gadhafi. The US will be painted as the Great Satan, Russia the saving grace, ‘redistribution’ will be accomplished, and we will then be left to ‘rebuild’ Libya after the bombs stop falling.

    Libya is an illegal war. Congress is officially nullified and void.

    Report Post »  
    • Mateytwo Barreett
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 8:03am

      The blathering McCain on Fox Sunday. “If we had the full might of the American military.” inLibya! Really!! YATHINK!!! We‘ve been dickin’ around in Iraq and Afganistan for damn near a decade- and with the “full might”! I will bet that the Taliban and Al Qeada won’t even have to dust off the furniture in the building we leave behind, and leave them we will- they’ll be there so quick.

      Report Post » Mateytwo Barreett  
  • JoeAmerica
    Posted on May 30, 2011 at 12:45am

    I truly hate to say this, but go to wikipedia and type in sexual assault in the U.S. military. In the first 18 month of Afghanistan and Iraq 100 cases of sexual assult were reported by female military members against male military members.. with and estimated 90% of cases going unreported. Thats means there was around 1000 cases of sexual assault against female military members alone by male members of the same military. Staggering. War is hell. Best to just avoid it.

    Report Post » JoeAmerica  
    • JoeAmerica
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 12:50am

      Also, do the math.. first 18 months, or year and half, of a 9+ year war means the actual occurances is likely to be around 4000. Not to mention assaults against Afghan and Iraqi women. Again, I hate to say it, but we should not be quick to judge. War is truly HELL on earth.

      Report Post » JoeAmerica  
    • NeoFan
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 2:45am

      That is just like the 400,000 civilian casualties that have been killed in Afghanistan just last week.
      Its also in Wikipedia. So if you do the math that is millions and millions of civilians killed in the last few days.

      Report Post »  
    • SilentReader
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 3:06am

      The difference is in our Western society we don‘t condone it and it doesn’t go unpunished.

      Report Post » SilentReader  
    • BJColter Country Music Iconoclast
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 7:52am

      Momar’s Rev. Wright and Farrakhan’s “brother”. He’s gonna float, he and Obumma are friends. Rape is a part of islam, this story comes as no shock. Here’s a song I wrote about all this crap.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqdufoUASMc

      Report Post » BJColter Country Music Iconoclast  
    • avenger
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 8:54am

      bad idea to allow women into the US military other than the nursing corp… as for libya,muslims treat women as objects of use/furniture…. http://thereligionofpeace.com

      Report Post »  
    • WakeUp
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 9:08am

      Don’t be so naive!! Wikopedia is NOT factual… it is an OPINION posting. Anyone can post anything they want. That doesn’t make it true.

      Report Post »  
    • techengineer11
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 9:44am

      Unfortunately this is just more Neo-Con propaganda used in hopes to get US soldiers on the ground. Far more American women raped and then murdered on the streets of America than in Libya.. Sorry Neo-Cons. Not buying what you are selling.

      Report Post » techengineer11  
    • rienheart
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 10:40am

      Moe-Ron. Anybody who believes wiki, is truly a Moe-Ron

      Report Post »  
    • Endeavour
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 11:26am

      Get your facts straight Joe.

      Report Post »  
    • ChiefGeorge
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 11:39am

      Well if we are going to Just avoid War to solve this problem then how about Just not having women serve in the armed forces at all. War is a part of this thing called a world. If you don‘t fight then you’ll be a slave to someone else with no freedom to even balk about if War is a good thing or a bad thing.

      Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
    • Ghostrider
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 3:58pm

      Alledged sexual assault. Just because a woman said, don’t mean it is so.

      Report Post »  
    • Cold War Vet
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 5:35pm

      Well thanks for pointing out the problems in OUR military. I’m sure that makes you feel better, since you obviously support the Muslim Brotherhood, Shariah Law, and terrorism, like the little America hater that you are. I’ll bet you hate Jews too?

      As a REAL American, which side do I choose? Here’s a hint: Not yours.

      Report Post » Cold War Vet  
    • JoeAmerica
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 6:35pm

      @ COLD WAR VET

      Yup, I’m a Christian American Homeland Security Officer who hates his wife, who happens to be Jewish. You got me.

      Report Post » JoeAmerica  
    • Cold War Vet
      Posted on May 30, 2011 at 7:06pm

      2 JOEAMERICA

      I don’t take your claim to be Homeland Security, Christian married to a Jewish woman seriously. Anyone who is obviously standing AGAINST our troops is likely to be none of the above. Also, I’m none too fond of Homeland Security, since all they seem to do is waste our tax dollars and make life more inconvenient for non-terrorists.

      If you’re a fruitcake with a Yemeni passport who runs down the aisle yelling “Allahu Akbar” pounding on the cockpit door, they’ll give you a pass.

      I imagine your main purpose here (and in life) is to help spread the hatred of America, deny its exceptionalism, and suppport a president who is very obviously beyond question attempting to destroy our nation and our freedom. And last, but not least, you are trolling in here, in obvious opposition to Tea Party values. You cannot be what you claim to be, and still support liberalism. I think you are intellectually dishonest, another liberal trait.

      Report Post » Cold War Vet  
    • Saved777
      Posted on May 31, 2011 at 4:18am

      Hey Joe, This isn’t the Huffngton Post, only those subscribers would be impressed with your ridiculous comments and figures.

      Report Post » Saved777  

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