Italy defends repatriation of Libyan warlord with ICC warrant
Italy has defended its repatriation of a Libyan warlord with an ICC arrest warrant for suspected crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Osama Almasri Njeem, who was arrested in Turin on January 19th, was released two days later and flown back to Tripoli on an Italian state aircraft, reported by Al Jazeera.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) had issued an arrest warrant for Njeem, for crimes including murder, torture and rape of detainees at the Mitiga Detention Centre in Tripoli.
The ICC have said the crimes had been “committed by Mr. Njeem personally, ordered by him, or with his assistance, by members of the Special Deterrence Forces,” according to Al Jazeera on January 23rd.
The Italian government has defended the repatriation with Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi saying, “following the non validation of the arrest, … considering that the Libyan citizen … presented a profile of social dangerousness, … I adopted an expulsion order for reasons of state security.”
The Middle East Eye has also reported that the ICC is seeking, and yet to obtain, verification from the authorities on the steps already taken, saying they had not been consulted by the Italian government.
However, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the court “is not the word of God. It’s not the font of all truth,” before adding, “Italy is a sovereign country, and we make our own decisions.”
Despite Italy being party to the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC, and thus being obliged under article 89 to arrest and surrender those wanted by the court, Italy appears to have developed a behaviour of noncompliance.
The legitimacy of the ICC rests on the cooperation of states, but “Rome has betrayed the Rome Statute, again – and with that the victims of the horrendous abuses in Libya, Palestine and elsewhere” according to Claudio Francavilla, the associate EU director at Human Rights Watch, reported by Middle East Eye.
Meloni’s government depends heavily on Libyan security forces, including those controlled by Njeem, to control the flow of migrants and refugees from North Africa into southern Italy.
His release indicates that the Italian government is prioritising their relationship with the Libyan militias responsible for migrant flows, and in turn their border security, over liberal democratic institutions.
This political choice undermines the values associated with a liberal democratic Europe and reflects the shift of European politics to the right.
Al Jazeera, Middle East Eye
