Rights groups want Rice to spotlight abuse in Libya

By Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A visit to Libya by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week is expected to improve business and diplomatic ties with Tripoli but activists are demanding that Rice also focus on human rights.

They fear that a promise of improved opportunities for U.S. firms will result in muted criticism by the United States of oil-rich Libya's rights record and that Washington will not use all its leverage to pressure Tripoli.

"It must not be drilling rights over human rights," said Fred Abrahams of New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"My fear is that Rice's visit and Libya's further integration into the international community will allow (Libyan leader Muammar) Gaddafi to further stall reforms and take the heat off him to democratize," added Abrahams, a Libya expert.

One case Human Rights Watch and others are tracking is that of Fathi al-Jahmi, an ailing political dissident and former provincial governor held against his will in a Tripoli medical center despite appeals for his release.

Jahmi's brother Mohamed El-Jahmi, who lives near Boston, told Reuters the dissident was kept in a cockroach-ridden hospital room and his family had very limited access to him.

He said his brother's wife last saw Fathi Jahmi on April 4 and that she had been waiting in vain for a month in Tripoli to be allowed to see him again.

"Fathi's room is bugged with audio and video devices. The room remains locked even when Fathi receives visitors," said his brother in an interview with Reuters.

He said a member of his tribe was told Jahmi would be "liquidated" -- killed -- at the end of President George W. Bush's term in January, 2009, and he feared for his life.

Jahmi was first arrested in 2002 after he criticized Gaddafi and called for open elections, a free press and the release of political prisoners. A court sentenced him to five years.

"BIG MISTAKE"

On March 1, 2004, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, now the Democratic party's vice presidential pick for November's U.S. election, met Gaddafi and called for Jahmi's release. Nine days later, an appeals court gave Jahmi a one-year suspended sentence and ordered his release on March 12.

However, he was rearrested later that month after he gave more interviews repeating his criticisms. He was charged with trying to overthrow the government, insulting Gaddafi and contacting foreign authorities.

Mohamed el-Jahmi said he was disappointed by what he saw as the Bush administration's lack of focus on his brother's case.

"They have fumbled the whole thing," he said. "Now the secretary of state is going to provide legitimacy to a dictator ... My advice to the Bush administration is that you are making a big mistake," he said.