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Tripoli, 26 November:
Extremists say they will execute a dozen men alleged to be homosexuals, following their arrest last Thursday at a private party in Tripoli’s Ain Zara district.
A body calling itself the ‘Private Deterrent Force’, which is believed to be part of the extremist Nawasi brigade, one of Tripoli’s largest militias, has posted images of the men on their Facebook page. One picture (above) shows them, heads covered, standing with their hands against a wall.
At the time of writing, the picture had received 315 ‘likes’ and had received comments such as “flog them hard”, “lets see the bullets”, and “ride them like camels”.
Accompanying text describes the men as “the third sex”, a reference to their sexuality.
The Nawasi brigade has previously been linked to the desecration of Sufi shrines in Tripoli and claims to be under the authority of the Ministry of Interior.
Correction: The Facebook group calling itself “Human Rights Watch Libya”, originally quoted in this article as calling for the men’s humane treatment and transfer to the civil authorities, is not in fact affiliated with Human Rights Watch Libya.
Human Rights Watch contacted the Facebook group, which has subsequently changed its name to “Human Rights Libya”, as well as the Libya Herald to inform us that they have not made a public comment on the case as yet. This has been amended. [/restrict]
