A prominent researcher and reporter, Jason Rezaian, wrote an article in the “Washington Post”, confirming that justice has finally begun in the case of the killing of photojournalist Anton Hammerl on April 5, 2011 in Libya, when loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi targeted the victim, and many other journalists he was traveling with.
The newspaper pointed out that the attackers opened fire on the victims, although they had fully identified that they were members of the international press.
The newspaper said: “The attack was a flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions, but it has not been fully investigated for an inexplicable and unacceptable reason, and now Hammerl’s widow, Benny, is taking legal action in an attempt to seek the justice and accountability that her family has long been denied. She also wants to recover the remains of her husband so that she and the three children can have a state of psychological peace.
“It is difficult to accept that he has disappeared, and it is difficult not to have anywhere to go to spend time,” the widow said.
The Washington Post added: “Despite the political instability that Libya has witnessed over the past decade, it has responsibilities under international law, and although the family’s lawyers assert that there is evidence indicating that the killing of “Hammerle” constitutes a war crime.”
Investigations into Gaddafi’s crimes were suspended when he was later killed in 2011, but his death does not exempt Libyan authorities from investigating the crimes he and his loyalists committed.
“Withholding information about Hammerle’s fate was indescribably harsh,” said Cowlvion Gallagher, a lawyer representing the Hammerl family. For ten years, the authorities in Libya responded with widespread indifference and indifference.
He added: “This indifference led to complaints being filed last week before a special working group with the office of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings or arbitrary executions.”
This move is considered a first step on the way to bringing cases against countries that violate international law and refuse to engage in acceptable diplomatic and judicial norms.
In a clear condemnation; the newspaper said instead of acknowledging the death of the journalist, the Libyan authorities claimed in 2011 that he was still alive and in detention, but his family confirmed his death through colleagues who were with him on that day and who survived the attack.
The widow said: “It is unbearably cruel, that Gaddafi loyalists know my husband’s fate all the time and choose to cover it up.”
According to the “Washington Post”, since then, the authorities in Libya, South Africa and Austria, whose citizenships the victim holds, have done little to investigate his death and to reach his remains.
