Tripoli Prisoner Escapee
English translation below
A Libyan Freedom Fighter, an ex-prisoner of Gaddafi from Tripoli, gives a report about the situation in Tripoli and estimates that 60,000 people had been arrested and jailed in Tripoli. Here is the video, with his testimony in Arabic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH6ffGh8raE ( Uploaded on July 31st, 2011)
This translation was found on FGM's facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/FGMovement?sk=wall&filter=1 ; the translator is unknown. Corrections are welcome.
A prisoner says there are more than 60 thousand prisoners in Tripoli. He says when they come to arrest you, they come in 10 or more cars, and then they start shooting in the air. Once you come out they take you and put you in the car upside down, putting your head where your feet go. That way you have no idea of where you are. Once at prison they told him if he cooperates and helps, they will give him a car, money and a gun; if not the he will be executed like the others. He said that he was given an injection and was answering "Yes" to everything they asked. He later found out that he was in Abu Salim prison. They kept on asking him the same things for 11 days. They also showed him lists of names of people they were looking for. He said the he saw his friends and cousins names. They told him that they will give him a few days to rest and then issue him a gun and a car and a biweekly salary just to inform them of the FF movements and keep an eye on his neighborhood. He said that he agreed to do this and also chose the second name on the list that was a friend of his. Both managed to escape with the help of a checkpoint guard whom they knew. They went to Tunis and Zintan.
He said: "I have not slept in days after my escape from happiness and the nightmares; I never thought I’ll get out alive. I was injured but was not treated until I came to Zintan and Tunis. My bones on my foot were shattered and my flesh was rotting. We were in a room like this full of people with all kinds of torture equipment like hooks to hang people; also electrical equipment used on genitals - thank god it was not use on me. I was so afraid. I was taken to 3 different places and there had to be more than 60 thousand prisoners - mostly young, but there were prisoners of all ages and all were treated the same, with no mercy for the old. They had small dog cages;
they put prisoners inside them for days at a time. Sometimes they took us outside blindfolded; then they will start shooting and you just start praying, wondering when it is your turn. Then they take the bodies and just leave them to rot in the hall way. The days I spent there will not be erased from my memory. I could never forget the stench of the corpses. We were giving injections. I am still uneasy because I have no idea what it was. Most of the guards were Libyans, but from the south. I will never forget their faces; they were raping young kids.
( Other Tripoli Eyewitness statements are available from our Selected Translations page.)
This translation was found on FGM's facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/FGMovement?sk=wall&filter=1 ; the translator is unknown. Corrections are welcome.
A prisoner says there are more than 60 thousand prisoners in Tripoli. He says when they come to arrest you, they come in 10 or more cars, and then they start shooting in the air. Once you come out they take you and put you in the car upside down, putting your head where your feet go. That way you have no idea of where you are. Once at prison they told him if he cooperates and helps, they will give him a car, money and a gun; if not the he will be executed like the others. He said that he was given an injection and was answering "Yes" to everything they asked. He later found out that he was in Abu Salim prison. They kept on asking him the same things for 11 days. They also showed him lists of names of people they were looking for. He said the he saw his friends and cousins names. They told him that they will give him a few days to rest and then issue him a gun and a car and a biweekly salary just to inform them of the FF movements and keep an eye on his neighborhood. He said that he agreed to do this and also chose the second name on the list that was a friend of his. Both managed to escape with the help of a checkpoint guard whom they knew. They went to Tunis and Zintan.
He said: "I have not slept in days after my escape from happiness and the nightmares; I never thought I’ll get out alive. I was injured but was not treated until I came to Zintan and Tunis. My bones on my foot were shattered and my flesh was rotting. We were in a room like this full of people with all kinds of torture equipment like hooks to hang people; also electrical equipment used on genitals - thank god it was not use on me. I was so afraid. I was taken to 3 different places and there had to be more than 60 thousand prisoners - mostly young, but there were prisoners of all ages and all were treated the same, with no mercy for the old. They had small dog cages;
they put prisoners inside them for days at a time. Sometimes they took us outside blindfolded; then they will start shooting and you just start praying, wondering when it is your turn. Then they take the bodies and just leave them to rot in the hall way. The days I spent there will not be erased from my memory. I could never forget the stench of the corpses. We were giving injections. I am still uneasy because I have no idea what it was. Most of the guards were Libyans, but from the south. I will never forget their faces; they were raping young kids.
( Other Tripoli Eyewitness statements are available from our Selected Translations page.)