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With reports that the Gaddafi regime is using fighter jets to target protesters, a top Senator has introduced a resolution in the US Congress asking the UN Security Council to consider establishing a ‘no-fly-zone’ over Libya.
Introduced by Senator Robert Menendez, the resolution condemns the brutality and aggression by Mr Muammar Gaddafi, while calling for new steps against his regime including an outreach by the United States to Libyan Opposition figures.
Mr Menendez’s resolution also calls on Mr Gaddafi to resign and permit a peaceful transition to democracy and endorses actions of the UN Security Council, including its referral of the Libyan situation to the International Criminal Court.
“Gaddafi stands alone. The world stands united against him and his regime’s brutality. His track record of terror is known — from the bombing of Pam Am Flight 103, which killed 270 people, to his brutal repression of the Libyan people as demonstrated by the massacre of 1,200 detainees killed at Abu Salim Prison in June 1996,” Mr Menendez said.
Given the reports that the regime in Libya was using fighter jets and helicopters to attack protesters, the resolution asked the United Nations Security Council to take further action to protect civilians in Libya, including the possible imposition of a no-fly zone over the territory.
“Today, we stand with the Libyan people as they demand the right to choose their own government and to live in a state that respects and guarantees basic human and civil rights. Gaddafi must go,” he said.
The resolution, introduced with bipartisan support, applauds the courage of the Libyan people in standing up against the “brutal dictatorship” of Mr Gaddafi and for demanding democratic reforms, transparent governance, and respect for basic human and civil rights.
It strongly condemns the gross and systematic violations of human rights in Libya, including violent attacks on protesters demanding democratic reforms.
It calls on Gaddafi to desist from further violence, recognise the Libyan people’s demand for democratic change, quit and permit a peaceful transition to democracy.
The resolution also welcomed the unanimous vote of the UN Security Council on referring the situation in Libya for a crimes against humanity probe, for imposing an arms embargo on the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, freezing the assets of Mr Gaddafi and his family members; and banning their international travel.
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