War Crimes in Israel Gaza Strip - Disproportionate Retaliation

Select Stories Of War Crimes in the Israel Gaza Strip Conflict

"I am not an expert on what is a war crime but I can recognize one when I see one."
Anton Emil Kuerti, (Jewish/Canadian) Internationally Acclaimed Concert Pianist

We do not need to be Law Experts when our knowledge of History Guides Us and Common Sense prevails.

Source: 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza Conflict Details (Wiki) - 11 January 2009

Belligerents
Israel (IDF)	Hamas Islamic Jihad Popular Resistance Committees Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Strength
176,500 (10,000 deployed, backed by tanks, artillery, gunboats, and aircraft.)	20,000 Hamas operatives
Casualties and Losses
Total Killed: 13 Soldiers: 10 Civilians: 3 Total Wounded: 149 Soldiers: 110 Civilians: 39	Total Killed: 879* Fighters: ~305 Policemen: ~138 Civilians: 444+*** Total Wounded: 3,490****
One Egyptian border guard officer killed and another wounded.
*Casualty figures in Gaza cannot yet be independently verified. ***Among the civilians killed in Gaza there were: 4 UN and 12 medical workers, 270 children, 68 women and 90 elderly people. Also, two foreigners, a Ukrainian woman and her child, were among the dead. *****Among the wounded there were 1,080 children and 452 women.

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Select Stories Of War Crimes in this Conflict

Grim role for doctor who Tracks the Dead - Sydney Morning Herald - 12 January 2009
Muawiya Hassanein has no time for pleasantries these days. The head of emergency services for the Gaza Strip, Dr Hassanein is the person who keeps a running track of the ever-escalating death toll of Israel's deadliest offensive ever in the overcrowded enclave.

In his office, he keeps the remains of an Israeli rocket that killed one of his medics several days ago. "I am also a human being and when I see the bodies of children and of women, it hurts me, but I hold back my tears in order not to demoralize the rescue workers."

Jewish dissenters speak out over Gaza - Toronto Star (Canada) - 11 January 2009
Judith Weisman, 78, is a Toronto psychotherapist. She grew up in "a very Zionist family" in Baltimore but "began to change when Israel supported the Vietnam War." She and her husband came to Canada in 1969. She worked at the Jewish Family and Children's Services.

Hamas' War Crimes - Los Angeles Times - 10 January 2009
The best example of Hamas' double war crime tactic was Tuesday, when it succeeded in sending a rocket to a town less than 20 miles south of Tel Aviv and injuring a child. At the same time, it provoked Israel to attack a United Nations school from which Hamas was launching its rockets. Residents of the neighborhood said two Hamas fighters were in the area at the time, and the Israeli military said they had been killed, according to the New York Times.

Israel: Stop Unlawful Use of White Phosphorus in Gaza - Human Rights Watch - 10 January 2009
Israel should stop using white phosphorus in military operations in densely populated areas of Gaza, Human Rights Watch said today. On January 9 and 10, 2009, Human Rights Watch researchers in Israel observed multiple air-bursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over what appeared to be the Gaza City/Jabaliya area.

Israel appeared to be using white phosphorus as an “obscurant” (a chemical used to hide military operations), a permissible use in principle under international humanitarian law (the laws of war). However, white phosphorus has a significant, incidental, incendiary effect that can severely burn people and set structures, fields, and other civilian objects in the vicinity on fire. The potential for harm to civilians is magnified by Gaza’s high population density, among the highest in the world.

Norway concerned over destruction of aid vehicle - The Norway Post - 11 January 2009
The Norwegian Department of Foreign Affairs is very concerned over the incident in which a Norwegian aid vehicle was hit by an Israeli rocket in Gaza on Friday, and accuses Israel of breaking International Law.

This is very serious indeed, and must be regarded as a clear breach of International Law, says Undersecretary of State, Raymond Johansen.- This comes on top of the fact that Israel neither shows respect for the UN Security Council.

Israel Is Committing War Crimes - Wall Street Journal - 10 January 2009
Israel's current assault on the Gaza Strip cannot be justified by self-defense. Rather, it involves serious violations of international law, including war crimes. Senior Israeli political and military leaders may bear personal liability for their offenses, and they could be prosecuted by an international tribunal, or by nations practicing universal jurisdiction over grave international crimes. Hamas fighters have also violated the laws of warfare, but their misdeeds do not justify Israel's acts.

Israel should be held accountable for its crimes, and the U.S. should stop abetting it with unconditional military and diplomatic support.

