Iman al-Obeidi
Encyclopedia
Iman al-Obeidi is a Libya
n postgraduate law student. She first received worldwide media attention during the 2011 Libyan civil war
, when she burst into the restaurant of the Rixos Hotel
in Tripoli
and told the international press corps there that Libyan troops had beaten and gang-raped her. Her public statement challenged both the Gaddafi government and the taboo
against discussing sex crimes in Libya.
Government security forces dragged her out of the hotel to an unknown destination, and attacked journalists who tried to help her. Government representatives claimed she was drunk, mentally ill, a prostitute, and a thief, and said she would be charged with slander. The Washington Post described her as a "symbol of defiance against Gaddafi."
She was released from government detention after three days, and was interviewed several times by Libya TV—an opposition satellite channel—and by CNN, during which she offered graphic details of her rape
and subsequent detention by government officials. She fled Libya with a defecting military officer, who helped her cross into Tunisia, dressed in a Berber tribal costume to hide her identity. She was initially offered protection from European diplomats in Qatar
and applied for refugee status there. After initially protecting her, Qatar soon forcibly deported her back to Libya. On June 4, she was granted asylum in the United States with the help of Hillary Clinton.
to Aisha and Atik al-Obeidi, the latter now a retired customs agent. Her mother told CNN al-Obeidi had always wanted to be a journalist, but because of the lack of press freedom in Libya decided to study law instead. She graduated in law from the Seventh of April University
in Zawiya, and had been living in Tripoli for the past year with her sister, Amal, either interning at a law firm or working in a tourism office, while pursuing postgraduate studies.
hotel on March 26, later telling CNN she had gained entry by pretending to be a member of staff. After finding foreign journalists in the restaurant, she showed them her injuries, which The New York Times described as "a broad bruise on her face, a large scar on her upper thigh, several narrow and deep scratch marks lower on her leg, and marks that seemed to come from binding around her hands and feet."
She told the journalists she had been stopped two days earlier at a checkpoint on Salahiddeen Road in Tripoli, while in a car with her sister's husband, later reported as Salih Hamid al-Aguri. Jonathan Miller writes that Salahiddeen Road is the main route from Tripoli to Tajoura, which saw anti-Gaddafi protests a month earlier; according to Miller, one of Gaddafi's sons, Khamis, has a barracks on that road. When the security personnel heard her eastern Libyan accent, she was ordered to produce her identity card, and when they learned she was from Tobruk—where rebel forces were active—they detained her. She named the leader of the group who took her as Mansour Ibrahim Ali. She was held for two days, during which she said she was tied up, urinated and defecated upon, and raped by 15 men, some of them videotaping the attack. She said local residents near the place she was held had helped her escape.
There was a scuffle in the hotel as government officials and hotel staff tried to silence her. Several journalists were kicked, punched, and knocked over as they tried to help or speak to her. Security forces punched Jonathan Miller of Channel 4 News in the face for coming to her defense, pushed Charles Clover of the Financial Times to the ground and kicked him, smashed a CNN camera, and pointed a gun at a television crew. Clover was later deported; before the incident, he had been told there were "inaccuracies in his reports." A member of the hotel's staff told Miller that the people involved in the violence, who were wearing hotel uniforms, did not in fact work for the hotel. Her attackers accused al-Obeidi of being a "traitor to Gaddafi"; two women grabbed table knives to threaten both her and the journalists, one then throwing a blanket over al-Obeidi's head in an attempt to muffle her. She had specifically asked to speak to Reuters and The New York Times; Michael Georgy of Reuters was able to talk to her briefly before she was taken away. She was finally subdued, dragged out of the hotel, and driven in an unmarked car to an unknown location.
said investigators had found al-Obeidi was drunk and possibly mentally ill, a suggestion that raised fears she would face indefinite incarceration in a government-controlled mental institution, continuing the list of forced disappearance
s the opposition charges the Gaddafi regime with.
After journalists demanded to see her, Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim
told CNN that five men, including the son of a high-ranking Libyan police officer, had been arrested in connection with the alleged rape. Kaim said al-Obeidi was being held at the headquarters of Libyan National Intelligence, was doing well, and would be provided with legal aid. Ibrahim withdrew the allegation that she was mentally ill, but then suggested she was a thief and a prostitute who had been on a prearranged meeting with one of the alleged rapists. This was rejected by al-Obeidi's 21-year-old sister Mawra: "We come from a good family. We study at university. Is this the type of people who engage in such horrible acts?"
