| Parliamentary Assembly Assembl�e parlementaire |
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Serious human rights violations in Libya – inhuman treatment of Bulgarian medical staff
Doc. 10057
27 January 2004
Motion for a resolution
presented by Mr Kirilov and others
This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it
1. Five years ago a group of Bulgarians – five nurses and a doctor – were arrested without charges by the Libyan police. Following severe torture during police and secret service interrogation, they were charged with “premeditated murder aimed at undermining the security of Libya” and accused of deliberately infecting about 400 Libyan children through blood transfusions. One of the accused tried to put an end to her life because of the torture. The charges were related to an HIV epidemic in Libya at the time.
2. The only objective report following a lengthy study by two experts, Mr Montagnier and Mr Collizzie, has established categorically that the defendants had no involvement in the epidemic. Prof. Luc Montagnier, who was director of the Paris laboratory that identified the HIV virus in 1983, has repeatedly stated that infection at the AL-Fateh hospital in Bengazi started because of poor hygiene in 1997, before the Bulgarians were hired, and continued after their arrest.
3. Amnesty International has stated: “there have been serious irregularities in (…) pretrial proceedings”.
4. Documents from the court have shown that two members of the special team formed to interrogate the Bulgarian medical staff have confessed to using violence when questioning the six defendants.
5. Successive Bulgarian governments using soft diplomacy have made great efforts to convince the Libyan side to release the prisoners.
6. Libya currently chairs the UN Human Rights Commission.
7. In a strongly worded statement the European Union recently emphasized that the case was a matter of serious concern to the Union and stated that a swift and satisfactory resolution of the matter was of utmost importance.
8. The Assembly expresses its deepest concern about the human rights violations in this particular case and appeals to the Libyan authorities to release the Bulgarian medical staff.
Signed [1]:
Kirilov, Bulgaria, SOC
E�rsi, Hungary, LDR
Van der Linden, Netherlands, EPP/CD
Atkinson, United Kingdom, EDG
Jurgens, Netherlands, SOC
Lord Judd, United Kingdom, SOC
Terry Davis, United Kingdom, SOC
Loutfi, Bulgaria, LDR
Milotinova, Bulgaria, LDR
Toshev, Bulgaria, EPP/CD
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SOC: Socialist Group |