'We Are Very Violent': Israeli War Crimes Mount - AlterNet - 10 January 2009
Criticism by international watchdog groups over the increasing death toll in Gaza mounted this week as the first legal actions inside Israel were launched accusing the army of intentionally harming the enclave's civilian population.

The Palestinian Authority revealed that it was planning to seek the prosecution of Israel's leaders for war crimes in the international courts. The legal challenges follow a wave of Israeli attacks on schools, universities, mosques, hospitals and ambulances in the past few days. The army claims the attacks are justified because the sites are being used by Hamas fighters.

A petition to the Israeli courts was announced on Wednesday by Taleb al Sanaa, an Arab member of the Israeli parliament, over the shelling on Tuesday of a UN school in the Jabaliya refugee camp that killed at least 40 Palestinians sheltering there. UN officials, noting that they had passed on the school's GPS co-ordinates to Israel and that it was clearly marked with a UN flag, insisted that only civilians had sought refuge at the school. The UN has demanded an investigation.

A further petition has been launched by eight Israeli human rights groups, demanding that Israel's Supreme Court ban the army from targeting ambulances and medical personnel. The petition cites a large number of cases in which Israel has fired on ambulances, arguing that as a result medics have been unable to treat the wounded or transport them to hospital.

The Al Durra hospital in Gaza City was hit on Tuesday, and a day later three mobile clinics run by a Danish charity, DanChurchAid, were destroyed. The International Committee of the Red Cross dropped its usual diplomatic language this week in denouncing Israel's refusal to allow medical teams to tend the wounded.

The UN suspended its aid operations on Thursday after two of its drivers were killed and others wounded by Israeli fire directed at one of its relief convoys during another three-hour ceasefire.

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END NOTE....

What would Israel be today, if the population had not dramatically increased during the 20th century? It would surely be a Failed State. The 20th century has revealed Israel, with some assistance from Germany and other Western Powers drove - The Establishment of Israel.

One example, there are claims that Kristallnacht was instigated by the Jewish masonic lodge B'nai B'rith, in co-operation with the Zionist organization, LICA (Ligue International contre l'Antisemitisme) in Paris, on 9 November 1938. The aim of LICA was to encourage the emigration of German Jews. Why is Israel really so important to Western Powers including the USA? We know Not All Israelis/Jews are Equal and they will be treated accordingly.

Judaism penetrates the lives of many non-Jewish people globally, even though these people flippantly disregard its relevance. A simple example is found in the influence and significance of the Jewish Kabbalah and Jerusalem in the Freemasonry Movement and the names of Degrees/Rites/Ranks and their associated Rituals. The majority of Masons are not Jewish but they are ensuring Israel, Solomon's Temple and Jerusalem remains alive in the minds of this international network. Various religions can also be recognized as adopting aspects of Judaism, as part of their own religious identity and doctrine.

Saudi Arabia Attacks Doctor Raouf Amin, An Egyptian Whipping Boy, who bowed To His ROYAL Patients

LEFT: King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud

Saudi Arabia Attacks Doctor Raouf Amin,
An Egyptian Whipping Boy,
who bowed To His ROYAL Patients

This is the 21st CENTURY and Saudi Arabia is Doing It Again. Or is there something We Don't Know about Egyptian Doctors and their conduct as well as Raouf Amin and his Royal Patients?

I can understand 1,500 lashes even Saudi Beheadings for some heinous crimes (when someone is a barbaric uncivilized human being in the 21st century, you must treat them accordingly as a deterrent to others, even in Democratic Countries) but surely not for simply supplying medication that had already proved effective for this Horse Riding, Back Aching, Demanding Saudi Princess.

Has this PRINCESS stopped taking MORPHINE, now that she knows what happens to Innocent Doctors who seek to alleviate the suffering of the Saudi Royal Family?

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The Moral of the Story is Don't Work for Royalty anywhere, if they are going to punish you for simply doing your job.

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Doctor Sentenced to 1,500 Lashes for Addicting Saudi Princess to Painkillers
Egyptian Raouf Amin languishes in a Saudi jail and is punished with 70 lashes once a week. Cut off from his family in Egypt, the 52-year-old doctor was convicted for prescribing painkillers to a Saudi princess that led to her addiction.

An appeal court judge ruled that Amin will be beaten weekly until he has received 1,500 lashes - and then he'll spend another 14 years behind bars.

The judge doubled the original punishment meted out to him a little over one year ago in the lower court where Amin was sentenced to a seven-year jail term with 750 lashes.

Not surprisingly, human rights groups and the Egyptian doctor's syndicate are outraged.

The doctor, who has lived and worked in the Gulf state for more than 20 years, had been treating the princess for several months for back pains after she visited the hospital in which he worked.