Ibrahim expressed frustration about the international furore over al-Obeidi while Libya was suffering daily air-raids and massive civilian casualties. On March 27 he said al-Obeidi had been released and was with her sister. On March 28 her parents denied this, saying she was being held at Gaddafi's compound in Bab al-Azizia. According to one rebel activist, Gaddafi government representatives telephoned her mother at three o'clock in the morning on March 27, offering al-Obeidi "a new house and a lot of money and anything she wanted" if she would change her story. Her mother is reported to have spoken to al-Obeidi by telephone, and she replied, "I will die rather than change my words."
On March 29 Ibrahim told reporters that the men al-Obeidi accused of rape were making a case against her, and that she was facing criminal charges: "The boys she accused are bringing a case against her because it's a very grave offense to accuse someone of a sexual crime." He said al-Obeidi's criminal case against her alleged rapists had been dropped because she refused to undergo a medical examination. On April 3 Gaddafi supporters posted on the Web what they said was a pornographic video made by al-Obeidi. A state media reporter gave a copy to The New York Times, which described it as a homemade video of a belly dancer, relatively chaste according to the newspaper, and bearing little resemblance to al-Obeidi.
—as well as the Criminal Investigation Department, and the Directorate of Security. Their "only request," she said, was that she "come out on the Libyan state channel and say that those who kidnapped [her] were not from Gaddafi's security forces, rather they were from the revolutionaries and armed gangs." She refused. She said a medical examiner confirmed her rape claim and the Attorney-General's office said it would "take all necessary measures to arrest those who were responsible."
, and on April 6 Gaddafi's son, Saif, arranged for CNN reporter Nic Robertson
to interview her on camera.
During the first telephone interview, she offered graphic details of her ordeal at the hands of 15 members of Libya's security forces. She said they poured alcohol into her eyes so she could not see them; raped her; sodomized her with a Kalashnikov; tied her up; bit her; and would not allow her to use the bathroom, eat, or drink. "One man would leave and another would enter," she said. "He would finish and then another man would come in." She said they told her: "Let the men from Eastern Libya come and see what we are doing to their women and how we treat them, how we rape them." There were other women held with her, including a 16-year-old who was able to untie al-Obeidi's hands and feet. This allowed her to escape, and she caught a taxi to the Rixos Hotel, where she heard there was some form of fact-finding team. She was able to enter the hotel by telling the taxi driver she worked there to get round the restriction on meeting foreign journalists. After security forces removed her from the hotel, Libyan officials bought her new clothes, and said they expected her to go on state television to say she had been kidnapped by rebels, not government forces. When she refused, she said she was taken to jail. She said interrogators pointed guns at her, poured water on her face, threw food at her, and accused her of being a traitor, in an effort to persuade her to retract her statement. Eventually, a medical exam confirmed she had been raped, and they released her. She told Cooper other girls were still being held in the building where she was assaulted, and that local residents had complained to the police about it, but that no one had acted to help them.
She said her life and reputation had been ruined by the assault and the subsequent allegations on state television that she was a whore, a prostitute, drunk, and mentally ill, and that people were laughing at her. She said there was no safe place for her in Tripoli, and that she was unable to leave the house she was staying in; when she tried to, she had been taken to the police station, then released again. She alleged that officials abducted her three times in all: once from the hotel, once when she tried thereafter to escape to Tunisia, and again on April 3 to stop her from complaining to police. She said: "My life is in danger, and I call on all human rights organization [...] to expose the truth and to let me leave now. I am being held hostage here. They have threatened me with death and told me I will never leave prison again, if I go to the journalists or tell them anything about what's happening in Tripoli."
She paid tribute to her family for standing by her, saying they had allowed her sister to study overseas without a male chaperone, and had raised both women well. When asked whether she feared someone would kill her, she replied: "I don't know. My emotions change. Sometimes I feel no, they are going to kill me. But at the same time I feel afraid but I have a motivation that says there is nothing to be afraid of. We have lost everything. What is left to be afraid of? It is done." She told Cooper: "I have reached the end of my tolerance for this as a human."
On April 5, CNN connected her by satellite phone to her mother in Tobruk, and broadcast part of the conversation. She told her mother she had been threatened in court that day by a court official, who al-Obeidi said told her he was going to "kill this failure who reports on our brigades." Other people pulled him away, and a car took her back to the house she is staying in, which she said belongs to one of her sister's friends. The next day, Nic Robertson of CNN was able to meet her and take photographs, but without sound or video.
