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Latest update: 16/05/2011
- ICC - Libya
ICC prosecutor seeks Gaddafi arrest warrant
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo requested Monday that arrest warrants be issued for Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and the country's spy chief for crimes against humanity.
By News Wires (text)
REUTERS - An international prosecutor on Monday sought an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi accusing him of committing crimes against humanity by killing protesters during an uprising against his 41-year rule.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, International Criminal Court prosecutor, also asked judges, who now need to see if there is enough evidence to issue warrants, for the arrest of Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam and his spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi.
Moreno-Ocampo signalled his action earlier this month when said he would seek three arrests for the “pre-determined” killing of protesters in Libya after the U.N. Security Council referred the violence to the Hague-based court in February.
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“The office gathered direct evidence about orders issued by Muammar Gaddafi himself, direct evidence of Saif al-Islam organising the recruitment of mercenaries and direct evidence of the participation of al-Senussi in the attacks against demonstrators,” Moreno-Ocampo said at the ICC on Monday.
The prosecutor moved with unprecedented speed in his investigation into the early violence in the uprising against Gaddafi’s rule, with the request for arrest warrants coming just 2-1/2 months after the Security Council referral.
He added the office of the prosecutor also documented how the three held meetings “to plan the operations” and Gaddafi used his “absolute authority to commit crimes in Libya.”
Libyan officials have already denounced the ICC prosecutor’s action, saying the court is a creation of the West for prosecuting African leaders.
Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict in Libya, the bloodiest of the revolts which have convulsed the Middle East in what has been called the “Arab Spring”.
Libyan officials deny killing civilians, saying instead they were forced to take action against criminal armed gangs and al Qaeda militants. They say a NATO bombing campaign is an act of colonial aggression aimed at grabbing Libya’s oil.
Moreno-Ocampo said the swiftness of his investigation stems from global consensus that the crimes committed in Libya had to be investigated, although judges will now need to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed with the warrants.
“Strong evidence”
He said the office of the prosecutor documented how the three named held meetings “to plan the operations” and Gaddafi used his “absolute authority to commit crimes in Libya.”
The ICC has no police force and relies on member states to enforce arrests. Despite NATO bombing operations intended to protect civilians, Libya has been plunged into civil war, seriously complicating efforts to arrest ICC suspects.
Moreno-Ocampo had said his request for warrants would be based on “strong evidence,” which would include photographs, video footage and the testimony of government insiders.
Libya is not an ICC member state and is therefore not obliged to arrest the court’s suspects.
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Three months after a revolt began against Gaddafi’s four-decade rule, fighting between rebels and government forces on several fronts has come to a near-standstill and Gaddafi is refusing to bow to efforts to force him from power.
NATO warplanes, acting under a U.N. mandate to protect civilians, have stopped government troops advancing on rebel strongholds but the collapse of Gaddafi’s rule, which many Western governments seek, has not materialised.
After a series of air strikes on his Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli, Gaddafi taunted the Western military alliance, saying in an audio recording that he was in a place where NATO could not reach him.
General David Richards, Britain’s chief of defence staff, said the military campaign to date had been a “significant success” for NATO, but it needed to do more.
“If we do not up the ante now there is a risk that the conflict could result in Gaddafi clinging to power,” he told Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
“At present, NATO is not attacking infrastructure targets in Libya. But if we want to increase the pressure on Gaddafi’s regime then we need to give serious consideration to increasing the range of targets we can hit,” he said.
A spokesman for the Libyan government responded by saying that NATO had already gone beyond its mandate from the United Nations to protect civilians.
“They’ve already been targeting infrastructure,” Khaled Kaim, who is also deputy foreign minister, told a news briefing.
“The interest here is Libyan oil, not protection. It should be called blood for oil, this is the proper name,” Kaim said.
ICC under attack
The Libyan official also hit out at the ICC.
“The practices of the ICC are questionable. It’s a baby of the European Union designed for (prosecuting) African politicians and leaders,” Kaim said.
In the rebel-held city of Misrata, scene of some of the fiercest fighting in the conflict, rebels said they were braced for renewed attacks by forces loyal to Gaddafi.
“The (pro-Gaddafi) brigades still have military equipment enabling them to bombard any area in Misrata,” a rebel spokesman called Abdelsalam said from the city. “The revolutionaries are in full control of the port but the danger is still there because the brigades have tanks and rocket-launchers.”
