The Tripoli six await their fate

The EU is bracing itself next week for the verdict in a seven-year case involving five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor - the Tripoli six - accused by Libya of deliberately infecting children with HIV/Aids.

The case has been a thorn in the side of attempts by both the EU and Libya to normalise relations since Colonel Muammar Qaddafi announced in late 2003 that he was giving up his nuclear arms programme.

Allegations that confessions were given under torture, that the trial process lacked transparency and of political interference have not sat well with the EU’s standards on human rights. The international medical community believes the allegations against the nurses and doctor are false, with evidence presented in Nature recently showing that the HIV strain found at the hospital where more than 400 children were infected was present before the medical workers arrived in 1998. Libya has been accused of blaming foreigners for the tragedy to mask the fact that poor hygiene, bad practice and a backward health service led to the infections.

A death sentence handed down in May 2004 against the workers signalled to the EU that the case could drive a wedge between the Union and Libya, especially since the five Bulgarians would soon become EU citizens. Comments by Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam in June 2004 that over-turning the sentences could be discussed if Bulgaria gave compensation only made matters worse.

The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers have all condemned the trial process and convictions. But the EU has also given money to help the community in Benghazi, where the infections occurred, to treat the sick children, and last year Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the external relations commissioner, visited the area.

A retrial has meant that the Libyan courts have been given another chance to spare the lives of the medical workers in a ruling due next Tuesday (19 December), but even if all goes well for the accused, the case will still leave a question-mark over the EU’s engagement with the repressive state.

Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organisation, recently completed the last of three reports on political rights and freedoms in Libya, the last one highlighting mistreatment of immigrants in detention. The report cites three cases where physical abuse led to death and witnesses reported women detainees being threatened with sexual violence.

Fred Abrahams, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, says EU eagerness to co-operate with Libya on terrorism, migration and oil means that not enough focus has been placed on human rights. "What is happening with the nurses and doctor only gives you an inkling of an idea of what it’s like for ordinary Libyans," he says.

Although some changes have taken place, such as the release of some political prisoners and the return home of some foreign exiles, "there are still huge problems and there are still people in prisons who shouldn’t be", Abrahams says.

Despite such concerns, the EU has actively engaged Libya, most recently agreeing to help the country patrol its land and sea borders in a bid to stop illegal immigrants reaching Europe. Last month saw political leaders of the EU and African Union descend on Tripoli for a major conference on migration and development while Qaddafi also hosted a summit of regional powers on Darfur.

The Commission is engaged with Libyan officials but is "still discussing what kind of relations they want with us", a spokeswoman says.

Some think this kind of engagement is the right thing to do. "It is positive…whatever we do is good because as the country opens up it will become more involved and more engaged," says Antonyia Parvanova, a Bulgarian Liberal observer in the European Parliament.

Parvanova says the EU has done much to support the Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor. "Bulgarians are happy with the official help of the Commission and the Parliament and we are happy we got this support, especially since we weren’t a member state. We think it has been helpful," she says.

Her predictions for the outcome, however, underline the way Qaddafi’s officials tend to do business. "I don’t have much hope that things will be easily solved. I expect there will be complications and the case may be pushed towards bargaining and negotiations at another level," she says.

"This shows that the whole thing was planned in advance and that, second, it’s not a matter of the judicial system but is more about politics and bargaining."

The EU is bracing itself next week for the verdict in a seven-year case involving five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor - the Tripoli six - accused by Libya of deliberately infecting children with HIV/Aids.