Ahmed Amin, the doctor's son, who himself was born in Saudi Arabia, claims the woman went into the hospital and specified the medication she wanted. The woman had been receiving similar treatment in the United States after she had fallen from a horse while riding.

Hafez Abu Saeda, the director of EOHR concurred that the medication Amin had prescribed was the same as the woman had been receiving in the United States, "so it is obvious that the doctor was not at fault for her addiction," Abu Saeda concluded.

Both the Egyptian foreign ministry and the Saudi Embassy in Cairo refused to comment on the case, saying the matter is still under investigation.

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Sources of Information about Raouf Amin and Shawki Abd Rabu

Employment ban - 20 November 2008 - Al-Ahram Weekly

Egypt draws up Saudi companies blacklist: report - 14 November 2008 - Daily Star Egypt

Egypt halts doctor visas to Saudi - 13 November 2008 - BBC

Doctor Sentenced to 1,500 Lashes for Addicting Saudi Princess to Painkillers - 28 October 2008 - Middle East Times

Hannibal & Aline - Use Your Own Hospitals in Libya, Next Time!

Hannibal & Aline Kadhafi - Use Your Own Hospitals in Libya, Next Time!

Servants Drop Charges Against Kadhafi Son - AFP - 2 September 2008

GENEVA (AFP) — Two servants who accused the son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi of mistreating them in a Geneva hotel have dropped their legal complaints against him and his wife, their Swiss lawyer said Tuesday.

"In a free, considered and informed manner, my clients have decided to withdraw the legal complaint that they filed," said lawyer Francois Membrez.

Hannibal Kadhafi was arrested in July along with his wife Aline at a luxury hotel in the lakeside city after the servants -- a Moroccan and a Tunisian -- alleged they had been abused by the couple.

The Kadhafis denied the allegations and Libya demanded a Swiss apology.

In a statement, Geneva-based Membrez said the two servants, who no longer work for the couple, have been "properly compensated," although he gave no specific figures.

"They have been recognised as victims and their sufferings have been taken into account," the lawayer added.

"They have also received a temporary humanitarian residence permit in Switzerland."

The case angered Libya, which restricted air links, stopped issuing visas to Swiss nationals, shut the Tripoli offices of two major Swiss companies and detained two Swiss nationals -- who were subsequently released.

Membrez last month accused Libya of holding the brother and mother of the Moroccan servant "hostage" over the affair.

The mother has since been released, but on Tuesday, Membrez said there was still no news of the brother, adding that he would take the case to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.

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Sources of Information

Servants drop charges against Kadhafi son - AFP - 2 September 2008

Gaddafi abuse complaints withdrawn - swissinfo.ch - 2 September 2008

List of Hospitals in Libya For Hannibal Gaddafi

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This case may have fallen through the cracks however there will be other cases including ones where Outsiders (not the victims) will enforce the law instead, on the abusers.

Hannibal and His Wife V Innocent Hostages in Libya - Planned Protest March in September 2008 - Geneva, Switzerland

"They Are Innocent!"

The Hostages in Libya

Planned Protest March in September 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland

This is a Googled translation of an article from Le Matin on 9 August 2008 entitled

Affaire Kadhafi: des musulmans de Suisse appellent à une manifesfation -

Case Gaddafi: Muslims in Switzerland call for a manifesfation

Ali Benouari, the president of the Swiss Association of Muslims for Secularism and Union of North Africans in Switzerland - "We will organize a march to encourage Switzerland to remain firm against Libya and demand the immediate and unconditional release of hostages held on Libyan territory."

An appeal has been launched by the Swiss Association of secular Muslims and Mughrabi Union in Switzerland through the voice of their President Ali Benouari, and by the Association of Swiss against fundamentalism, chaired by Salika Wenger, MP Geneva. The event will take place in September in Geneva.

Geneva, is where it all began. Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife were arrested and charged on July 15. Since then, two Swiss nationals were imprisoned in Libya. They have been Freed but they can not leave Libya. The mother and brother of the domestic Moroccan worker, who filed the complaint against the son of Colonel Gaddafi, have been imprisoned. These are methods of a "dictatorship from another age," says Ali Benouari.

Ahmed Benani, of Moroccan origin endorsed the approach. "I condemn the taking of hostages - an act of terrorism by Gaddafi - and I am concerned to see Switzerland, the rule of law, lie down face to the requirements of such a psychopath at the head of a rogue state."

Hafid Ouardiri, director of the foundation of knowledge - Between, Geneva, was more tempered: "The situation is delicate and we must proceed with great wisdom." He would prefer a demonstration organised by an association "without connotation Community" to bring together the largest number of citizens.

