in 1996 , after inmates at abu salim revolted over their living conditions , 1,200 of them were massacred .
in early august , muneer own said .
muneer masoud own , 33 , who made a living doing manual labor , said forces loyal to longtime libyan leader moammar gadhafi slaughtered nearly 150 prisoners as rebels closed in on tripoli last week .
even as they continue their search for gaddafi , the rebels have opened his prisons in tripoli , freeing thousands .
” the 25 - year - old rebel fighter had disappeared on the front lines of the battle on the eastern coast in march — after peaceful protests against moammar gaddafi turned into a war — joining the thousands of people missing in libya .
and it was the arrest in february of a lawyer representing the families of those killed in 1996 that helped spark the uprising , which started in benghazi and spread across the country .
but only about 10,000 prisoners have been accounted for , rebel leaders say , leaving families and friends to fear that thousands are in underground prisons or , perhaps , in mass graves .
soon , about 175 people were crammed inside the warehouse , near the headquarters of the libyan military 's 32nd brigade -- a much - feared unit led by one of gadhafi 's sons , khamis .
after reuniting with his family members sunday , abdul rauf told them that he was beaten and jabbed with electric prods every morning , from dawn until salahuddin , libya ( cnn ) -- it 's a harrowing story -- even by the standards of blood - soaked libya .