BBC Journalists Tortured by Gadhafi Forces

Feras Killani and Goktay Koraltan say they were repeatedly beaten and held in a cage after Libyan security forces accused them of being spies.

Killiani and Koraltan’s story is harrowing in and of itself but has also provided a glimpse of the brutality with which Libyan security forces are treating opposition supporters. The two journalists were arrested Monday at a checkpoint 58 km outside of Tripoli and taken to a series of security compounds where they were handcuffed and beaten by officers using their fists, boots, rifle butts, and a pipe. At one point they were subject to a mock execution. From their account, it is clear Gadhafi’s forces are engaged a large-scale operation to round up and brutalize opposition supporters. Killani and Koraltan reported seeing cars carrying men and women, many of them with ribs broken from beatings, in and out of compounds.