The president of the Cultural Association of Muslim women in Switzerland plans to turn to send a letter to Libyan organizations in Switzerland.

More Information in Article - http://www.lematin.ch/fr/actu/monde/affaire-kadhafi-des-musulmans-de-suisse-appellent-a-une-manifesfation_10-215887

Use Google To Translate - http://translate.google.com/translate_t

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Al-Gaddafi Speaks (Hannibal's Father) - UN Security Council and International Criminal Courts and Tribunals

Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi/al-Gathafi Speaks....
(Date of Speech/Article Not Known)

As we are dealing with Swiss Law Enforcement on "Hannibal" Motassim Bilal Gaddafi and His Wife Alin Skaf/Aline Skaff, I thought I would share an interesting speech made by Hannibal's Father, Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi/al-Gathafi, about the UN Security Council and the illegality of International Criminal Courts and Tribunals. I have extracted only a few paragraphs from al-Gaddafi's full speech.

To read the complete text, go to http://www.algathafi.org/html-english/cat_01_04.htm

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The Illegality of the International Criminal Courts and Tribunals

The international courts and tribunals are a feature of an international system that is based on selectivity and double standards. What these courts have in common is their lack of the legal conditions for the existence of any court.....

.....the international criminal courts that the world has known were established in one of two ways. They were either established by the victors of a certain war, as was the case with the military tribunals of Nuremberg and Tokyo that were created by the victorious Allies after World War II, or by an “international” authority of dubious legitimacy as was the case with the International Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda that were created by the Security Council......

......In establishing the tribunals of Nuremburg and Tokyo in the wake of World War II, the Allies invoked only the legitimacy of the victors who were capable of imposing their terms on the vanquished. They created those tribunals in a manner that guarantees the condemnation of their enemies as criminals while absolving them of their own war crimes.....

....Those tribunals met none of the standards of justice in view of the following facts: They were created by the political leaders and military commanders of the occupation forces. Their judges were not impartial. They were themselves the opponents on the field of battle. In accordance with the recognized standards of justice, they were not qualified to play the role of a judge since they were party to the conflict.....

...The defendants before those tribunals were prisoners of war. Under international law, they could not be brought to trial.....

.....The Tokyo tribunal was created by a special order of General McArthur. That personal order established new, contrived crimes and offences that existed only in McArthur’s imagination. Needless to say, the court under that law victimized many defenseless Japanese........

.......the Tokyo Tribunal condemned a Japanese commander for what it considered the crimes of the soldiers under his command in the Philippines. He was sentenced to death despite the fact that it was not proven that he had given any orders. Indeed, he could not have known what had happened for the simple reason that he had fled the battle field.......

.......Those tribunals were a sham whose only purpose was to provide justification for the conduct of the Allies who exceeded the legitimate right to self defense. A proof of this is that unlike the other Allies, Russia, the country most devastated by the War, did not put any of the German military commanders in the part of Germany it occupied, on trial........

....The international criminal courts are illegal. So are their sentences. Their victims and their relatives are entitled to just restitution and reparations for the injustice visited upon them. They are entitled to demand rehabilitation. The events of World War II must be brought once again before impartial courts that would reconsider the conduct of the victors and the vanquished alike. The earlier tribunals did not prosecute the crimes committed by both parties. They were confined to the prosecution of the vanquished alone. More importantly, the crimes for which they were tried had not been established in a previous law. Therefore, those tribunals violate the legal rule “Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege”. (No persecution for a crime unless pursuant to a previous law establishing that crime)......

......The same applies to the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. They were both established by the Security Council. The legitimacy of the Council is dubious. It was created in the same manner, and under the same circumstances, in which the Nuremburg and Tokyo Tribunals were established. It is yet another one of the products of World War II. The victors created the Security Council as a tool to shape international relations in the manner they saw fit. It was not created by the independent will and free choice of the states of the world. ........

......The character of the council, and the tasks it currently discharges, are dubious because it represents only a minority. The states of the world did not take part in its creation. Therefore, it has no right to put their citizens on trial. Suffice it to recall that the international Court of Justice ruled that the Security Council had no jurisdiction over the Lockerbie question. Nevertheless, the council disregarded that ruling and continued to address the Lockerbie question without any international legal basis. At the same time, the Council did not address the Court’s ruling concerning the “Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua”.........

.....The current international courts and tribunals were created in the fashion of their antecedents. Their purpose is not to try all those who may have committed a crime, but to try the weaker, vanquished party alone......



