Watching Libya May 17, 2011

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), yesterday (May 16) requested ICC judges to issue arrest warrants against Muammar Gheddafi, Saif Al-Islam Gheddafi and intelligence chief Abdullah Al Sanousi, for crimes against humanity committed in Libya since February 2011.

The request is based on “direct evidence”, gathered by the office of the ICC prosecutor, of orders issued by Muammar Gheddafi himself, of Saif Al-Islam “organising the recruitment of mercenaries”, and of “the participation of Al-Sanousi in the attacks against demonstrators”. The Office has also “documented how the three held meetings to plan the operations”.

The Prosecutor argued that Muammar Gheddafi “relies on his inner circle to implement a systematic policy of suppressing any challenge to his authority. His second eldest son, Saif Al-Islam, is acting as a de facto prime minister and Al-Sanousi, Gheddafi’s brother-in-law, is his right-hand man and the Head of the Military Intelligence.”

There is evidence showing that “civilians were attacked in their homes, demonstrations were repressed using live ammunition, heavy artillery was used against participants in funeral processions, and snipers placed to kill those leaving the mosques after the prayers”.  The ICC Prosecutor informed the ICC judges that evidence shows persecution is still ongoing in the areas under Gheddafi’s control, whereby his forces prepare lists of alleged dissidents, arrest, imprison them in Tripoli, tortured and then made to disappear.

Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo informed the judges that his office is continuing to investigate allegations of massive rape, as well as of war crimes committed by different parties during the armed conflict since the end of February. Allegations of “attacks against sub-Saharan Africans wrongly perceived to be mercenaries” are also, he informed the Court, currently under investigation. ICC judges must now choose one of three options. They may, one, accept the Prosecutor’s request, or, two, reject it or, three, ask him for more evidence.

Mr. Moreno-Ocampo has not requested the intervention of international forces to implement the arrest warrants. This means that should the ICC issue such warrants and should Muammar Gheddafi, Saif Al Islam Gheddafi and Abdullah Al Sanousi remain in Libya, the primary responsibility to arrest them will rest with Libyan authorities. Implementing the arrest warrants will, given the critical role of the three wanted persons, be “the most effective way to protect civilians under attack in Libya and elsewhere”.

The International Criminal Court is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The Prosecutor argued that the crimes of which Muammar Gheddafi, Saif Al Islam Gheddafi and Abdullah Al Sanousi stand accused, “are not just crimes against Libyans, they are crimes against humanity as a whole.” He also declared that there will be “no impunity for such crimes in Libya.”  Read the original statement of the ICC Prosecutor at yesterday’s Press Conference.

Meanwhile, as coalition airstrikes continue to hit targets in and around Tripoli, the regime’s envoys are expected to visit Moscow today. Russia was, however, quick to point out that they are also looking forward to meeting representatives of the Transitional National Council (TNC), whose visit to the Russian capital was originally scheduled for tomorrow Wednesday but has been postponed from the TNC’s side citing technical reasons.

The TNC has also meanwhile been concentrating on doing its part to get the urgently need Temporary Funding Mechanism (TFM) off the ground. (For more on the TFM see Watching Libya May 7/8, 2011 and Watching Libya May 4, 2011 below.)

Observers on the ground are sceptical about claims that Gheddafi’s forces have ended their attacks on Misratah and warn of the likelihood of ‘stay-behind’ units. (For background on the strategic importance of Misratah see Watching Libya April 27, 2011 and Watching Libya March 19, 2011 below.)