Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for providing me with the opportunity to raise this issue. The campaign in Libya was originally driven by the former French President, Mr. Sarkozy, to boost his prospects of getting re-elected more than anything else. A great deal of attention was given to the whole episode but as soon as Gadaffi was killed, the media seemed to lose interest and it has obviously moved on to another issue since then.

What has become obvious since then is that the conflict in Libya was a civil war and NATO took one particular side. I have no intention of trying to defend what Gadaffi was up to but I do not agree with military intervention in this manner. It has caused at least as many problems as it has solved.

It was difficult to get accurate coverage of what was going on at the time given that the media was very much looking for Gaddafi's head. However, some seven months later, we have had reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and a commission of inquiry has been appointed by the UN. Not only have they found that 8,000 prisoners have been held without trial, but there have been rampant torture and routine deaths in detention. There has been ethnic cleansing in Tawergha, a town of 30,000 mainly black Libyans, which is already in the frame as a crime against humanity, and there has been continual violent persecution of sub-Saharan Africans across the country. The country has broken down into a lawless land and some of the measures introduced by the interim government, the National Transitional Council, have left much to be desired, including clamping freedom of speech and the disqualification of some election candidates. Whether we like it or not, the political forces of NATO have played a decisive role in bringing these people to power. Human Rights Watch and the UN report have found NATO has been guilty of numerous civilian deaths. They have sought a response from NATO and its co-operation with an inquiry but NATO has refused, stating it does not have a mandate to do so. If an international force such as NATO can go to a place such as this, one would like to think it would be accountable for what it does but unfortunately it does not seem so.

Given that we were keen to support it at the time there is an onus on the Government not to ignore the human rights abuses taking place. I do not expect us to go out there and act on a military basis but the least we can do is raise our voice and show our discomfort at what is happening.

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