THOUSANDS of African workers are trying to flee eastern Libya in fear for their lives after facing accusations of being mercenaries.
International media reports have quoted witness accounts of African men being paid by Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to put down the uprising that has brought his regime to the brink of collapse.
But international advocacy group Human Rights Watch says it is yet to confirm a single case of a mercenary being used in the conflict.
Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director for Human Rights Watch, said that of the hundreds of suspected mercenaries detained in the east, all had turned out to be innocent workers or native Libyans enlisted in the regular army.
Related Content
"I cannot speak for the west of the country, in Tripoli, where reports of mercenaries being used are widespread, but of all the people interviewed by Human Rights Watch so far, we have not identified one mercenary," Mr Bouckaert told The Sunday Age.
He also condemned some media outlets for purporting to identify alleged mercenaries, saying the reports were untrue. "There have been several cases of journalists sneaking into detention areas, taking photographs of people and then turning around and describing them as mercenaries, but those reports were untrue," he said.
Mr Bouckaert said rumours surrounding the alleged use of mercenaries had incited a level of hysteria that had led to "cases of some [men] being lynched".
The Sunday Age has seen graphic images depicting the bodies of alleged mercenaries killed in Bayda, an inland city in eastern Libya situated between Benghazi and Tobruk.
Ten days ago The Sunday Age was taken to the morgue of Benghazi's Jalla Hospital and shown the uniformed bodies of black men killed in fighting in Benghazi between February 17 and February 21.
Yet according to Mr Bouckaert, the alleged use of mercenaries has turned out to be false. "You bring me one proven mercenary, and it will be the first," he said.
Representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said they were aware of the difficulties facing African workers and had helped hundreds leave the country.
"We got 39 West Africans on a bus to Egypt this morning," said a representative of the International Office of Migration.
"They were men mainly from Niger, Ghana, Mali and the Ivory Coast," he said.
Ermias Degfa, 20, from Ethiopia, said he had spent 11 days in prison following the February 17 uprising.
"It [prison] saved my life," said Mr Degfa, a labourer who entered Libya illegally and has been living in Benghazi for two years.
"It got me away from people trying to beat me, who said I was a [mercenary]," he said.
"Lots of black people are being harassed, and being accused of this. We have been in great danger."