The International Criminal Court (ICC)
The establishment of the ICC followed the same lines of the Military and Ad-Hoc International Criminal Tribunals. Although established by a treaty, its Statute was based on the rules governing the above-mentioned international tribunals and on the rules of the Nuremburg Trials. This inherent distortion has stripped it of its character as a court of law in the strict legal sense.

This is evident in the following:
The Statute of the ICC allows the Security Council to request it to halt the proceedings of any case brought before it. Even if the Council abandons it’s well known selectivity and double-standards in dealing with international peace and security, any relationship whatsoever it may have with the Court negates the independence of the ICC and strips it of its character as a court.....

.......the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia...... That tribunal condemned the commanders of the Bosnian Serb Army and the Bosnian Croat Army without any evidence that they had given orders to commit the crimes of murder and torture for which they were condemned. Indeed, it was not proven that either of them was even in the theater of operations at the time of the commission of those crimes......

....a court that is subject to the influence of an international authority of dubious legitimacy such as the Security Council and that of the major powers cannot be a fair court. Even if it were established by the General Assembly of the UN, it would still lack legitimacy and legality. The General Assembly is made up of civil servants who represent their countries before the UN. They are not legislators. They have no right to legislate. The General Assembly of the UN deals with the political and diplomatic questions facing the world. It is not empowered to legislate or enact laws. Legislation is the exclusive right of the world’s parliaments or their representatives....

.....The international criminal courts and tribunals that the world has so far known remain a mere façade. Rather than promoting justice, they distort it.............

......The states of the world have yet to agree on a precise definition of the crime of aggression that would facilitate the determination of aggressors and those who exercise the legitimate right to self-defense. In addition, the concept of aggressive war remains ambiguous......

.....Despite its lack of legitimacy, and despite its nature as an “emergency” council, the Security Council continues to have the upper hand in shaping relations among states. Therefore, the ICC will remain, like its creator, an “emergency” court. It will also remain a façade that hides the ill intentions of the powerful states towards the weak ones. It will enable the powerful states to escape the authority of the court, if it can be said to have any real authority......

.......National courts will continue to be more credible than the international ones. Thanks to their legitimacy and independence, the public will continue to consider the sentences of national courts as fair and impartial. The principle of universal jurisdiction of national courts allows any state to bring the perpetrators of war crimes to justice before its courts, regardless of where those crimes were committed and regardless of the nationality of their perpetrators.......

.....International law has not matured yet. It is still of a customary nature that does not enjoy the unanimity of the world. However it develops, it will continue to be a law “among” states, not “above” them. National sovereignty of states over their territory and citizens remains the criterion for the interpretation and application of any international instrument......

......As a general rule, people have a natural right not to be subject to a law in whose formulation they did not participate. They must never be forced to follow a law enacted by any authority without their willing participation.......

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Update on Negotiations between Libya and Switzerland,
Keep an English Eye on ....

Gaddafi wants 'his pound of flesh' - 29 July 2008 - www.worldradio.ch
As the diplomatic crisis between Libya and Switzerland drags on, the French foreign ministry headed by Bernard Kouchner, has warned Libya against any escalation. But will intervention by other nations help or hinder a resolution in Switzerland’s favour. WRS’s Pete Forster put this question to Dr George Joffe, a Middle East specialist at Cambridge University’s Centre of International Studies. -->

Bern banks on bilateral talks with Tripoli - 29 July 2008 - www.worldradio.ch
Bern says it is going to continue direct diplomatic discussions with Libya, without the help of a third country acting as a mediator. It had been suggested that France or Italy could help sort out the crisis, which was sparked by the arrest of Colonel Gaddafi’s son and daughter-in-law in Geneva earlier this month. Meanwhile Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey says two Swiss citizens detained in Libya are now being held in better conditions. The Swiss consulate in Tripoli has not been allowed to visit them, but their lawyer says they are in good health, physically and mentally. Libya says they are being held for suspected immigration offences.

Libya negotiations to remain bilateral - 28 July 2008 - www.Swissinfo.ch
Switzerland and Libya will continue negotiations to resolve the ongoing diplomatic crisis between the two countries without the assistance of a third-party mediator.

Geneva hospital provided Gaddafis with medical escort - 28 July 2008 - http://www.worldradio.ch/ It has emerged that when Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife left Geneva, they took two doctors from the city’s University Hospital with them. The hospital´s director said the medical repatriation was justified, as Hannibal´s wife was nine months’ pregnant. One of the doctors returned from Libya the following day; the other had to wait an extra day for a flight back to Switzerland. The Gaddafis had been staying at the Hotel President Wilson in Geneva, but left the country immediately after paying CHF500,000 bail.

