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The Global Citizen: Libya
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Court (ICC), met yesterday with Libyan officials who reiterated their refusal to hand over Saif Gaddafi to the ICC.
Saif, along with his late father Muammar Gaddafi and Gaddafi's former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi, have been charged by the Court with crimes against humanity following an investigation last spring after the U.N. Security Council referred the situation in Libya to the ICC. The new Libyan government had previously pledged to work with the ICC and hand over the indictees so they could face trial in The Hague. Since then, however, Libya had pushed to keep Saif in Libya and try him there, while the ICC had insisted he be turned over to the Court.
The Libyan government has appealed an order by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hand over Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, for trial. Libya insists it can provide a fair trial for Gaddafi, who was indicted by the ICC.
The problem is, the United Nations already referred the situation in Libya to the ICC last spring. The Court then issued arrest warrants for Saif, his father, and Gaddafi's former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi for crimes against humanity stemming from their involvement in the violent crackdown on civilians which took place in Libya for several months last year. Because the UN Security Council referred the situation in Libya to the ICC, the Court has jurisdiction over the case, even though Libya is not an ICC state party. Several months ago, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had said Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) agreed to work with the ICC and hand over the indictees.
Abdullah el-Senussi, former Libyan intelligence chief and brother-in-law of Muammar Gaddafi, was arrested this weekend in Mauritania. The big question now is, where and by whom will he be tried for his crimes?
Senussi was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of crimes against humanity stemming from the government's attacks on civilians last year prior to Gaddafi's fall from power. However, the ICC is not the only body that wants to bring Senussi to justice-France has also sentenced him in absentia to life in prison for his involvement in the 1989 bombing of a plane over Niger in which 170 passengers, many of them French, were killed. And Libya wants to punish him for a crackdown on a prison riot in Tripoli in 1996 that left 1200 dead.
Although the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for him, Court judges have not yet decided whether the trial of Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi will take place in The Hague or Libya. UN Security Council referred the case to ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, followed by the warrant for Saif in June 2011. After months of violence and the death of Moammar Gaddafi (Saif's father), Libyan officials are pushing to hold Saif's trial in their own country and refuse to hand over Gaddafi to the Court or even inform prosecutors of his location. This is causing confusion in the media and showcasing the lack of cooperation between non-member nations and the ICC.
International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has said that Libya’s transitional government has agreed to work with the ICC and the United Nations to investigate alleged crimes committed by Saif Gaddafi, the recently captured son of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Lloyd Axworthy, the former Foreign Minister of Canada and twice elected President of the U.N. Security Council, gave a presentation on the Responsibility to Protect at the University of Minnesota Law School last Tuesday in an event co-sponosred by the Minnesota chapter of Citizens for Global Solutions.
Click here to watch the webcast.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, was captured near the mountain city of Zintan in western Libya as his supporters attempted to smuggle him out of the country to Niger. He was transferred to Zintan, where he is being held by the local militia. Abdullah Al-Senussi, the former head of Libyan intelligence operations, was also captured this weekend, and is being held in a secret location by the NTC.
The Libyan National Transitional Council has not said if they will comply with an agreement made with the International Criminal Court in April, which states that the government would transfer Gaddafi and Senussi for trial at The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity, including urging and organizing the murder of civilians.
Citizens for Global Solutions CEO Don Kraus presented remarks yesterday at American University's Washington College of Law for a discussion on "Responsibility to Protect and the Arab Spring"
Kraus disagreed with critics who think that the international response in Libya has hurt the Responsibility to Protect concept. On the contrary, he believed that Libya solidified the principle as a norm in international affairs.
He also noted that the global response to Libya was made at "lightening speed", taking a matter of weeks compared to recent other humanitarian disasters, such as the conflict in the Congo, which took three years for the international community to respond.
Click here to hear his remarks in full.
Libyans rejoiced through the streets of Sirte and Tripoli yesterday as reports came through that Mummar Qaddafi was captured and then killed. However, the liberation of Sirte came at the expense of justice and accountability for the victims of Qaddafi's terror.
Don Kraus, CEO of Citizens for Global Solutions, stated, "The Libyan people deserved to see Qaddafi put on trial before the International Criminal Court in the Hague to answer for the horrendous crimes committed against civilians. His death on the battlefield denies his victims the redress they are owed. No leader should be allowed to use helicopter gunships and heave weapons and sniper on unarmed protestors."
A guest blog post by Joe Schwartzberg:
The following op-ed is largely inspired two provocative and highly recommended essays. One, "Will Obama Denounce MLK as Memorial [Is] Dedicated?" by David Swanson, is excerpted and modified from his book, War Is a Lie (http://www.warisalie.org) and was transmitted to me by CGS Board member Dick Bernard. The other, "To the Shores of Tripoli," by a left wing, generally dovish Israeli journalist, Uri Avnery, was sent by John Sutter, a long-time President of the San Francisco-based Democratic World Federalists.
Early in his essay, cited above, Swanson quotes the following remarkable passage from President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.
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