Graphic video and images of maimed bodies of anti-government protesters in Libya are flooding the Internet via Twitter and YouTube, and the reaction worldwide has been unequivocal: if accurate, the images depict crimes against humanity.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that he was "outraged" over reports of military aircraft firing on protesters.  If true, he called the violence a "serious violation of humanitarian law."

Former foreign secretary of the United Kingdom, David Owen, told Al Jazeera English that "the United Nations exists to prevent humanitarian crises" and that the institution must act.  He suggested that an emergency United Nations Security Council session meet Monday evening to secure a no-fly zone above the country.

“We are sure that what is going on now in Libya is crimes against humanity and crimes of war,” the deputy Libyan representative, Ibrahim O. Dabbashi, told reporters at the Libyan mission to the UN in New York.

Marc Lynch, Director of George Washington University's Institute for Middle East Studies, wrote on his blog for Foreign Policy that

The appropriate comparison is Bosnia or Kosovo, or even Rwanda where a massacre is unfolding on live television and the world is challenged to act. It is time for the United States, NATO, the United Nations and the Arab League to act forcefully to try to prevent the already bloody situation from degenerating into something much worse.

Lynch also advocates for the rapid establishment of a no-fly zone over Libya by the international community:

The U.S. should call for an urgent, immediate Security Council meeting and push for a strong resolution condeming Libya's use of violence and authorizing targeted sanctions against the regime. Such steps could stand a chance of reversing the course of a rapidly deteriorating situation. An effective international response could not only save many Libyan lives, it might also send a powerful warning to other Arab leaders who might contemplate following suit against their own protest movements.

Other commentators have also called for an investigation into crimes against humanity.

Reach Executive Producer Mary Slosson here.  Follow her on Twitter @maryslosson.