Switzerland versus Libya - Part 2 of "Hannibal" Motassim Bilal Gaddafi

Switzerland versus Libya - Part 2 of "Hannibal" Motassim Bilal Gaddafi with His Wife Alin Skaf/Aline Skaff

Read "Hannibal" Motassim Bilal Gaddafi - Another Belt and Coat Hanger to discover how this story began.

Aisha Gaddafi/Aisha Al-Qaddafi/Kadhafi daughter of Colonel Gaddafi, promised last week, "An Eye of Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth" following the arrest of her brother Motassim Bilal Gaddafi and his wife, Alin Skaf/Aline Skaff. Today we don't see an Eye for an Eye at all, just a series of extreme acts by the Libyan Dictatorship. Aisha has also declared that her brother's arrest was illegal and described it as an act of hatred and anti-Arab racism.

Why is Aisha ignoring the conduct of her brother and his bodyguards over many years, in different European countries (refer to my other post)? Why as a Lawyer, is she ignoring established Laws in Switzerland as well? Her brother and his body guards have a history of violence, attacking police officers and brandishing weapons in public. The Swiss Police acted correctly given her brother's and his bodyguards' history of actions.

It appears Libyans are incapable of adapting themselves and respecting the laws of other countries and their code of civilized behaviour, outside Libya.

Aisha was one of the (20-30) lawyers involved in Saddam Hussein's defence.

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This is not an Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth - The Latest News

Since the release on bail of Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife, Aline last week after two of their staff accused them of assault during an incident at a luxury Geneva hotel, Gaddafi not Libya has embarked on delivering "worrying retaliatory measures", against Swiss citizens.

Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi

Libya: Closes Down Swiss Businesses & Arrests Swiss Citizens
The Swiss foreign ministry said two Swiss Citizens have been under arrest in the north African country since Saturday and that Swiss businesses, including the local offices of food group Nestlé and the engineering group ABB, had been ordered to close.

Switzerland: Sends A Delegation
Switzerland sent a delegation to Libya (23 July) to "give explanations" to the Libyan authorities over the arrest and, it said, to "prevent a crisis".

Libya: Sends Gaddafi's Cousins to Protest outside the Swiss Embassy in Tripoli
Dozens of Libyans demonstrated in front of the Swiss embassy in Tripoli calling for an apology. Mostly members of the Revolutionary Committees, which are close to the authorities, they handed a statement to the ambassador reportedly threatening that in the absence of an apology, they would demand that parliament take punitive steps against Switzerland.

Libya: Delivers Threats To Switzerland
These would include the withdrawal of Libyan money from Swiss banks, the barring of Swiss companies from competing for Libyan contracts and a halt in oil sales to the European country.

Switzerland: Oil Dependency on Libya
According to US Department of Energy figures, Switzerland imports more than 20 per cent of its oil from Libya."One cannot completely exclude the risk of having Libyan oil deliveries to Switzerland suspended, but it doesn't look very realistic, because Libya hasn't mentioned this scenario,'' said Jean-Marc Crevoisier, of the Swiss foreign ministry.

The Swiss Oil Association says an embargo on exports would have little impact, even though more than half of Switzerland´s crude oil supplies come from Libya. The association says Switzerland has sufficient reserves, which would allow ample time to arrange supplies from elsewhere.

Switzerland: Swiss Citizens - "Don't Travel to Libya"
The Swiss foreign ministry has told its citizens not to travel to Libya, warning them that they are likely to face arrest at the "slightest irregularities" in their papers.

Libya: Reduce Flights/Air Links between Switzerland and Libya
Libya has also ordered a reduction in air links between the two countries. Swiss International Airlines says it was told it could fly to Libya only once a week, instead of three times.

Libya: Recall Libyan Diplomats from Switzerland
Libya: Stop issuing Visas to Swiss Citizens
Libya has also recalled some of its diplomats in Bern and it has stopped issuing visas to Swiss citizens.

Libya: Interrogate Foreigners working for Swiss Companies in Libya
Robin Tickell, a Nestlé spokesman, said the general manager and sole employee of its representative office in Tripoli, an Egyptian national, was questioned by police on Sunday and released shortly afterwards. But the office was subsequently sealed by the authorities and remains shut.


How is the Swiss Media Reacting to Libyan Extremism?

The newspapers have taken the opportunity to look at the nature of the Libyan regime – and Moammar Gaddafi's system of government is shown in a bad light.

Hannibal's sister, Aisha, warned last week that Libya would respond on the principle of "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth", as Le Temps of Geneva recalls.

"Gaddafi takes Swiss hostages!" declares the tabloid Blick and goes on to ask: "Does this desert dictator think he can do what he wants with Switzerland?"

