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US-Kriegsschiffe vor Libyen

Pentagon: "Eine ganze Menge Optionen und Notfallpläne" / Über 150 000 Flüchtlinge


Im Pentagon sind Militärstrategen bereits mit Planspielen für eine Flugverbotszone in Libyen beschäftigt. Offiziell wiegeln die US-Militärs indes ab.

Zwei US-Kriegsschiffe mit Hunderten Soldaten an Bord passierten den Suezkanal und trafen im Mittelmeer ein, um sich vor der libyschen Küste zu positionieren. Auch ein kanadisches Kampfschiff sollte sich auf den Weg nach Libyen machen, um nach Darstellung der Regierung in Ottawa Flüchtlinge aufzunehmen.

Kurs auf Libyen nahm unter anderem das Kampfschiff »USS Kearsarge«. Auf dem Kriegsschiff ist eine Helikopter-Staffel stationiert, außerdem verfügt es über medizinische Einrichtungen, so dass es für militärische und humanitäre Zwecke eingesetzt werden kann. Die Entsendung der »USS Kearsarge« dürfe nicht als leere Drohung betrachtet werden, hieß es aus Regierungskreisen. Der US-Senat verabschiedete symbolisch eine Resolution, in der er den UNO-Sicherheitsrat aufrief, eine Flugverbotszone gegen Libyen in Betracht zu ziehen.

Doch die offiziellen Äußerungen sind vorsichtig. Zwar gebe es »eine ganze Menge Optionen und Notfallpläne«, erklärte US-Verteidigungsminister Robert Gates und fügte sofort hinzu, die Folgen »müssten sehr vorsichtig abgewogen werden«. Ähnlich zurückhaltend äußerte sich US-Generalstabschef Mike Mullen. Die Durchsetzung einer Flugverbotszone sei eine »außerordentlich komplexe« Operation. Auch weisen US-Militärs darauf hin, dass ein Einsatz gegen Libyen Zustimmung und Beteiligung anderer Länder bedeuten müsste. Doch derzeit sperrt sich vor allem Frankreich.

Unter den NATO-Staaten gebe es keine Einigkeit über den Einsatz von Militärgewalt, sagte Gates. Er bestätigte, dass mehrere US-Schiffe auf dem Weg an die Küste des nordafrikanischen Landes seien. Allerdings habe jede Art von Intervention, die über einen humanitären Einsatz hinausgehe, ihre »eigenen Konsequenzen«. Bei der Abwägung dürften die Folgen für den Afghanistan-Einsatz und für das Image der USA in der Region nicht außer Acht gelassen werden.

Libyens Staatschef Muammar al-Gaddafi begann am Mittwoch eine militärische Gegenoffensive. Augenzeugen zufolge rückten regierungstreue Truppen in die Stadt Brega im Osten des Landes vor und besetzten Ölraffinerien. Der Angriff scheiterte nach Angaben der Aufständischen. Gaddafis Soldaten hätten die Raffinerien zwar für einige Stunden besetzt, seien aber wieder vertrieben worden.

Das Flüchtlingshilfswerk der Vereinten Nationen (UNHCR) forderte die Staaten zur Entsendung Hunderter Flugzeuge zur Rettung von Flüchtlingen an der tunesischen Grenze auf. Dort warteten Tausende auf eine Weiterreise, sagte UNHCR-Sprecherin Sybella Wilkes. Nach ihren Angaben flohen bisher mehr als 150 000 Menschen aus Libyen nach Ägypten und Tunesien.

Die UN-Vollversammlung beschloss den Ausschluss Libyens aus dem in Genf ansässigen Menschenrechtsrat. Es war das erste Mal, dass das Gremium mit einem solchen Schritt gegen eines seiner Mitglieder vorging. Der Internationale Strafgerichtshof leitet ein Ermittlungsverfahren wegen mutmaßlicher Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit in Libyen ein.

Bei den Unruhen gab es nach Schätzungen Tausende Tote. Die Internationale Menschenrechtsliga sprach von bis zu 3000 Toten. Eine libysche Menschenrechtsorganisation ging sogar von der doppelten Zahl aus.

* Aus: Neues Deutschland, 3. März 2011


Hopes of Libyan People "Must not be Dashed" / Die Hoffnungen des libyschen Volkes "dürfen nicht enttäuscht werden"

UN-Generalversammlung schließt Libyen aus dem Menschenrechtsrat aus

D O K U M E N T I E R T :

Sixty-fifth General Assembly, Plenary
76th Meeting (PM), 1 March 2011 (GA/11050)

General Assembly Suspends Libya from Human Rights Council

Hopes of Libyan People ‘Must not be Dashed’ Assembly President Says,
As Secretary-General Voices ‘Grave Concern’ at Ongoing Violence against Civilians **


In an unprecedented move today, the United Nations General Assembly suspended Libya’s membership in the Human Rights Council, the Organization’s pre-eminent human rights body, expressing its deep concern about the situation in that country in the wake of Muammar Al-Qadhafi’s violent crackdown on anti-Government protestors.

