Death of a Dictator: Inhumane?

               With all the videos and pictures circulating about Gaddafi's last moments before death, criticism from the international community has started to grow. There is no doubt the images are disturbing, a bloody, weary man being beaten and pulled around by a angry crowd of fighters, each having their own personal vendetta against him. Videos has also emerged now showing him alive and wounded, on the hood of a pickup truck, and also video of him being dragged out of the drain where he was found hiding. As of now, the NTC is saying that Gaddafi was killed in a crossfire on his way to Misrata to receive medical attention. He was already wounded at this point, from the blast and from being beaten by a crowd, although not severely. This is what the UN Human Rights council is questioning. Did he really die in a crossfire, or was he executed? An execution is against human rights laws and would be dealt with severely. Although how effective that would be, since it was so chaotic and there were so many people at the time of his death, that it would be almost impossible to determine who actually did it.

             Also, you've got to think to the implications of this investigation within Libya itself. The Libyans themselves have been oppressed by this man for generations, their family killed by his government and during the revolution. They feel intense hatred towards this one man and it is hard to override compassion sometimes for someone you hate so much. I feel like if the UN tries to get involved and point fingers of blame at certain fighters and at the rebellion as a whole, that the Libyan view of them will deteriorate. Instead of being incredibly thankful for the support they've been shown by the UN and NATO, they might feel betrayed and suspicious of the UN if the the UN tries to intervene with human rights trials and investigations. Not that these investigations would be pointless. There have been reports for awhile now that abuse of Gaddafi loyalists and black Africans has been a problem, and that discriminatory views are starting to take hold as many of the loyalists were black mercenaries from southern Africa. This and the fury-fueled revenge enacted by rebel fighters creates an uneasy environment where at one moment they might be cheering in celebration, the next parading around a prisoner in a abusive and almost grotesque way.

The UN has raised concerned over the possibility that Gaddafi was executed. [EPA]

                So far the UN is beginning to look into the events that transpired in Sirte, trying to piece together what really happened. Gaddafi's wife Aisha has called for a human rights investigation as well, seeing that Gaddafi's son Mutassim has died just as mysteriously as Gaddafi did, and reports of Seif al-Islam being wounded but captured are also circulating without any concrete idea of where he is. Right now, I think an investigation might be appropriate in this whole revolution, seeing as the rebels overstepped some boundaries in abuse and executions sometimes due to the adrenaline/rage fueled antics. But if human rights violations are unearthed, what will they do? They can't directly pinpoint certain people in many cases, and if they do the backlash from the Libyan population will be severe. I think for now, they should investigate and withdraw, waiting until Libya is more stable and controlled to act upon evidence of human rights violations. Because if they act now, the reactions will not be favorable in Libya.