Tunisians in Libya forced to make false confessions

Tunisians called upon their government and human rights organizations to interfere immediately to save their compatriots in Libya who are being forced to confess crimes they have not committed.

The appearance of two Tunisian youths on Libyan T.V. admitting to spreading havoc in Libya infuriated Tunisians at home. The two men, called Ashraf and Walid, confessed they staged anti-regime operations through distributing hallucination pills and flyers to instigate Libyans against their leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Tunisians insist that both men were forced by the Libyan regime to make this statement in order to tarnish the image of Tunisians, especially that signs of torture were obvious on one of them.

Mohamed al-Jawani, the father of one of the two men, vehemently denied that accusations directed against his son and stressed that he has nothing to do with pills or drugs, which Gaddafi claims are the cause of the revolts by Libyan youths.

Jawani, who lived in Libya with his family, said that while he was preparing to flee back to Tunisia his son disappeared.

“A few hours after my son disappeared, he appeared on Libyan T.V. making these confessions,” he told a Tunisian satellite channel.

Jawani said that till this moment he knows nothing about his son’s whereabouts and called upon the Tunisian authorities and international rights organizations to interfere and save the Tunisian community in Libya, whose members are estimated at 150,000.

“Tunisians in Libya are being exposed to genocide and bodies are hidden by Gaddafi’s militias to cover up for their crimes.”

A few hours after my son disappeared, he appeared on Libyan T.V. making these confessions

Mohamed al-Jawani

Eyewitness to torture

Wessam al-Jandoubi, a 27-year old Tunisian from the western governorate of Manouba, is an eyewitness to the confessions extracted under duress by the Libyan regime.

Jandoubi was arrested in Mediterranean city of Sirt with a group of Tunisian and Egyptian youths and they were all led to the State Security office where they were forced to confess to crimes against the Libyan regime.

“We were forced to sign confessions that we incited the ouster of the regime, distributed hallucination pills and flyers, and belong to al-Qaeda.”

Since those confessions can be punishable by death, Jandoubi added, several people refused to sign and were tied and shot in cold blood.

Jandoubi and his companions were detained in solitary cells and deprived of food, bathing, and even talking. They were tortured and some of his friends were sexually assaulted.

After staying in detention for a week, Jandoubi managed to leave jail after paying 600 U.S. dollars.

“I then fled to Tunisia leaving behind my friends, whose fate is unknown to me till this moment.”

We were forced to sign confessions that we incited the ouster of the regime, distributed hallucination pills and flyers, and belong to al-Qaeda

Wessam al-Jandoubi

Wounded rooster

Tunisian journalist and rights activist al-Munji al-Khadrawi said that the Libyan regime is becoming extremely weakened and that is why it started accusing members of foreign communities of conspiring against it and of being the reason behind the revolts.

“The Libyan regime has become like a wounded rooster and had nothing to do except frame those youths and hold them accountable for inciting rebellion.”

Khadrawi added that most of those youths are tortured in order to have confessions extracted from them.

He also slammed the Tunisian government’s silence towards the crimes committed against Tunisians in Libya.

“The Tunisian government has not issued even one statement condemning the atrocities committed against Tunisians who are now being killed and humiliated.”

(Translated from the Arabic by Sonia Farid)

The Libyan regime has become like a wounded rooster and had nothing to do except frame those youths and hold them accountable for inciting rebellion