Adopting a consensus resolution, the Assembly acted on the 25 February recommendation by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, which had urged the suspension in a resolution of its own. The Assembly, which created the Council five years ago, was charged with taking that action, and this afternoon’s decision marked the first time a sitting member was removed from the body. The Assembly also agreed that it would “review the matter as appropriate”.

“The world has spoken with one voice: we demand an immediate end to the violence against civilians and full respect for their fundamental human rights, including those of peaceful assembly and free speech,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his address to the Assembly. He welcomed the recommendation of the Human Rights Council to suspend Libya’s membership “so long as the violence continued”, he added.

Mr. Ban also commended the Security Council’s decision over the weekend to refer the situation in Libya to the International Criminal Court, and called for the urgent dispatching of an independent international commission of inquiry to investigate alleged violations of international human rights in the country, in line with the Human Rights Council’s recommendation. (For coverage of the Security Council meeting, see Press Release SC/10187.)

There were reports that Government forces had fired indiscriminately on peaceful protesters in Libya and had bombed military bases in the east of the country, said Mr. Ban as he briefed the Assembly on the situation as it stood today. There were also reports of ongoing and serious clashes between Government forces and armed opponents in the west. “In these difficult and unpredictable circumstances”, he said, it was critical that the international community remained united.

“The winds of change are sweeping the Middle East and North Africa,” added the Secretary-General. The United Nations stood ready to assist in every way possible as the people of Libya demanded new rights and freedoms, he said.

General Assembly President Joseph Deiss agreed, emphasizing the importance of a strong Human Rights Council whose members were committed to strengthening the protection and promotion of fundamental rights — including by upholding the highest standards and by “proscribing double standards”.

As the Security Council and the Human Rights Council had taken steps to address the situation, he said, it was time for the Assembly to “do its part” in ensuring that fundamental rights were respected and that violations were punished. It was also necessary to show unity and resolve in the Assembly’s determination to promote the fundamental values of the United Nations Charter. The expectations of the men and women that were “hoping and struggling to have their rights respected” must not be dashed, he declared.

Taking the floor after adopting the resolution, delegation after delegation called for an end to the bloodshed in Libya and expressed solidarity with its people, especially since the crisis had been sparked by anti-Government protests that had, in the opening days, largely been peaceful. Many also emphasized their support for the extraordinary decision to suspend Libya from the Human Rights Council.

The representative of New Zealand echoed the expression by many delegations of condolence to the families of the victims of Libya’s violent clashes. “No regime has the right to turn its own country and the lives of its own people into a living hell,” he said, adding the Libya had grossly abused the trust placed in it by the Human Rights Council when it had been granted membership.

The representative of the Philippines said his delegation was deeply concerned about the events in Libya, and that the international community must stand united to support its people. “The United Nations and the international community have an inescapable responsibility to extend whatever assistance it can muster to the Libyan people during this time of emergency and cataclysmic changes,” he said.

Costa Rica’s representative supported Libya’s suspension from the Human Rights Council, and said the Assembly’s “historical decision” was in full compliance with international law and responsibility of all United Nations Members to protect lives and promote fundamental rights. He reminded the Assembly, however, that the Libyan Government had already been “a voracious, repressive machine” when it had been elected to the Council in 2010. The lesson to be learned from the events of the past two weeks was the importance of improving the parameters of Council integration to prevent such situations from developing.

Some delegations stressed that the suspension was an extreme measure required by an extraordinary situation. The representative of Lebanon, introducing the draft resolution, underlined that the measure was both “exceptional and temporary”, and that Libya’s status would be restored “in due time”. He added that he hoped that time would come very soon.

Meanwhile, others expressed concern that the resolution might be misused. In that vein, Bolivia’s representative stressed that it was critical that the consensus reached today not be used to promote “unjustified interventions” against sovereign States, and warned against the selective application of any resolutions against States with a “different orientation” from the major Powers. Further on that note, Venezuela’s representative said that a decision like the one adopted by the Assembly today could only take place following a credible investigation. As such, he believed the resolution was premature, since Member States had yet to receive the results from the Human Rights Council’s independent inquiry into the events in Libya.

In other business, the General Assembly took note of documents A/65/691/Add.2‑6, in which the Secretary-General informed the President of the General Assembly that, since his communication contained in document A/65/691/Add.1, Nepal, Palau, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tonga had made the necessary payments to reduce their arrears below the amount specified in Article 19 of the Charter.

Also speaking today were representatives of Mauritius (on behalf of the African Group), Gabon, United States, Hungary (on behalf of the European Union), Mexico, Canada, Maldives, Colombia, Chile, Guatemala, Cuba, Panama, Peru, Liechtenstein, Norway, Japan, Russian Federation, Botswana, Nicaragua, Indonesia, China, Bangladesh, Thailand, Ecuador, Australia, Israel, Cape Verde and Switzerland.

The representative of Venezuela also spoke in exercise of the right of reply.

The General Assembly will meet at a time and date to be announced.

** Source: UN General Assembly, Department of Public Information, 1 March 2011; www.un.org/


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