UNITED NATIONS - INVESTIGATORS have evidence that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi ordered mass rapes and bought containers of sex drugs for troops to attack women, the chief ICC prosecutor said on Wednesday.
Mr Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he may ask for a new charge of mass rape to be made against Gaddafi following the new evidence. The chief International Criminal Court prosecutor is expecting a decision from judges within days on his request for crimes against humanity charges against the Libyan leader.
'Now we are getting some information that Gaddafi himself decided to rape and this is new,' Mr Moreno-Ocampo told reporters. He said there were reports of hundreds of women attacked in some areas of Libya, which is in the grip of a months-long internal rebellion.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo said there was evidence that the Libyan authorities bought 'Viagra-type' medicines and gave them to troops as part of the official rape policy.
'They were buying containers to enhance the possibility to rape women,' he said. 'We had doubts at the beginning but now we are more convinced that he decided to punish using rapes,' the prosecutor said. 'It was very bad - beyond the limits, I would say.'
Gaddafi's regime had not previously been known for using rape as a weapon against political opponents. 'Rape is a new attribute of his repression,' the prosecutor said. 'Now we are confirming that there was a policy to rape in Libya.'
Source: ST Online/AFP
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