Sunday, February 24, 2013

Can a brutal murder be classified as a manifestation of justice?


 20 October 2011, Muammar Gaddafi is dead! A new era in Libyan history has begun. But one question remains…should it happen this way?
Undoubtedly Gaddafi was one of the world’s most cruel dictators. There would be no point in enumerating his acts, but a constant emphasis is put on the fact that he had shown no mercy to his own people.
Тhe Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor Ashraf
The number of victims of his regime is countless. Let’s not forget about Lockerbie bombings or the eight years of torturing the Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian. All being topped up by their unfair trail.  Also the great number of killing, disappearing  or tortures in prisons, suffered by opponents of the regime. All which gave him an ironically sad nickname , “mad dog of the Middle East” by chance.
But let’s not get into headlines which were seen in newspapers the world over. However,  the brutal murder of anyone, no matter who they are, is still questionable.  The so called fighters of the temporary rule in Libya, who in the beginning of the conflict were determined as rebels by the press, are Libya’s heroes today.
But are they actual heroes? Of course, there has always been a debate over the right of killing someone in certain conditions…Are they the defenders of democracy or are they a blood-thirsty group of people with misunderstood ideals of freedom and justice?
The killing of Gaddafi
If the act of killing on its own may be rationalized, there is little room left for morality in the fact that they celebrated over his dead body. This can easily be considered inhumane and it may be argued if this is the first step for the “fighters for freedom” to become just like Gaddafi. With their act, they have also revoked the right of the victims of the colonel’s regime to see him brought to trial and sentenced for his crimes. They have revoked them the right for justice, and receiving what it might be seen as a more fair punishment than death.
The international Human Rights organisation “Amnesty International” has accused of war crimes not only Gaddafi’s regime, but the rebels as well. In a 122 pages report it is said that the rebels have kidnapped, tortured and murdered people suspected (not even proved to be) of loyalty to Gaddafi’s regime. They have also executed (without trial) a great number of mercenaries from Serbia, Russia, Ukraine, Bosnia, Croatia and so on. So we find ourselves questioning… can a wrong be made right by doing wrong? Can crimes against human rights be considered moral acts in an environment in which people were deprived of them in the first place?
The killing of Gaddafi…is it justice? Or is it an act of inhumanity preventing Libyans to break up with their past and put human rights in the heart of their new political system?
As for actual justice… for the triumph of it, a way of doing things ‘the right way’ (according to the democratic, western way of doing things), everyone should pay the penalty of their crimes, both Gaddafi’s supporters and opponents participating in the war. This means the colonel’s murder should be investigated and its authors hold responsible .
Equity and Freedom, values that a young state should hold dear in order to start a fresh, new chapter…can Libya manage to achieve it? Only time will tell…

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