Gaddafi supporters 'tortured in prison'

[EFerrari]

Gaddafi supporters 'tortured in prison'

In the aftermath of revolution in Libya there are still concerns over the treatment of Gaddafi loyalists there.

The UN estimates that more than 7,000 people are being detained without a fully-functioning legal system and the National Transitional Council has published a draft law that would bar members of the Gaddafi regime from running in elections this year.

Mark Lowen, reports from Tripoli on what has happened to the imprisoned supporters of Colonel Gaddafi.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9679000/9679587.stm

Audio report at link. Reporter interviews former detainees who describe their abuse. held for months in crowded lightless cells, is shown scars by prisoner whose hands were smashed with a hammer, told of torture with electricity. Is shown pictures of prisoners beaten to death by a human rights advocate. The justice ministers says the prisoners are held because they might do something to the revolution but also to protect them against revenge. He says the rebels are in control of the prisons, not the government. In Tripoli Central Hospital, the patients are segregated, with pro Gaddafi patients on their own floor.

[Taverner]

1. Not surprising

Not encouraging, but not surprising