She told Robertson she had been kidnapped by two cars belonging to the armed forces and the Gaddafi brigades. They were drunk, and took her to one of their residences, where she was tortured and raped. She said her hands and legs were tied behind her for two days. When she was released, she used her cell phone to take photographs of the bruises and marks on her body. She said she wanted to follow up on her case legally, though when she tried to begin the process in a courthouse, a court employee took a gun and threatened to kill her. She told Robertson she is an ordinary Libyan citizen, a well-educated, conservative Muslim from a good family, and everything that has been said about her by Libyan state television was a lie. She said she wanted to pursue justice and her rights under the law, had appealed to Gaddafi, and wanted Libya to be seen as a country of law: "If there is no law, I call upon all judges, district attorneys, prosecutors to stay home, and tell them that the Libyan TV is the one who investigates, and questions, and judges people, so there is no need for you." She also spoke privately to Saadi al-Gaddafi, describing him later as a humble and understanding man, who treated her well. Robertson wrote that al-Gaddafi appeared shocked after the meeting, and commented on al-Obeidi's strong character and willingness to disagree with him. He said he would take up her case, and told Robertson: "The people responsible for raping her should face charges. She is a strong woman."
During a telephone interview on April 11, al-Obeidi told Anderson Cooper she had seen one of the men who raped her; she said she saw him on the street the previous week. She said he was related to a public official who was part of Gaddafi's circle, and that she feared he might kill her.
of National Public Radio (NPR) and an Associated Press reporter managed to avoid their government minders to interview her. Al-Obeidi repeated many of the details she'd given in previous interviews, and added that the most brutal of her attackers was the son of a government minister. She also explained how she had escaped. She told NPR that, after the 16-year-old girl held with her untied al-Obeidi's hands and feet, she managed to jump out of a window, covered only in a tablecloth. The compound was surrounded by a wall, and there were two African guards sleeping by the electric gate. She said she grabbed a piece of metal and ran at them, screaming, and they opened the gate for her. After that, she was helped by people in the neighborhood, who put her in a taxi, paid the fare, and told the driver to take her to the Rixos Hotel.
She told NPR she was under intense pressure to recant her allegations; even her own lawyers want her to change her story. Garcia-Navarro reported that the government no longer denies al-Obeidi was raped, but continues to discredit her. She interviewed government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, who said al-Obeidi "has a file" proving that she was a prostitute. Libyan state television continues to run the video purportedly showing al-Obeidi dancing suggestively, but Garcia-Navarro said al-Obeidi has only nine fingers, and has scars on her stomach from an operation. The woman in the video has all 10 fingers, and no scars.
with the help of a defecting military officer and Libyan rebels. She wore a traditional Berber headdress to cross the border, which concealed her face, apart from one eye.
ON May 11, Al Jazeera English reported that al-Obeidi had fled to Doha
, the capital of Qatar
, citing a report by the rebel diplomat Ali Zaidan at a press conference the same day. According to CNN, after fleeing to Tunisia, she was met at the border by French diplomats, who handed her off to Transitional National Council officials who helped her escape to Qatar.
On May 18, she granted an interview with CNN's Nic Robertson
at her new home in Qatar. She said that she felt "liberated" now that she was out of Libya.
On June 2, Sybella Wilkes, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR, said that al-Obeidi had been deported from Qatar and was back in Libya, in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi
. Reportedly, the National Transitional Council had pressured the Qatari government, which is allied with the rebels, to deport her. She had been in Qatar awaiting resettlement as a refugee.
On June 5, her sister announced that the previous day al-Obeidi has been granted asylum in the United States. On July 27, after spending 54 days at a UN refugee center in Timisoara
, Romania
, Iman al-Obeidi arrived in New York on the way to her permanent residence in the United States. In an interview to CNN she thanked the U.S. government and Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton for their support and assistance.
released a statement on March 27, 2011 condemning the treatment of al-Obeidi as "criminal, barbaric, and an unpardonable violence against her dignity, the dignity of the Libyan people, and all of humanity" and demanding the immediate release of both al-Obeidi and all other women, children, journalists, and civilians being held by Gaddafi and his regime. Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague
said incidents of such sexual violence in Libya were a demonstration of Gaddafi government's "absolute disregard for any understanding of human rights." The Human Rights Sub-Committee of the European Parliament demanded her immediate release, and said the incident was "emblematic of the situation of dissident women in Libya." Amnesty International
called al-Obeidi's story "stomach-churning," and requested her release and an investigation.
dismissed the Libyan government's response as "ham-fisted, dull-witted" damage control, based on his experience in the Arab world where "rape ... is routinely used as a punishment by security forces." He called her act "not just incredibly courageous but near-suicidal," because of the social repercussions suffered by rape victims in societies like Gaddafi's Libya. He suggested she was a real hero who deserved to be seated beside the First Lady of the United States
during the next State of the Union
address.