The uncertain direction of the Libyan conflict poses a dilemma for Western governments. They face voters who are impatient for quick results and want to avoid a repeat of the long-drawn-out fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
An inconclusive outcome is likely to limit Libyan oil exports, keeping world prices high, and drive thousands more migrants to risk death crossing the Mediterranean to Europe.
Previous NATO bombing campaigns, especially in Kosovo in the late 1990s, showed that more aggressive targeting carries with it the risk of civilian casualties.
In Tripoli—where foreign reporters operate under restrictions on their movement—the outward signs were that Gaddafi’s administration was holding firm.
Security officials in North Africa and elsewhere warn al Qaeda’s north African branch could exploit the chaos of a long conflict in Libya to acquire weapons and recruit followers.
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(12) Reactions
THERE ARE MORE AFRICANS LEADERS KILLERS
Not only GADDHAFI In Libya but there are more leaders to arrest like PAUL KAGAME of RWANDA,MUSEVENI of UGANDA and KABILA JOSEPH KANAMBE in CONGO KINSHASA also EL BASHIR in SUDAN why just GADDHAFI and His Families? What about PETER BOTHA in SOUTH AFRICA? This I C C needs to do his job right without injustice please...
We arabs hate the americans
We arabs hate the americans and the israelis and you have no right to bomb our lands for the sake of oil we all know the truth
Get out of Irak and of the Gulf area.
implicit
ICC is nothing but a tool for criminal capitalistgangster in US/EU. Many serieus advocats and organisatons have pledge warrant against Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Blair and so on. Never accepted. But Milosowice, Karadiz, hundreds of Africans and now Gadaffi are. A crazy, uncivilezed western society.
Why Bush wasn't brought before ICC
Look at the jurisdictional criteria.
* where the person accused of committing a crime is a national of a state party (or where the person's state has accepted the jurisdiction of the court);
* where the alleged crime was committed on the territory of a state party (or where the state on whose territory the crime was committed has accepted the jurisdiction of the court); or
* where a situation is referred to the court by the UN Security Council.
The US and Israel haven't ratified the Rome Statute. Hence, no jurisdiction over US Americans or Israeli's unless there is a reference from the UN Security Council, as was the case for Libya.
Gaddafi
Ocampo is an official agent of Western Imperialism. It is premature to rush to conclusion. There are trying to intimidate Gaddafi, using NATO, SANCTION, SUPPORTING UNKNOWN REBELS, NOW ICC all are thrown at Gaddafi. This is selective, arrest Tony Blair and George Bush for war crime before Gaddafi.
ICC
This fool makes everything more complicated in the duagmire of Libya
As the Financial Times remarks today it is a fact that coronel Ghadaffi is not antagonized by most tribes in Libya, wanting to get rid of him
You tend to liken ghadaffi as a Gengis Khan or a Tamerlan ready to massacreall the people of Benghazzi, in order to warrant your
pursue to grab Libyas precious oil, one of the best in the world
Injustice
Why d no arest Bush junior and his coleagues suc as Tony Blair and co. 4 committin more ofence in Iraq, Afghanista? What of Israil against palastines?
GO FREE LIBYA
THIS U.S SENATOR LUGAR YOU NEED TO RESIGNED YOU ARE OLD.I THOUGHT THIS AMERICA FREEDOM COUNTRY.LIBYAN OPPOSITION IS A PRO DEMOCRACY.THEY HAVE SENATOR IN U.S 80 YEARS IN POLITICS,SOME OF THEM THEY HAVE ASHAMEIR,DIMENSIA,SOME ARE TO OLD.THIS PEOPLE SELFISIH,FAMILY INTEREST.PROTECT THERE OWN BUSINESS.GIVE ANOTHER CHANCE THE YOUNG AND FRESH MINED.
Injustice
Why d no arest Bush junior Who cmmitted more crimes?
ICC claims against humanity
When can we expect the ICC to act against others who have used their people as bullet-fodder in the current uprisings?? More to the point, will it stop the violence continuing in the countries affected?? Regretfully I think not, the ICC like the UN is seen as a lame duck by people - all wind and no real action - unless it suits the aims of a particular country.