Why does it matter how Gaddafi died?

It matters how Muammar Gaddafi died because the challenge for Libya now is to turn from murderous tyranny toward a democracy that respects the rule of law and human rights. That ‘arc of history’ bending ‘toward justice’ just became more difficult for Libya because of the serious questions that have emerged about how Gaddafi died.

On Friday, cell phone videos and photos began to circulate that appear to show Gaddafi injured but clearly alive after his capture, and then dead after a group of insurgent fighters surrounded him. Thus, the UN and human rights groups have appropriately started to call for an investigation into the death of Gaddafi as a war crime.