A number of hashtags associated with her story appeared on Twitter, including #EmanAlObeidy, #EmanAlObeidi, #EmanAlObaidy and #WhereIsEmanAlObeidy. Avaaz.org
launched a petition calling on the Turkish government to intervene on her behalf and had collected 500,000 signatures by April 3. An English-language Facebook page dedicated to her gained 2,000 followers in less than a day. Her main Facebook page in English is Free Iman Al- Obeidi, and in Arabic كلنا أهل إيمان العبيدي (We are all the family of Iman al-Obeidi).
marched with posters in support of al-Obeidi on March 27. On March 30, a group of North African women held a rally along Pennsylvania Avenue
near the White House
. They dismissed the Libyan officials' allegations that al-Obeidi was drunk, mentally unstable, or a prostitute, as signs of oppression, and said that "what happened to Eman has been happening to thousands of male and female Libyans. That's how Gadhafi retaliates against civilians, by violating their honor." The group said they planned to rally every week until al-Obeidi was found.
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n postgraduate law student. She first received worldwide media attention during the 2011 Libyan civil war
2011 Libyan civil war
The 2011 Libyan civil war was an armed conflict in the North African state of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government. The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi beginning on 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security...
, when she burst into the restaurant of the Rixos Hotel
Rixos Al Nasr
The Rixos Al Nasr is a five star hotel in Tripoli, Libya. Owned by the Turkish-based Rixos Hotels group, it is located in the center of Tripoli, at one corner of Tarabulus Zoo Park. Opened on the 12 March 2010, amongst its first guests was the President of Eritrea, Isaias Afewerki...
in Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
and told the international press corps there that Libyan troops had beaten and gang-raped her. Her public statement challenged both the Gaddafi government and the taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
against discussing sex crimes in Libya.
Government security forces dragged her out of the hotel to an unknown destination, and attacked journalists who tried to help her. Government representatives claimed she was drunk, mentally ill, a prostitute, and a thief, and said she would be charged with slander. The Washington Post described her as a "symbol of defiance against Gaddafi."
She was released from government detention after three days, and was interviewed several times by Libya TV—an opposition satellite channel—and by CNN, during which she offered graphic details of her rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
and subsequent detention by government officials. She fled Libya with a defecting military officer, who helped her cross into Tunisia, dressed in a Berber tribal costume to hide her identity. She was initially offered protection from European diplomats in Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
and applied for refugee status there. After initially protecting her, Qatar soon forcibly deported her back to Libya. On June 4, she was granted asylum in the United States with the help of Hillary Clinton.
Background
Iman al-Obeidi was born one of ten siblings in TobrukTobruk
Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....
to Aisha and Atik al-Obeidi, the latter now a retired customs agent. Her mother told CNN al-Obeidi had always wanted to be a journalist, but because of the lack of press freedom in Libya decided to study law instead. She graduated in law from the Seventh of April University
Seventh of April University
Zawiya University is a university located in the city of Zawiya, Libya. It was established as an independent university in 1988. The campus is six kilometres south of the city centre, and serves the Zawiya and Nuqat al Khams districts.-History:In 1983, University of Tripoli established a branch...
in Zawiya, and had been living in Tripoli for the past year with her sister, Amal, either interning at a law firm or working in a tourism office, while pursuing postgraduate studies.
Appearance at the Rixos Al Nasr hotel
Al-Obeidi entered the Rixos Al NasrRixos Al Nasr
The Rixos Al Nasr is a five star hotel in Tripoli, Libya. Owned by the Turkish-based Rixos Hotels group, it is located in the center of Tripoli, at one corner of Tarabulus Zoo Park. Opened on the 12 March 2010, amongst its first guests was the President of Eritrea, Isaias Afewerki...
hotel on March 26, later telling CNN she had gained entry by pretending to be a member of staff. After finding foreign journalists in the restaurant, she showed them her injuries, which The New York Times described as "a broad bruise on her face, a large scar on her upper thigh, several narrow and deep scratch marks lower on her leg, and marks that seemed to come from binding around her hands and feet."
She told the journalists she had been stopped two days earlier at a checkpoint on Salahiddeen Road in Tripoli, while in a car with her sister's husband, later reported as Salih Hamid al-Aguri. Jonathan Miller writes that Salahiddeen Road is the main route from Tripoli to Tajoura, which saw anti-Gaddafi protests a month earlier; according to Miller, one of Gaddafi's sons, Khamis, has a barracks on that road. When the security personnel heard her eastern Libyan accent, she was ordered to produce her identity card, and when they learned she was from Tobruk—where rebel forces were active—they detained her. She named the leader of the group who took her as Mansour Ibrahim Ali. She was held for two days, during which she said she was tied up, urinated and defecated upon, and raped by 15 men, some of them videotaping the attack. She said local residents near the place she was held had helped her escape.
