Originally published on the CGS blog on July 27, 2011.
Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi will not escape the consequences of justice…or will he? An article posted yesterday in The Guardian cites Great Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, as being much more lenient with Gaddafi than many would hope. Although Secretary Hague is still demanding that Gaddafi relinquish power, he has stated that the Libyan people should have the ultimate decision on Gaddafi’s fate because they have been most strongly affected by his actions. This however, undermines the purpose of the ICC, which is to hold criminals who commit crimes against humanity to justice. Olara Otunnu, a Lawyer and the President of the Uganda Peoples’ Congress, has publically disagreed with the statements made by Mr. Hague. Mr. Otunnu described the ICC’s arrest warrants as ‘legal facts’ which ‘cannot go away.’
The Guardian article goes on to address why giving Gaddafi certain immunities would cause political uproar in Libya. So much damage has been done to Libyan society by Gaddafi that allowing him certain privileges would be a slap in the face to many who have had to deal with his brutality for far too long. One Libyan citizen was quoted in the Guardian expressing his feelings towards Gaddafi’s future:
“It’s too late for such a thing,” said Yunis Al-Haq, an 18-year-old art student in the besieged city of Misrata. “Maybe if this deal [suggested by Hague] was made at the beginning, when Gaddafi had killed only 10 people, maybe we could forgive him. But now, after this war, he killed a lot of people, it can’t be forgiven that easy.”
Gaddafi has escaped justice for long enough. Despite what Mr. Hague might believe, the ICC was established for a purpose, to deliver justice to those who have committed heinous crimes. Gaddafi’s crimes against humanity will not go unpunished thanks to the efforts of the ICC, and Mr. Hague along with the rest of the international community should respect that.
