After Saif Gaddafi and Khalifa Haftar announced their candidacy for the presidential elections in Libya, and submitted their papers to the Electoral Commission in the cities of Sabha and Benghazi, international, local and other human rights organizations reactions in rejection of this candidacy.
As soon as their nomination was officially confirmed, bloggers and social media activists began revealing and introducing the criminal history of Saif Gaddafi and Haftar’s in Libya. The first suppressed the uprising of the February 17th and violated human rights, and the second involved in horrofic crimes that are still unfolding until this moment..
United States of America
US State Department spokeswoman Geraldine Griffiths commented on Gaddafi’s son’s candidacy that “Saif is subject to some sanctions and has a long record of committing violations against the Libyan people, stressing that the elections should be held on time.
“Rights Watch”
On the part of the organizations, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch said on his Twitter account, “Khalifa Haftar has benefited from complete impunity for the numerous war crimes committed by forces under his control since 2014.
In the same context, the organization’s researcher on Libya affairs, Hanan Saleh, added that the Libyan authorities are obligated to arrest Saif Gaddafi and hand him over to the International Criminal Court in accordance with a Security Council resolution, and registering him as a presidential candidate does not change anything in this regard.
British “Times”
As for the British newspaper, The Times, it was naïve to believe that Saif Gaddafi holds the key to the solution in Libya, and that a “fragmented” country like Libya will find under his rule a common goal or a path towards a cohesive state, and that what has been broken cannot be fixed, except through efforts of intense diplomacy.
The newspaper said – on its website – that Russia has tried to build back channels of communication with Saif, and may eventually support him to serve its interests, while the United Kingdom is demanding not to support Saif, because he is still wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
Amnesty International
For its part, Amnesty International confirmed that Saif is still wanted by international criminals for committing crimes against humanity and violent crimes in the repression of demonstrations in 2011, stressing that it is time to end impunity from justice for those suspected of crimes against humanity not their presence in positions of power in Libya.
Israeli newspaper
Also, after announcing his candidacy, the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, revealed, in a report, that Saif Gaddafi led secret relations between his father and “Israel” prior to the outbreak of the February 17 revolution.
The newspaper confirmed that the two sides were in contact on what it described as “diplomatic and humanitarian issues,” and these contacts were managed by Gaddafi’s son through Jewish businessmen of Libyan origin.
General Military Prosecutor
And from Libya, the General Military Prosecutor called on the head of the High National Elections Commission, Imad al-Sayeh, to stop accepting the procedures of candidates for the presidential elections, Saif Gaddafi and Khalifa Haftar, until they complete the investigation for the charges attributed to them.
Many Libyan cities and regions rejected their candidacy for the crimes against humanity they had committed and were unacceptable, stressing their support for holding the elections on their scheduled date on the twenty-fourth of next December.