There was a scuffle in the hotel as government officials and hotel staff tried to silence her. Several journalists were kicked, punched, and knocked over as they tried to help or speak to her. Security forces punched Jonathan Miller of Channel 4 News in the face for coming to her defense, pushed Charles Clover of the Financial Times to the ground and kicked him, smashed a CNN camera, and pointed a gun at a television crew. Clover was later deported; before the incident, he had been told there were "inaccuracies in his reports." A member of the hotel's staff told Miller that the people involved in the violence, who were wearing hotel uniforms, did not in fact work for the hotel. Her attackers accused al-Obeidi of being a "traitor to Gaddafi"; two women grabbed table knives to threaten both her and the journalists, one then throwing a blanket over al-Obeidi's head in an attempt to muffle her. She had specifically asked to speak to Reuters and The New York Times; Michael Georgy of Reuters was able to talk to her briefly before she was taken away. She was finally subdued, dragged out of the hotel, and driven in an unmarked car to an unknown location.
Gaddafi government response
There was confusion for several days as to whether she was in government custody or with her family. At a press conference on March 26, government spokesman Moussa IbrahimMoussa Ibrahim
Moussa Ibrahim is a Libyan political figure, serving as Libyan Minister of Information and the official spokesman for Muammar Gaddafi as of March 2011. He came to general international attention during the 2011 Libyan civil war.-Biography:...
said investigators had found al-Obeidi was drunk and possibly mentally ill, a suggestion that raised fears she would face indefinite incarceration in a government-controlled mental institution, continuing the list of forced disappearance
Forced disappearance
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
s the opposition charges the Gaddafi regime with.
After journalists demanded to see her, Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim
Khaled Kaim
Khaled Kaim is the Deputy Foreign Minister of Libya. On 5 September 2011, it was reported that he has been arrested in Tripoli.-References:...
told CNN that five men, including the son of a high-ranking Libyan police officer, had been arrested in connection with the alleged rape. Kaim said al-Obeidi was being held at the headquarters of Libyan National Intelligence, was doing well, and would be provided with legal aid. Ibrahim withdrew the allegation that she was mentally ill, but then suggested she was a thief and a prostitute who had been on a prearranged meeting with one of the alleged rapists. This was rejected by al-Obeidi's 21-year-old sister Mawra: "We come from a good family. We study at university. Is this the type of people who engage in such horrible acts?"
Ibrahim expressed frustration about the international furore over al-Obeidi while Libya was suffering daily air-raids and massive civilian casualties. On March 27 he said al-Obeidi had been released and was with her sister. On March 28 her parents denied this, saying she was being held at Gaddafi's compound in Bab al-Azizia. According to one rebel activist, Gaddafi government representatives telephoned her mother at three o'clock in the morning on March 27, offering al-Obeidi "a new house and a lot of money and anything she wanted" if she would change her story. Her mother is reported to have spoken to al-Obeidi by telephone, and she replied, "I will die rather than change my words."
On March 29 Ibrahim told reporters that the men al-Obeidi accused of rape were making a case against her, and that she was facing criminal charges: "The boys she accused are bringing a case against her because it's a very grave offense to accuse someone of a sexual crime." He said al-Obeidi's criminal case against her alleged rapists had been dropped because she refused to undergo a medical examination. On April 3 Gaddafi supporters posted on the Web what they said was a pornographic video made by al-Obeidi. A state media reporter gave a copy to The New York Times, which described it as a homemade video of a belly dancer, relatively chaste according to the newspaper, and bearing little resemblance to al-Obeidi.
April 3: Telephone interview with Libya TV
Al-Obeidi was first heard from again in public on April 3, when she talked by telephone to Libya TV, a new opposition satellite channel. During an emotional interview, she told them she had been in government detention for three days, but had been released and was in Tripoli; she said the Attorney-General had refused a request for her to visit her family in Tobruk. She said that during her detention she had been interrogated by Libyan intelligence—the Jamahiriya el-MukhabaratJamahiriya el-Mukhabarat
Mukhabarat el-Jamahiriya is the national intelligence service of Libya. During the 2011 Libyan civil war, agency director Abuzed Omar Dorda was captured by anti-Gaddafi forces, and many of the agency's functions were disrupted or usurped as a result of the conflict.-Operations:Mukhabarat...
—as well as the Criminal Investigation Department, and the Directorate of Security. Their "only request," she said, was that she "come out on the Libyan state channel and say that those who kidnapped [her] were not from Gaddafi's security forces, rather they were from the revolutionaries and armed gangs." She refused. She said a medical examiner confirmed her rape claim and the Attorney-General's office said it would "take all necessary measures to arrest those who were responsible."
April 3–5: Telephone interviews with CNN
She spoke to CNN by telephone several times between April 3 and 5, interviewed via an interpreter by Anderson CooperAnderson Cooper
Anderson Hays Cooper is an American journalist, author, and television personality. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°. The program is normally broadcast live from a New York City studio; however, Cooper often broadcasts live on location for breaking news stories...
