Gaddafi Encouraging Rape and Viagra
Moammar Gaddafi is facing yet another group of charges of crimes against humanity, specifically against women. The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is leveling charges against the Libyan leader for supposedly giving soldiers sexual enhancement drugs to encourage them to rape.
These allegations have arisen from reports by rebel forces stating that they have found drugs like Viagra on the bodies of dead Libyan soldiers. Of course the official stance of the Libyan government is to deny that soldiers are being encouraged to rape, and further, that the Libyan government is not distributing sexual enhancement drugs to their soldiers.
While it may be tempting to believe any report of evil-doing by Gaddafi, perhaps it would be wise to pause and consider the facts on the ground before assuming these allegations are true. According to a report from "The Atlantic Wire", the drugs that were supposedly found in the possession of Libyan soldiers were new packages of name brand Viagra from Pfizer. Gaddafi already has a history of dealing with generic manufacturers of drugs, so it is unlikely that he would have reached out to purchase drugs from Pfizer in the first place. Couple that with the fact that Pfizer stopped shipping their products to Libya in February, and that further increases the probability that something is amiss in these allegations. And finally, there is the issue that the drugs themselves were in new packaging, with little or no damage. If they had been claimed off the bodies of dead soldiers that had been engaged in combat for some time before their demise, it would be more likely that the packaging would have been worn out.
Gaddafi may very well be guilty of encouraging his soldiers to rape women in the course of their military actions. Whether or not he also gave them drugs like Viagra in particular remains to be seen as well. However, if it is found that Libyan soldiers were not given Viagra by their government, Pfizer will arguably be the greatest casualty in this particular legal battle. It is one thing to accuse a crazed dictator of misdeeds against civilians during a war, and something else entirely to include a U.S. corporation in those allegations, even in a blameless way.
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