As Mr Zuma reflects on the empty promises by Gaddafi of a ceasefire he never honored and elections he always mocked, he should be reminded of what had happened to his compatriot, the late Anton Hammerl. For weeks, Gaddafi had assured the South African president that Mr Hammerl, a photojournalist who had come to cover the Battle for Libya, was alive and well. It later turned out that he had been cold-bloodedly shot by pro-Gaddafi militias and left to die in the desert.
Strange as it may sound, Gaddafi, who lately has been under serious investigation by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Libya, is quoted ready to extend amnesty to his victims. He has even gone to the extent of promising his people a constitution, albeit only half-heartedly. In a speech delivered this past March to celebrate his day of “People’s Authority”, Gaddafi declared for the first time in 42 years that yes, they can have a constitution. “It is not a big deal”, he added. Sensing that winds have now changed, the beleaguered leader has been sending out a series of balloon statements, initially through his sons and more recently through his prime minister. The statements suggest that the once self-declared absolute “King of Kings” may now be ready to settle for a more modest figurehead title, like the Queen of England or even the Emperor of Japan. Gaddafi’s motives are of course deceivingly simple, relieve the mounting international pressure, ride out the current wave and wait for another day to reassert his grip on power and keep it in the family.
Most Libyans will tell you they were repeatedly exposed to false promises by Gaddafi in the past, so they are unlikely to be won by a sudden and wolfish change of heart. For well over four decades of heavy-handed rule, Gaddafi has used every trick under his hat to keep power. He has built a regime feeding on terror, corruption and tribalism. Early on in his rule, he dismissed the ideas of elections and representative government, abolished the constitution and ruthlessly crushed all forms of opposition and civil society. In its place, he invented an Orwellian police state and a unique political system he coined “Jamahiriya”, which literally means “State of the Masses”. On the surface, Gaddafi is quick to assure you that he holds no official position in this Jamahiriya, which he calls paradise and that the government of the people is run by the people themselves. In reality however, it has been anything but that. Most Libyans will tell you that Gaddafi has designed this system so that he alone can call the shots. Early on in his rule and in a bid to consolidate power, Gaddafi also moved to destroy the national army, considered a potential threat to his rule. In its place, he formed family-run private militias overseen by some of his own sons. It is these militias, supported by a network of Gestapo-style revolutionary committees and foreign mercenaries that he now finds handy to terrorize whole cities and towns across Libya. The bill of course is being paid for by the victims themselves.
For many years, most Libyans have lived in poverty and have watched their oil-rich country fall into decadence and sheer neglect while sons of the Beloved Leader were throwing millions of dollars on New Year’s parties at exotic Caribbean clubs and elsewhere. Faced with mounting dissent at home, Gaddafi gave repeated promises to distribute oil revenues directly to the Libyan people, only to go back on his words. As dissent turned to jokes about government lies and corruption, he invented a program of mock wealth distribution, which amounted to no more than selective meager handouts, tied to loyalty to his regime.
While Libyans have been suffering for many years in silence under Gaddafi, recent unrest in Libya and the gruesome acts of the regime finally drew attention of the rest of the world. Gaddafi answered his fellow citizens call for freedom by unleashing a ruthless terror campaign against them, using his powerful arsenal of heavy weapons. Entire cities and towns were surrounded and indiscriminately shelled. Daily war crimes have been and continue to be committed by his militias and mercenaries, including acts of cold-blooded murder, rape and the use of cluster bombs and mines against innocent civilians. In a strategy of collective punishment, electricity, water and communication lines have been cut, water wells poisoned and looting encouraged. When Misrata proved difficult to subdue and pushed back his militias despite their superior arms and despite the sustained barrage of heavy shelling over many weeks, Gaddafi played his last and favorite card, tribalism. In a taped audio message, he incited the neighboring town of Ben Waleed to attack Misrata on his behalf but failed in his attempt. Ben Walid has chosen to side with Misrata and the revolution.
These days, a quick scan of Gaddafi’s daily media reveals an isolated and bankrupt regime in total disarray. To rally support for his crumbling regime, Gaddafi is finding himself appealing to a ragtag herd of semi-literate Imams and tribal elders. As notorious for committing crimes and then blaming others for them as he is known to be, Gaddafi is denying responsibility for any wrongdoing. Interestingly, as atrocities multiplied and the sheer size of destruction and human suffering has become impossible to deny, the regime is now starting to acknowledge, even if still only whispering, that “yes, gross mistakes may have been committed in Misrata and elsewhere, but it is the other side who is to blame. Our Beloved Leader could have never ordered such atrocities”. Just in case the International Criminal Court rules otherwise, Gaddafi and his close circle of accomplices should of course face justice, for only when justice is served can the wounds of Libya finally heal.