, and on April 6 Gaddafi's son, Saif, arranged for CNN reporter Nic Robertson
Nic Robertson
Nic Robertson is a Senior International Correspondent at CNN.Nic started his career in broadcasting in 1984 within the engineering arm of the UK's Independent Broadcasting Authority He then worked as an engineer with TV-AM until 1989.Nic began his career at CNN in 1989, starting as a satellite...
to interview her on camera.
During the first telephone interview, she offered graphic details of her ordeal at the hands of 15 members of Libya's security forces. She said they poured alcohol into her eyes so she could not see them; raped her; sodomized her with a Kalashnikov; tied her up; bit her; and would not allow her to use the bathroom, eat, or drink. "One man would leave and another would enter," she said. "He would finish and then another man would come in." She said they told her: "Let the men from Eastern Libya come and see what we are doing to their women and how we treat them, how we rape them." There were other women held with her, including a 16-year-old who was able to untie al-Obeidi's hands and feet. This allowed her to escape, and she caught a taxi to the Rixos Hotel, where she heard there was some form of fact-finding team. She was able to enter the hotel by telling the taxi driver she worked there to get round the restriction on meeting foreign journalists. After security forces removed her from the hotel, Libyan officials bought her new clothes, and said they expected her to go on state television to say she had been kidnapped by rebels, not government forces. When she refused, she said she was taken to jail. She said interrogators pointed guns at her, poured water on her face, threw food at her, and accused her of being a traitor, in an effort to persuade her to retract her statement. Eventually, a medical exam confirmed she had been raped, and they released her. She told Cooper other girls were still being held in the building where she was assaulted, and that local residents had complained to the police about it, but that no one had acted to help them.
She said her life and reputation had been ruined by the assault and the subsequent allegations on state television that she was a whore, a prostitute, drunk, and mentally ill, and that people were laughing at her. She said there was no safe place for her in Tripoli, and that she was unable to leave the house she was staying in; when she tried to, she had been taken to the police station, then released again. She alleged that officials abducted her three times in all: once from the hotel, once when she tried thereafter to escape to Tunisia, and again on April 3 to stop her from complaining to police. She said: "My life is in danger, and I call on all human rights organization [...] to expose the truth and to let me leave now. I am being held hostage here. They have threatened me with death and told me I will never leave prison again, if I go to the journalists or tell them anything about what's happening in Tripoli."
She paid tribute to her family for standing by her, saying they had allowed her sister to study overseas without a male chaperone, and had raised both women well. When asked whether she feared someone would kill her, she replied: "I don't know. My emotions change. Sometimes I feel no, they are going to kill me. But at the same time I feel afraid but I have a motivation that says there is nothing to be afraid of. We have lost everything. What is left to be afraid of? It is done." She told Cooper: "I have reached the end of my tolerance for this as a human."
On April 5, CNN connected her by satellite phone to her mother in Tobruk, and broadcast part of the conversation. She told her mother she had been threatened in court that day by a court official, who al-Obeidi said told her he was going to "kill this failure who reports on our brigades." Other people pulled him away, and a car took her back to the house she is staying in, which she said belongs to one of her sister's friends. The next day, Nic Robertson of CNN was able to meet her and take photographs, but without sound or video.
April 6: On-camera interview with CNN
Nic Robertson and cameraman Khalil Abdallah of CNN recorded an on-camera interview with her on April 6, an interview arranged by Saadi al-Gaddafi, one of Gaddafi's seven sons. He made his office available and sent a car for al-Obeidi. Transmission of the interview was delayed by 18 hours because Saadi al-Gaddafi wanted the Libyan government to review it. A spokesman did look at it and was heavily critical, but al-Gaddafi waved that off, according to Robertson. It was first broadcast on April 7, the first time al-Obeidi had been seen by the wider public since March 26. Ten seconds of the interview—during which al-Obeidi expressed support for people in the rebel-held east of the country and in Misrata—triggered an objection from al-Gaddafi. Al-Obeidi did not consent to her comments being removed, and said if they were, she would withdraw consent for the entire interview, but she later agreed to the removal so long as the interview made clear which comments had been cut.She told Robertson she had been kidnapped by two cars belonging to the armed forces and the Gaddafi brigades. They were drunk, and took her to one of their residences, where she was tortured and raped. She said her hands and legs were tied behind her for two days. When she was released, she used her cell phone to take photographs of the bruises and marks on her body. She said she wanted to follow up on her case legally, though when she tried to begin the process in a courthouse, a court employee took a gun and threatened to kill her. She told Robertson she is an ordinary Libyan citizen, a well-educated, conservative Muslim from a good family, and everything that has been said about her by Libyan state television was a lie. She said she wanted to pursue justice and her rights under the law, had appealed to Gaddafi, and wanted Libya to be seen as a country of law: "If there is no law, I call upon all judges, district attorneys, prosecutors to stay home, and tell them that the Libyan TV is the one who investigates, and questions, and judges people, so there is no need for you." She also spoke privately to Saadi al-Gaddafi, describing him later as a humble and understanding man, who treated her well. Robertson wrote that al-Gaddafi appeared shocked after the meeting, and commented on al-Obeidi's strong character and willingness to disagree with him. He said he would take up her case, and told Robertson: "The people responsible for raping her should face charges. She is a strong woman."
