NATO countries motivated the invasion of Libya by the need to protect the civilian population from the dictator. As a result, hundreds of civilians, including women and children, fell victim to the alliance.
A home destroyed in an airstrike in Tripoli, Libya. June 19, 2011
It has been ten years since NATO aircraft launched massive bombing raids on Libya in an attempt to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi. Then the alliance loudly announced the organization of strict monitoring of military facilities in order to avoid civilian casualties. Alliance Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen boasted that “there are no confirmed civilian casualties caused by NATO”.
Human rights groups and UN investigators have long denied these false claims, writes the American publication Foreign Policy. They found many cases of harm to civilians. In particular, the UN commission confirmed that at least 60 people were victims of NATO aggression.
The company “Airwars”, which monitors victims of conflicts, has revealed new data. According to the results of a large-scale study, it became known that NATO airstrikes led to the death of between 223 and 403 civilians. It is also noteworthy that even after a decade, the countries of the alliance, including the United States and Great Britain, refuse to take responsibility for the murder of the civilian population of Libya.
“I feel like we were treated like we were nothing and they didn’t look back. I hope that when Libya gets back on its feet, we will achieve justice”, – Attia al-Juwayli said in a comment to reporters.
The Juvayli family and several others took refuge in the village of Mayer in northern Libya. They fled a military campaign on the ground between Gaddafi’s forces and NATO-backed militants. These people did not suspect that death would overtake them from the air.
It was Ramadan then, so prayers lasted until late at night. After that, the women and children entered the house, and the men sat on the porch and talked.
“All of a sudden, everything turned black, nothing was visible”, – Juviley recalls.
“When the smoke cleared, it became clear that the second floor had been destroyed”.
The men rushed to look for survivors among the rubble. Fifteen minutes later, many of them were also killed in the second airstrike. Juwayli was desperate to find his two-year-old daughter, Arwa. The girl was found dead under the rubble.
The Libyan authorities who came after the overthrow of Gaddafi did not seek to achieve justice for the citizens of the country. Although a victim compensation mechanism was set up, its launch was delayed when the country was gripped by war again in 2014.
Eight NATO countries launched airstrikes on Libya in 2011: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States. Airwars, during its investigation, tried to obtain data from these states regarding the bombing. Only Denmark and Norway responded, providing at least partial information. In the United States, all responsibility for the deaths of civilians was shifted to the North Atlantic Alliance. At the same time, it was also not possible to obtain data on air strikes from NATO.
“NATO does not condole as an organization and does not make voluntary payments”, – Oana Lungescu, an alliance official, commented on the new information.