If anybody needs a reminder about what happens in this part of the world we are involved in, let this be a refresher news item.
I doubt anybody here condones this type of treatment, but it is always wise to understand the environment you are working in. This goes for medical personnel, religous evangelists, tradesmen, military personnel, and every occupation you can think of.
Bulgarian medics testify about torture in Libya
Vessela Sergueva
AFP
August 10, 2007
SOFIA -- Six Bulgarian medics freed in July after spending more than eight years in a Libyan prison told an investigation commission Friday in Sofia how they were subjected to torture in jail.
Their testimony came two days after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son confirmed in a television interview that the six had been subjected to electric shocks during their detention.
The medics, a Palestinian-born doctor who has become a Bulgarian citizen and five female Bulgarian nurses, were convicted of deliberately infecting over 400 Libyan children with the HIV virus at a hospital in Benghazi where they worked.
But they were pardoned by Bulgarian authorities when they returned home last month under a compensation deal worked out with the children's families.
The doctor, Ashraf Juma Hajuj, had described how they were "treated like animals" and subjected to electrocution, beatings, and sleep deprivation.
Gaddafi's son Seif Al Islam, who helped negotiate the medics' release, acknowledged in an Al Jazeera television interview broadcast Wednesday that "the question of torture ... has been established.
"What the Palestinian doctor said is true and I have given him and his family lots of help."
"There was torture by electricity ... they scared them ... I mean there was a threat of aggression against his family," Seif Al Islam said.
He said that there were "also lies" in the Palestinian doctor's statements, but added "that does not mean there was no torture."
The investigation commission meeting Friday was launched at the beginning of the year to determine whether charges could be filed against Libya on behalf of the six medics. It was instigated by revelations made by the families of the nurses, who were still on death row in Libya at the time.
Margarita Popova, spokeswoman for the Bulgarian prosecutor's office, said Friday that "after the investigation has been completed, charges may be formulated based on the evidence collected."
The medics have said that they were subjected to "medieval tortures" and that police officers set dogs on them in order to force confessions.
One of the nurses, Nasya Nenova, attempted suicide. She has said that she did this as she could not stand the torture.
Hajuj is planning to sue Gaddafi, accusing the Libyan leader of holding him hostage, the Dutch news agency ANP reported Sunday.
The medics have always maintained their innocence, with the support of international experts who have said that the HIV infections occurred before their arrival at the hospital and were sparked by poor hygiene.
Bulgaria is writing off Libya's communist-era debt as a contribution to an international fund for the victims.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who helped negotiate their release, has denied accusations that he traded it for a nuclear cooperation deal with France and military contracts with European defense firm EADS, which were announced days after the medics' return home.
SharonB