"The Gaddafi clan takes revenge," is the headline in Bern's Bund newspaper.

"In Libya the Gaddafis see to it that might prevails," says the Tages-Anzeiger of Zurich. It goes on to describe Libya as "a paradise for shadowy foreign businessmen" who appreciate the fact that there are "no clear laws". In its editorial the paper says that Gaddafi is reacting "as if the law was not the same for everyone in Switzerland".

For the Lausanne-based Le Matin too, the action taken by the Geneva police against Hannibal deserves praise. "It's easier to pick up a few Roma beggars under a bridge and dump them at the border than to arrest the son of a dictator in a five star hotel." "We would have been glad to avoid the retaliatory measures taken by Libya," it says. "But that's the price to pay if we want to remain credible. If we want to make sure our laws are respected by all, including the rich tourists so beloved by our luxury shops and hotels."

Le Matin has its own take on the situation inside Libya. "Even the Gaddafi family knows it is not the Swiss police who have humiliated Libya. It's their little brother who has tarnished the image of their country. His older brother, Seif al-Islam, a good communicator who is working seriously to modernise and open up the country, can't be at all pleased. Let's hope he'll find a way to mend fences with Bern."

The Bund says that despite the fact that Washington has dropped Libya from its list of rogue states, the country remains a dictatorship. "Democracy, division of power and human rights are foreign words there."

Le Temps describes the conflict as one of "values and cultures". It says that although "Arab oil potentates" seem to get away with many of their "escapades" in western capitals, the violence of which Hannibal Gaddafi has been accused is a different matter. "The tacitly accepted impunity accorded to the rich and powerful no longer applies when it comes to human rights and respect for women," the paper comments. It points out that disregard for women is one of the West's strongest criticisms against Islam.

The papers do not want the Swiss to bow to Libyan pressure.............
"It would be too high a price to deny democratic principles for the sake of a short-term success," says the Bund.

The Tages-Anzeiger takes the same line for more pragmatic reasons. It is adamant that even the fact that two Swiss citizens have been "effectively taken hostage" should not make any difference, since this would only expose Switzerland to similar pressure should similar circumstances arise again. "Gaddafi has shown for decades that he is incapable of learning, and he certainly shows no signs of improving," it says. "Switzerland shouldn't make itself dependent on such an unpredictable country."

Is Switzerland dependent on Libyan oil?..................

Blick quotes Rolf Hartl, managing director of the Swiss Oil Association, who says on the one hand that Switzerland has plenty of reserves, and on the other that it would be "absurd" for Libya to turn off the oil tap, since the Libyan state owns two refineries and over 300 filling stations in Switzerland and would be damaging its own interests.

Nevertheless, the Tages-Anzeiger has some advice about the Swiss energy supply. "Gaddafi's act of revenge should encourage us to purchase our oil elsewhere instead of concentrating it so one-sidedly," it comments.

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Some News Articles

Gaddafi's revenge riles Swiss press - 24 July 2008
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/front/Gaddafi_s_revenge_riles_Swiss_press.html?siteSect=105&sid=9367493&cKey=1216892728000&ty=st

Swiss World Radio - News in Brief -24 July 2008
http://www.worldradio.ch/wrs/news/rundown/swiss-news-at-a-glance-170.shtml?11248

Gaddafi arrest brings anti-Swiss backlash - Financial Times - 24 July 2008
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/19878efe-5917-11dd-a093-000077b07658.html

"Hannibal" Motassim Bilal Gaddafi - Another Belt and Coat Hanger

Hannibal" Motassim Bilal Gaddafi and Aline His Wife -

ANOTHER BELT AND COAT HANGER

A Five Star Hotel Expects Five Star Conduct with Five Star Payments, from Their Clients.

Colonel Gadaffi’s son and daughter-in law Freed on Bail
The son of Libya’s President Gaddafi has been released from a Geneva jail. Hannibal Gaddafi, aged 32 and his wife were both arrested on Tuesday 15 July at the Hotel President Wilson, on charges of making threats, coercion and assaulting their domestic staff, a Morrocan Male and a Female Tunisian. Two of Hannibal's bodyguards were also held after they clashed with police making the arrest.

The domestic servants have accused the couple of repeatedly beating them with a belt and a hanger at the President Wilson Hotel, which is next door to the UN's human rights office. The Tunisian woman was hospitalised.

Hannibal Gaddafi was released on CHF200,000 bail. His wife was released on CHF300,000 bail, because the charges against her are more serious. They both deny hitting the Tunisian woman and the Moroccan man who work for them.

Gaddafi’s wife is heavily pregnant and was taken to the court in an ambulance from Geneva’s University Hospital. They arrived in Geneva on 5 July for the birth of their child and were staying at the Hotel President Wilson.

