Hague court probes Libya’s war crime supsects

The ICC international court in the Netherlands is about to complicate Libya’s process to hold elections further by moving ahead with war crime cases, AP reports on the 9th of November.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced that he has submitted new applications for arrest warrants stemming from his investigations of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Libya, according to the US newswire.

There are no indications as yet however if the warlord Khalifa Haftar is part of the actions although he is facing civil cases in the US for his role in the civil war.

Karim Khan is reported to have told the U.N. Security Council in the first briefing by an ICC prosecutor from Libyan soil that the applications were submitted confidentially to the court’s independent judges, who will determine whether to issue arrest warrants. Therefore, he said, he couldn’t provide further details.

But, Khan added, “there will be further applications that we will make because the victims want to see action, and the evidence is available, and it’s our challenge to make sure we have the resources (to) prioritize the Libya situation to make sure we can vindicate the promise of the Security Council in Resolution 1970.”

In that resolution, adopted in February 2011, the Security Council unanimously referred Libya to The Hague, Netherlands-based ICC to launch an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The council’s referral followed Moammar Gadhafi’s brutal crackdown on protesters that was then taking place. The uprising, later backed by NATO, led to Gadhafi’s capture and death in October 2011.

Oil-rich Libya was then split by rival administrations, one in the east, backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar, and a U.N.-supported administration in the west, in capital of Tripoli. Each side is supported by different militias and foreign powers.

Libya’s current political crisis stems from the failure to hold elections in December 2021 and the refusal of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who led a transitional government in Tripoli, to step down. In response, the country’s east-based parliament appointed a rival prime minister, Fathy Bashagha, who has for months sought to install his government in Tripoli.

Khan said in his virtual briefing from Tripoli that his visit to Libya, including meetings with victims of violence and abuse from all parts of the country, had reinforced his belief that more needs to be done to ensure their voices are heard, that justice is done, and there is accountability for crimes committed against them and their loved ones.

“We can’t allow a sentiment to become pervasive that impunity is inevitable,” he said. “Victims want the truth to emerge.”

The prosecutor said he visited the western town of Tarhuna, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Tripoli, where mass graves were discovered in June 2020 following the withdrawal of Haftar’s forces after they failed to take the capital.