Libya woman accusing Gaddafi forces of rape speaks out
Eman al-Obeidi, the woman who says she was raped by Gaddafi’s forces in Libya, speaks about her ordeal, as in the east a setback for the rebels as NATO planes kill five. Jonathan Rugman reports.
It’s Ms Obeidi’s first interview on camera since she burst into a hotel full of journalists in Tripoli almost two weeks ago, claiming she had been gang-raped by Gaddafi’s forces.
Since then she has been detained a number of times by Gaddafi forces. She was freed on 4 April, but banned from leaving Tripoli and said she has been stopped from travelling to see her family several times since, and beaten. Despite her treatment, she now says she has “nothing to lose” and will stand by the allegations of rape.
She told CNN: “I was tortured, raped, beaten and I was tied…my hands and legs were tied up backwards for two days. I still have some of the bruises, but I have pictures of all the scars.
Watch: a woman's cry for help in a Tripoli hotel
“I was brutally tortured. To the point of them entering weapons inside of me. They would also pour alcohol into my eyes.”
CNN said some elements of the interview regarding the rebels have been edited out by Saadi Gaddafi, the Colonel’s son, who set up the interview after almost a week of promises from the Gaddafi regime.
Ms Obeidi is furious at her treatment, the fact that the men she has accused remain free, and the slurs on her character which she says the Gaddafi regime has spread.
I was tortured, raped, beaten and I was tied…my hands and legs were tied up backwards for two days. Eman al-Obeidi
Of the administration in Libya and the exposure her case has had, Ms Obeidi, a lawyer, said: “They just know how to lie…let the world know what is happening. The world has felt for me, and especially women, because I was raped and kidnapped, which moves people. At the same time, the truth is coming out. Nothing remains hidden.”
Bombing
As the battles across Libya continued, there was a setback for coalition forces as rebels fighting to overthrow the Gaddafi regime said a NATO air strike – aiming to neutralise Gaddafi’s defences – had actually hit one of their bases and killed five fighters.
Wounded rebels brought to hospital in Ajdabiya, in rebel-held east Libya, said they were hit outside the port town of Brega. As the wounded were brought to hospital, rebels wept in the corridor.
“NATO are liars. They are siding with Gaddafi,” one of the rebels, Salem Mislat, said.
NATO said it was investigating the incident.
Read more in the Channel 4 News Special Report on Libya
Stalemate
On Thursday, the US rejected a rambling letter from Gaddafi demanding a halt to the air campaign, as General Carter Ham, Head of US Africa Command, told a Senate hearing that the international community should not provide arms to rebels without more certainty of who they are.
Asked if the situation on the ground was an “emerging stalemate”, General Ham said: “I would agree with that at present, on the ground.”
Misrata
Concerns continue over the humanitarian situation across Libya.
The city of Misrata remains besieged by Gaddafi’s forces as rebels battle to keep control of the port. On Wednesday, rebels said Gaddafi forces had killed five and wounded 25 in an artillery bombardment.
Civilians in the city remain in dire straits, bombarded in houses with few supplies from the blocked port. One ship carrying British funded medical and food supplies has managed to reach Misrata – the largest shipment of aid funded by the UK to get through so far. Misrata has been largely cut off by Gaddafi’s forces for forty days, suffering severe shortages of food, water and medical supplies.
Civil war erupted in Libya after protests, inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia which ousted dictators, were crushed by Gaddafi.
Who are the rebels? Channel 4 News investigates