The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor has said that Libyan leader Muammer Gaddafi ordered mass rapes and bought containers of sex drugs for troops to attack women.
Iman al-Obaidi, right, burst into a Tripoli hotel where foreign journalists are staying and told them of the attack Photo: AP
11:56PM BST 08 Jun 2011
The Telegraph
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 said.
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.
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"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.
He told reporters at the UN in New York that he had collected evidence suggesting the Libyan leader had decided to punish women by using rape as a weapon in the hope that it would instil fear and curb dissent.
In March, a Libyan woman, Eman al-Obeidi, made headlines around the world after she burst into a Tripoli hotel and said she had been raped by Gaddafi's troops. She is recovering at a refugee centre in Romania.
"It was very bad – beyond the limits, I would say," Mr Moreno-Ocampo added.
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