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Gaddafi troops raping, issued Viagra , report
The U.S. envoy to the United Nations told the Security Council on Thursday that troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were increasingly engaging in sexual violence and some had been issued the impotency drug Viagra, diplomats said.Several U.N. diplomats who attended a closed-door Security Council meeting on Libya told Reuters that U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice raised the Viagra issue in the context of increasing reports of sexual violence by Gaddafis troops. Rice raised that in the meeting but no one responded, a diplomat said on condition of anonymity. The allegation was first reported by a British newspaper. Pfizer Incs drug Viagra is used to treat impotence. Diplomats said if it were true that Gaddafis troops were being issued Viagra, it could indicate they were being encouraged by their commanders to engage in rape to terrorize the population in areas that have supported the rebels. That would constitute a war crime. Several diplomats said Rice provided no evidence for the Viagra allegation, which they said was made in an attempt to persuade doubters the conflict in Libya was not just a standard civil war but a much nastier fight in which Gaddafi is not afraid to order his troops to commit heinous acts. She spoke of reports of soldiers getting Viagra and raping, a diplomat said. She spoke of Gaddafis soldiers targeting children, and other atrocities. RAPE AS WEAPON? Rices statement, diplomats said, was aimed principally at countries like India, Russia and China, which have grown increasingly sceptical of the effectiveness of the NATO-led air strikes, which they fear have turned the conflict into a protracted civil war that will cause many civilian deaths. Most council members, diplomats said, had expected Gaddafis government to collapse quickly. They said the frustration felt by India, Russia and China would likely grow if the war dragged on. The use of rape as a weapon during wartime has received increasing attention at the United Nations. Last year, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed a special envoy on sexual violence during armed conflict, Margot Wallstrom. Posted by: tipper 2011-04-29 |
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