During a telephone interview on April 11, al-Obeidi told Anderson Cooper she had seen one of the men who raped her; she said she saw him on the street the previous week. She said he was related to a public official who was part of Gaddafi's circle, and that she feared he might kill her.
April 11: Interview with NPR and AP
On April 11 al-Obeidi gave her first uncensored interview since March 26, after Lourdes Garcia-NavarroLourdes Garcia-Navarro
Lourdes Garcia-Navarro is a foreign correspondent with National Public Radio.She has distinguished herself as a tenacious war correspondent and a gifted writer.- Career :...
of National Public Radio (NPR) and an Associated Press reporter managed to avoid their government minders to interview her. Al-Obeidi repeated many of the details she'd given in previous interviews, and added that the most brutal of her attackers was the son of a government minister. She also explained how she had escaped. She told NPR that, after the 16-year-old girl held with her untied al-Obeidi's hands and feet, she managed to jump out of a window, covered only in a tablecloth. The compound was surrounded by a wall, and there were two African guards sleeping by the electric gate. She said she grabbed a piece of metal and ran at them, screaming, and they opened the gate for her. After that, she was helped by people in the neighborhood, who put her in a taxi, paid the fare, and told the driver to take her to the Rixos Hotel.
She told NPR she was under intense pressure to recant her allegations; even her own lawyers want her to change her story. Garcia-Navarro reported that the government no longer denies al-Obeidi was raped, but continues to discredit her. She interviewed government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, who said al-Obeidi "has a file" proving that she was a prostitute. Libyan state television continues to run the video purportedly showing al-Obeidi dancing suggestively, but Garcia-Navarro said al-Obeidi has only nine fingers, and has scars on her stomach from an operation. The woman in the video has all 10 fingers, and no scars.
Escape from Libya
On May 8, CNN announced that on May 5, she had escaped to TunisiaTunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
with the help of a defecting military officer and Libyan rebels. She wore a traditional Berber headdress to cross the border, which concealed her face, apart from one eye.
ON May 11, Al Jazeera English reported that al-Obeidi had fled to Doha
Doha
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
, the capital of Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
, citing a report by the rebel diplomat Ali Zaidan at a press conference the same day. According to CNN, after fleeing to Tunisia, she was met at the border by French diplomats, who handed her off to Transitional National Council officials who helped her escape to Qatar.
On May 18, she granted an interview with CNN's Nic Robertson
Nic Robertson
Nic Robertson is a Senior International Correspondent at CNN.Nic started his career in broadcasting in 1984 within the engineering arm of the UK's Independent Broadcasting Authority He then worked as an engineer with TV-AM until 1989.Nic began his career at CNN in 1989, starting as a satellite...
at her new home in Qatar. She said that she felt "liberated" now that she was out of Libya.
On June 2, Sybella Wilkes, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR, said that al-Obeidi had been deported from Qatar and was back in Libya, in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
. Reportedly, the National Transitional Council had pressured the Qatari government, which is allied with the rebels, to deport her. She had been in Qatar awaiting resettlement as a refugee.
On June 5, her sister announced that the previous day al-Obeidi has been granted asylum in the United States. On July 27, after spending 54 days at a UN refugee center in Timisoara
Timisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Iman al-Obeidi arrived in New York on the way to her permanent residence in the United States. In an interview to CNN she thanked the U.S. government and Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
Hillary Clinton for their support and assistance.
Governments and international organizations
The Libyan National Transitional CouncilNational Transitional Council
The National Transitional Council of Libya , sometimes known as the Transitional National Council, the Interim National Council, or the Libyan National Council,...
released a statement on March 27, 2011 condemning the treatment of al-Obeidi as "criminal, barbaric, and an unpardonable violence against her dignity, the dignity of the Libyan people, and all of humanity" and demanding the immediate release of both al-Obeidi and all other women, children, journalists, and civilians being held by Gaddafi and his regime. Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
said incidents of such sexual violence in Libya were a demonstration of Gaddafi government's "absolute disregard for any understanding of human rights." The Human Rights Sub-Committee of the European Parliament demanded her immediate release, and said the incident was "emblematic of the situation of dissident women in Libya." Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
called al-Obeidi's story "stomach-churning," and requested her release and an investigation.
