Libya Rebels 'Executed' Gadhafi Loyalists

Libyan rebels appear to have "summarily executed at least 66 captured" fighters loyal to Moammar Gadhafi, and probably the dictator himself, when they overran his hometown a year ago, a human rights group said today. The report by Human Rights Watch on alleged rebel abuses that followed the October 2011 capture of the city of Sirte is one of the most detailed descriptions of what the group says were war crimes committed by the militias that toppled Gadhafi; the militias still play a major role in Libyan politics today.

The report details the last hours of Gadhafi's life, when he tried to flee the besieged city. New evidence unearthed in its investigation includes a mobile phone video clip taken by militiamen showing many prisoners from Gadhafi's convoy being cursed and abused by rebels. Footage shows "Gadhafi was captured alive but bleeding heavily from a head wound," the report says. He was "severely beaten by opposition forces, stabbed with bayonet in his buttocks, causing more injuries, and bleeding." Once he's "loaded into an ambulance half-naked, he appears lifeless." The rights group's "findings call into question the assertion by Libyan authorities that Moammar Gadhafi was killed in crossfire and not after his capture," says a spokesman. Click through for the full story (warning: graphic images).