May 4th, 2011 at 7:57 am
Senior Libyan officials face international arrest warrants for crimes against humanity, the United Nations security council will be told today.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, is to brief the council about crimes committed by
Muammar Gaddafi’s forces since the Libyan uprising began in mid-February.
Western diplomats say the move is intended to ratchet up international pressure on Tripoli. Ocampo revealed that up to five warrants are likely to be issued in the next few weeks with the approval of the ICC’s pre-trial chamber.
No names have been disclosed. But Al-Arabiya TV reported that the warrants could include Gaddafi himself and his son, the discredited reformist Saif al-Islam, who has strong UK links. It said others being targeted include
Libya’s former foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, who defected to the UK, and Abu Zeyd Omar Dorda, director general of the Libyan External Security Organisation.
Koussa is the most important defector from the regime so far, and British officials had hoped his defection might persuade other key Libyans to abandon Gaddafi, although observers warn of the potential for a clash between a pragmatic approach to weakening the regime and a principled commitment to international criminal law.
The security council voted unanimously in February to refer Gaddafi’s violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrators to The Hague-based ICC.
That move was widely criticised as premature, leaving the Libyan leader and other key officials no exit strategy as the international response to the crisis escalated into the armed action now being undertaken by Nato.
“We have strong evidence on the beginning of the conflict, the shooting of civilians,” Ocampo told Reuters. “Also, we have strong evidence of the crime of persecution.”
May 4th, 2011 at 7:57 am