The manner of Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s killing has been disputed upon by some saying it may have been too brutal. Presenting Gadhafi’s bloodied,  half-naked dead body to a crowd of hundreds in a refrigerated meat locker sends an irresponsible message to the world. I admit, the treatment of Gadhafi’s outcome could have been much worse—he ruled as tyrant of Libya for over 41 years, dictating a country based on fear and oppression with the abuse and death of thousands on his hands. After the amount of agony the Libyans have endured and the intense mix of emotions rebels must have felt with the death of Gadhafi, some argue that he could have received a harsher ending and perhaps deservedly so, but publicly displaying his mangled corpse teaches that one injustice soothes a previous injustice.

The uprising against Gadhafi burst in February and quickly intensified into civil war until his capture and death on Oct. 20. He was captured by Libyan rebels who discovered him hiding away in a sewage pipe in Sirte. According to video footage found, he was then tortured and taunted, at some point being heaved onto the hood of a car that was driven until he fell off. Though Libyan officials claim Gadhafi was killed in crossfire between revolutionary fighters and loyalists, the bullet wound to his left temple shows otherwise, indicating he was probably executed. Gadhafi’s corpse remained for display to the public for four days inside a commercial meat locker until he was reportedly buried in an unmarked grave.

While I can try to understand the anti-Gadhafi Libyans’ point of view when they learned that their brutal dictator of more than four decades had died, it does not change the brutal act of refrigerating him inside a meat locker. Libyans revolutionized for change from the cruel atmosphere Gadhafi created, but displaying his corpse publicly mirrors the public hangings under his dictatorship and teaches people injustice will serve injustice. 

If Libyans are trying to develop a new government that moves away from their accustomed fear-evoking environment, a bloodied corpse viewed by hundreds of residents is not a clear direction away from the previous government. 

By presenting Gadhafi’s body to the public, people and children were taught cruel punishment is the correct response to cruel acts. If Libyans want to create a more responsible, humanely-just government, they need to step away from Gadhafi’s old tactics. 

This is not to say that the people of Libya cannot achieve an improved government; they may be developing a more tolerant and just government right now, keyword being “develop”. While not presenting an excuse, but trying to create a link of understanding of the act, mistakes do occur when tearing down a government. After all, who did the Libyans learn from but Gadhafi himself? During the confusion of revolution, there is no such thing as elimination of unjust acts. Understanding a different point of view does not diminish the irresponsible act of placing Gadhafi in a frozen meat locker for public viewing and teaches that the response to cruelty is more cruelty.