#URGENT #Tripoli PPL seen taking away VITAL Docs + Files from Abu Salim prison Need 2 Return Them to #NTCgoo.gl/D5KcR #Libya
TRIPOLI, Libya — Amid fears for the safety of an estimated 50,000 missing prisoners of the Gaddafi regime, Amnesty International has expressed grave concern over the lax measures to protect prison records in detention centers throughout the capital.
Aamir Benowen, 26, was among an estimated 160 prisoners detained in the compound. He had been captured three months before from his home in Tripoli but says to this day he does not know why he was arrested. Benowen said all prisoners were subjected to brutal treatment, but as the rebel forces advanced, the situation worsened.
Lying in the ICU unit of Tripoli’s Central Hospital, Benowen winced in pain as he spoke through a respirator. Numerous stab wounds, broken bones and severe bruising covered his body. His neck had been sliced open.
Benowen said the callous attack had occurred four days before the massacre of Aug. 23 when he saw an estimated 130 prisoners shot and blown apart by hand grenades. Many of the bodies were then set on fire.
Benowen is one of only 23 known survivors. Benowen says he survived only because guards had assumed he was dead already. Following the attack he had been left lying in his own blood without assistance for four days.
Looking after Benowen was Asma Omar Elgharian, 25, a volunteer nurse who had been married just 20 days when her new husband was shot dead by Gaddafi's men while protesting peacefully on Feb. 20.
“I have seen many cases here of similar brutality by Gaddafi soldiers, but this one is the most vicious,” she said.
Bouslama of Amnesty International said they were still investigating the case but had only managed to locate 23 survivors. The inmates came from all over Libya and included at least three minors and several men over the age of 60. Their time in detention ranged from three months to a few days. Many, like Benowen, said they had been taken from their homes and had not been involved in the fighting.
A further five prisoners had also been killed in a nearby prison run by the same brigade, she said. Three were military personnel and two had been doctors.
Bouslama said the NTC figure of 50,000 missing prisoners was unsubstantiated as thorough records had not been kept in all areas, particularly those cities that were until recently controlled by Gaddafi loyalists. Dealing with an the overwhelming number of patients, morgues and hospitals had also failed to keep accurate records making the true number of those missing impossible to determine at this time.
However, Bouslama said she believed the figure to be in the tens of thousands and Amnesty had grave conc
