Lagos lawyer Femi Falana has described the role of United States President Barack Obama in the killing of Muammar Gaddafi as shameful.
Falana said: “All men and women of goodwill owe it a duty to condemn the depravity exhibited in Libya which has diminished our common humanity”.
In his view, it is disappointing that President Obama could, join leaders of other western countries to endorse such assassination.
Falana urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to probe what he described as “extra judicial murder of Gaddafi and his children by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and National Transition Council (NTC) forces”.
Calling for a probe into other violations of human rights of unarmed peoples, including black Africans during the war in Libya, the lawyer said “the war is over and the NTC should move speedily to set up an all-inclusive government which will prepare a Constitution and conduct elections in Libya within the next 12 months”.
He said: “No doubt, Gaddafi was a tragic hero. Unlike other oil producing countries in Africa, Libya under him witnessed tremendous improvement in the welfare of citizens, infrastructural development and investments.
“Gaddafi aided the liberation movements in Africa in the struggle against colonialism and imperialism. At the same time, he supported African dictators like Idi Amin of Uganda and Sani Abacha of Nigeria.
“He and his children personalised the State and imposed a reign of terror on Libyans. As a populist, Gaddafi did not promote himself like other military rulers in Africa. He drove himself in military vehicles and lived in tents. But he was alleged to have engaged in primitive accumulation of wealth.
“The close collaboration between the security agencies of western countries and Libya in the violation of the human rights of hapless Libyans has been established.
via The Nation
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