Shocking Journalism.

Today (9/6/11) the BBC are reporting that the head of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has uncovered evidence that Muammer Qaddafi ordered Libyan government forces to use rape as a weapon of war against the Libyan rebels. The only problem is that it hasn't happened. What has happened is that for weeks Britain has been putting pressure on the ICC to investigate rape claims. The chief prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo - who is answerable to the ICC's judges has finally given into that pressure and announced that the ICC will investigate those claims. Considering the announcement co-incides with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) debate on Syria and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights meeting to discuss the allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity leveled against both the rebels and government forces its timing appears to be further evidence of political bias on the part of the ICC.

As for the rape claims themselves they're actually quite weak. They all seem to stem from an Internet posting from the end of February in which the rebels media team claimed that they had seized vehicles from government troops and found them to contain hallucinogenic drugs and Viagra type drugs. This anonymous account has not been corroborated and the rebels have been unable to provide any evidence to support it such as the drugs themselves or the testimony of the government soldiers who appear to have all been killed by the rebels.

This is of course not the only time that rape allegations have been levelled against the Libyan government. In March a woman, Iman al-Obeidi burst into a Tripoli hotel filled with western journalists claiming to have been gang raped by Qaddafi supporters. Although this emotive allegation has been repeated time and time again what has been less well reported is that al-Obeidi has recently been deported from Qatar back to Benghazi after the sort of money grabbing behaviour that would make a reality TV contestant blush. She is currently trying to gain entry to the United States where she hopes repeating the rape allegations will help her gain political asylum.