Delivered Into Enemy Hands - Human Rights Watch

the LIFG to Sudan, where he lived for the next nine years. In Sudan he got married and,
with the LIFG, took part in a number of failed operations against Gaddafi.
On September 12, 2002, the Sudanese arrested him and found him in possession of a
number of weapons that he said were for use in operations against Gaddafi when the
Libyan leader traveled to Sudan. He said that while in custody, he was interrogated on two
separate days by individuals who identified themselves as American. One was a white,
heavyset man, about 45 years old, with partially balding salt-and-pepper hair and green
eyes. He described another as having light brown hair and a medium build, and being
about 30 years old. They had a Lebanese interpreter with them. One interrogation began
around 1 p.m. and went until 8 or 9 p.m. The second interrogation ran from midnight to 3
a.m. They wanted to know whether he had any information about al Qaeda targeting US
interests, why he was in possession of the weapons, and whether he had any connections
to the US embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998. Lwatty believes he was able
to make the US agents understand he was only interested in Gaddafi.
About a month after his arrest, on October 17, 2002, he was transferred back to Libya.
“This is when the nightmares began. I knew I was never going to see life again,” he told
Human Rights Watch. He asked the Sudanese Foreign Ministry official who informed him of
his transfer why he was being returned. He said he told the official, “You know what is
going to happen to me there.” The official responded, “I have no control over it. There is an
agreement between Gaddafi, Sudan, and the US.”
He was sent back to Libya on a flight with his family, including his six-year-old daughter,
and was immediately separated from them on arrival. He did not see or hear from them for
another two years. He was successively held in Tajoura prison for about 45 days, a prison
he referred to as “internal security on Sikka road” for about three and a half months, Ain
Zara prison for about two years, and Abu Salim prison until his ultimate release on February
16, 2011. 437 After about two years in detention, he said he was charged with, among
other things, joining an illegal organization—the LIFG—and fighting against a friendly
government—Russia. He was initially charged jointly with about 20 other people. He was
437 Due to limits on time we were not able to find out about Lwatty’s treatment in Libyan detention other than one incident.
While detained at Abu Salim, he was given permission to speak to visiting representatives of Amnesty International. But
before the interview, he was kept in a very small container with tiny vents for several hours that did not allow in enough air.
The authorities told him that if he said anything negative to Amnesty International, he would suffer consequences. After the
interview with Amnesty, he was put back into the container for another five hours.
133 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | SEPTEMBER 2012