Mainstream and social media
The story spread within hours around the world, with video and photos going viral on the Internet. Time magazine called the story "the Libyan regime's other crisis," adding that her charges "could not have been more dramatic—or more badly timed for the regime of Libyan dictator." Canadian journalist Neil MacdonaldNeil MacDonald
Neil Macdonald is an award winning Canadian journalist who works for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He is currently The National senior Washington correspondent....
dismissed the Libyan government's response as "ham-fisted, dull-witted" damage control, based on his experience in the Arab world where "rape ... is routinely used as a punishment by security forces." He called her act "not just incredibly courageous but near-suicidal," because of the social repercussions suffered by rape victims in societies like Gaddafi's Libya. He suggested she was a real hero who deserved to be seated beside the First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
during the next State of the Union
State Of The Union
"State Of The Union" is the debut single from British singer-songwriter David Ford. It had previously been featured as a demo on his official website, before appearing as a track on a CD entitled "Apology Demos EP," only on sale at live shows....
address.
A number of hashtags associated with her story appeared on Twitter, including #EmanAlObeidy, #EmanAlObeidi, #EmanAlObaidy and #WhereIsEmanAlObeidy. Avaaz.org
Avaaz.org
Avaaz.org is a global civic organization launched in January 2007 that promotes activism on issues such as climate change, human rights, corruption, poverty, and conflict...
launched a petition calling on the Turkish government to intervene on her behalf and had collected 500,000 signatures by April 3. An English-language Facebook page dedicated to her gained 2,000 followers in less than a day. Her main Facebook page in English is Free Iman Al- Obeidi, and in Arabic كلنا أهل إيمان العبيدي (We are all the family of Iman al-Obeidi).
Public protests
A group of mostly women in BenghaziBenghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
marched with posters in support of al-Obeidi on March 27. On March 30, a group of North African women held a rally along Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a street in Washington, D.C. that joins the White House and the United States Capitol. Called "America's Main Street", it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches...
near the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. They dismissed the Libyan officials' allegations that al-Obeidi was drunk, mentally unstable, or a prostitute, as signs of oppression, and said that "what happened to Eman has been happening to thousands of male and female Libyans. That's how Gadhafi retaliates against civilians, by violating their honor." The group said they planned to rally every week until al-Obeidi was found.
Position of sex-crime victims in Libya
David Kirkpatrick of The New York Times writes that rape is often seen in Libya as a crime against the honor of a woman or her family, rather than an attack against an individual. Women who have been raped risked being shunned, or forced to marry the rapist. They may be confined for years in rehabilitation centers, where according to human rights advocates they are deprived of education except for lessons about Islam, placed in solitary confinement or handcuffed if they resist, and subjected to what Kirkpatrick calls unscientific virginity tests. They are allowed to leave only when released by a husband, or when a man offers to marry them. Kirkpatrick writes that, according to one Human Rights Watch source, men arrive at the centers looking, in part, for docile wives.External links
- Report and video footage by CNN
- Report and video footage by Sky News
- Video footage by The Daily Telegraph.
- Report and video footage by Daily Mail
- Video footage by n-tvN-tvn-tv is a German television news channel owned by the Bertelsmann AG Media's RTL Group and an affiliate network of CNN since the networks creation in 1992....
(German commentary). - Video footage by Jonathan Miller, Channel 4 News.
- YouTube video: Libya's official TV responds to al-Obeidi's incident.
- Photographs by Thomson ReutersThomson ReutersThomson Reuters Corporation is a provider of information for the world's businesses and professionals and is created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of Reuters Group on 17 April 2008. Thomson Reuters is headquartered at 3 Times Square, New York City, USA...
: http://www.daylife.com/photo/08o29vLgyJ9NE?q=al-obaidi http://www.daylife.com/photo/05cW9OC2wOeSy?q=al-obaidi http://www.daylife.com/photo/01JIfBD25j4HU?q=al-obaidi http://www.daylife.com/photo/09vSfh39V1bIu?q=al-obaidi. - Amnesty International's call upon Libya to end Campaign to Discredit Eman Al-Obeidi
- Avaaz petition asking Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoğanRecep Tayyip ErdoganRecep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...
to intervene - Photo coverage of the Washington DC rally by Libyan women in support of Iman Al-Obeidi by Arabian Business, April 2, 2011.
- Facebook كلنا أهل إيمان العبيدي (We are all the family of Iman al-Obeidi)
- Facebook Free Iman al-Obeidi
- Facebook We are Iman al-Obeidi
- Askin, Kelly. "When rape is a tool of war", CNN, April 7, 2011.