Closure has been elusive for Penny Sukhraj-Hammerl for more than a decade.
Her husband, South African photojournalist Anton Hammerl, was shot and killed in the Libyan desert on April 5, 2011, by pro-Moammar Gadhafi forces.
Since then, the questions have outnumbered the answers, and justice has remained a far-off hope, Sukhraj-Hammerl, also a journalist, told VOA from London.
At the time of Hammerl’s killing, Libyan authorities claimed he was in their custody alongside three other journalists, including American James Foley.
It wasn’t until more than a month later when the three journalists were released that they called Sukhraj-Hammerl to let her know her husband had been killed.
“They told me that Anton had been shot. They told me that they saw him being shot,” Sukhraj-Hammerl said.
“After that, there was nothing. So, that was most tragic. It was awful. And that’s Day One of our world completely caving in,” she said.
With that phone call, more than a month of false hope slowly gave way to more than a decade of unanswered questions and unresolved pain. Hammerl is survived by his wife, their two sons and a daughter from a previous relationship. To date, his body has not been returned to them.
But more than 13 years since her husband was killed, Sukhraj-Hammerl is taking new steps to achieve justice.
On Thursday, a legal team filed a case at the U.N. Human Rights Committee against Libya on behalf of Hammerl and Sukhraj-Hammerl, hoping to finally achieve justice in the photojournalist’s death.
“We still don’t have any closure. After learning of his death, to have no body, to have nothing, it almost is impossible to still accept,” Sukhraj-Hammerl said. “It’s a long game, but we’re not giving up.”
Thursday is Hammerl’s birthday. He would have been 55.
Based in New York, the Human Rights Committee functions like a court. Caoilfhionn Gallagher, who is leading the legal team, told VOA that the two primary goals from the case are to recover Hammerl’s remains and hold accountable those responsible for his death.
“It’s often said that no journalist wants to become the story. But 13 years ago, Anton Hammerl became the story when he was killed,” Gallagher said. “His family wants to ensure that his story is told, and that there’s accountability.”
To date, the Libyan government has failed to help figure out what happened to Hammerl, Gallagher said.
In this case, she is hoping for an investigation that holds accountable not only the soldiers who killed Hammerl but also those who contributed to the culture of impunity.
“Many Gadhafi officials at the time were describing foreign journalists as rats and as dogs, and there was a general sense that there was a green light if journalists were killed,” Gallagher said. “That is part and parcel of what happened to Anton.”
There’s also hope that Hammerl’s remains can be found, Gallagher said, because there was documentation of where bodies were at the time, and the remains of other people killed at the time have since been located.
Libya’s Foreign Ministry and Washington embassy did not immediately reply to VOA’s emails requesting comment for this story.
With a lively personality, Hammerl was someone who commanded attention when he walked into a room, his widow said. “He was just gregarious in his personality. He made you laugh,” she said.
The memories of her husband are comforting, but Sukhraj-Hammerl is optimistic that her husband’s remains will one day be returned to her.
“Knowing what became of Anton’s remains and being able to do something to bring back his remains, perhaps, would be amazing,” she said.
Part of why Sukhraj-Hammerl is turning to the Human Rights Committee is because no other avenues have worked.
Libyan authorities have failed to help with an investigation. And while the governments of South Africa and Austria, where Hammerl was a dual citizen, were helpful at first, their efforts eventually waned, Sukhraj-Hammerl said. The United Kingdom, where the couple had lived for years, refused to help because neither of them was a British citizen.
“We fell between the cracks,” she said.
Gallagher said it’s not surprising that Libyan authorities have been unhelpful.
“But my view is that the international community failed to step in and fill the gap,” she said.
As a freelancer, Hammerl was motivated to go to Libya in the first place to report on the civil war and humanitarian crisis, which he didn’t think was getting enough attention.
“He was passionate about telling peoples’ stories,” Sukhraj-Hammerl said.
The situation for journalists remains dangerous in Libya, which ranks 143 out of 180 on the World Press Freedom Index, where 180 shows the worst media freedom environment.
Hammerl’s case underscores a global phenomenon in which the perpetrators of journalist killings are not held accountable. Nearly 80% of journalist killings around the world remain unsolved, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
“Anton’s case is, in so many ways, quite emblematic of what happens year after year,” Sukhraj-Hammerl said.
The many years that have passed since her husband was killed have only fortified her commitment to fight for him.
“I actually really do still hold on and hope every single day that we’ll find out what really happened,” she said. “I don’t give up hope. I can’t — not as far as I’m alive, anyway. I can’t. I can’t give up on trying to find out what really happened and what’s become of his remains. I find it difficult to give up on wanting to know.”
