Eman al-Obeidy's turbulence continues as she was deported from Qatar back to Benghazi in Libya recently (Robertson). In March, al-Obeidy made international headlines after she burst into a hotel full of journalists in Tripoli claiming that 15 of Gaddafi's men had beaten and raped her. Libyan officials quickly dragged her from the hotel, but her message had been received. Journalists quickly took up a "Free al-Obeidy" campaign and pressed for answers (The Huffington Post). .
Since then, al-Obeidy's story surfaced in an audio interview with Anderson Cooper last month. She claimed she was abducted at a government checkpoint and held for days while officials bound, beat, poured alcohol in her eyes, and gang raped her repeatedly. The accused men plan to sue her, according to government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim (The Huffington Post). .
Al-Obeidy fled from Libya into Tunisia aided by a defecting military officer and his family. Apparently, she left in a military car and was able to make it through several checkpoints disguised "in the local manner" and using a refugee document (The Huffington Post). .
Despite the original relief al-Obeidy's family felt after hearing about her escape, she may be in even worse trouble. While she was awaiting resettlement as a refugee, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees was busily preparing papers for her departure. During this time, Qatari authorities took her and her parents from a hotel in the capital city of Doha and forced them onto a military plane leaving Qatar, despite the repeated requests from UNHCR officials to the Qatari authorities not to deport al-Obeidy.
"We tried all night to prevent her deportation," said Vincent Cochetel of the UNHCR office. UNHCR argued that al-Obeidy had refugee status, but they procured a court order and noted that al-Obeidy's visa had expired. Negotiations continued even while she was being taken to the airport, but the plane did depart for Benghazi, an area that is held by Libyan rebels.