The Swiss government is trying to prevent the matter from becoming a diplomatic incident, not least because Libya is the largest provider of oil to Switzerland.

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Hannibal" Motassim Bilal Gaddafi and Aline -

An Embarrassment to the Arab Establishment, Libya and Many Respectable ***** Hotels in EUROPE.

Paris 2005: The playboy triggered a diplomatic incident in Paris when he was arrested for alleged violence against his companion after incidents in two luxury hotels in the city. He had to be arrested by armed police at the Paris Intercontinental, but was later released on bail. He was given a four-month suspended prison sentence and a 500 euro fine. He was eventually sentenced by the Correctional Tribunal of Paris, May 23, 2005, with a four-month prison sentence for violence and carrying a pistol caliber 9 mm possession without a permit.

Copenhagen 2005: Violent incident at Libyan diplomat's residence in which police were called, but unable to intervene due to the building's diplomatic status.

Paris 2004: Hannibal drove down the Champs Elysees at 140kph in his black Porsche in the middle of the night. Once stopped, his thuggish bodyguards attacked French police & destroyed a police transmitter.

Rome 2003: Involved in brawl that sent 6 photographers to hospital in Rome.

Rome 2001: Escorted to the airport after brawl at Rome Hilton in which he attacked Italian police with a fire extinguisher.

Sardinia 2001: Thrown out of club for screaming at waiters, blocked the entrance to a disco with his Lamborghini, blasted music aboard his 70-ft yacht the Che Guevara(?), broadcast Muslim call to prayer over boat's PA system at dawn after long night of partying.
Source: http://ace.mu.nu/archives/086600.php

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SOURCES OF INFORMATION

French Articles in Tribune de Geneve / Le Matin Online contain more detailed information.

Gaddafi's son leaves Geneva - 18 July 2008 http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news_digest/Gaddafi_s_son_leaves_Geneva.html?siteSect=104&sid=9346795&cKey=1216399641000&ty=nd

Muammar Gaddafi's son and wife charged over alleged attack on staff - 18 July 2008

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/2306868/Muammar-Gaddafi

Gaddafi son arrested for assault - 17 July 2008

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7512925.stm

Kadhafi's son arrested for violence in Geneva hotel - 17 July 2008

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h2EbjVGjjxEYaPwGVdgoNJYb2Vtw

Hannibal Gives Gaddafi a Bad Name - 4 February 2005 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article510293.ece

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An Introduction to Slavery, Servitude and Forced or Compulsory Labour - http://hrlaws.blogspot.com/2008/06/slavery-servitude-forced-or-compulsory.html

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GADDAFI HAS SEVEN SONS AND ONE DAUGHTER........

His eldest son, Muhammad Gaddafi, was born to a wife now in disfavour, but runs the Libyan Olympic Committee and owns all the telecommunication companies in Libya.

The second eldest, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, was born in 1972 and is a painter. He runs a charity which has been involved in negotiating freedom for hostages taken by Islamic militants, especially in the Philippines. In 2006, after sharply criticizing his father's regime, Saif Al Islam briefly left Libya, reportedly to take on a position in banking outside of the country. He returned to Libya soon after, launching an environment friendly initiative to teach children how they can help clean up parts of Libya. He has also been on the forefront of resolving the HIV case of the Palestinian doctor and Bulgarian nurses described previously.

The third eldest, Al-Saadi Gaddafi, is married to the daughter of a military commander. Al Saadi runs the Libyan Football Federation, plays for Italian Serie A team U.C. Sampdoria, made billions of dollars in the petrol industry and produces films.

Gaddafi's fourth son, Mutasim-Billah Gaddafi, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Libyan army. He fled to Egypt after allegedly masterminding an Egyptian backed coup attempt against his father. Gaddafi forgave Mutasim-Billah and he returned to Libya where he now holds the post of national security adviser and heads his own unit within the army.

Saif Al Islam and Mutasim-Billah are both seen as possible successors to their father.

The fifth eldest, Hannibal once worked for a public marine transportation company in Libya. He is most notable for being involved in a series of violent incidents throughout Europe, including charges against him for beating up his then pregnant girlfriend, Alin Skaf. (In September 2004, Hannibal was involved in a police chase in Paris.)

Gaddafi has two younger sons, Saif Al Arab and Khamis, a police officer in Libya.

Gaddafi's only daughter is Ayesha Gaddafi, a lawyer who had joined the defense team of executed former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. She married a cousin of her father in 2006. His reportedly adopted daughter, Hanna, was killed in the 1986 USAF bombing raid.

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