Originally published on the CGS blog on May 16, 2011.
Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested arrest warrants for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as well as his son Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Sanousi. This follows the Court’s investigation into the situation in Libya since attacks on civilians began there in February.
The ICC began investigating potential crimes against humanity in Libya in March 2011, days after the situation in that country was referred to the Court by the United Nations Security Council. In his statement today, Prosecutor Ocampo noted that “The evidence shows that Muammar Gaddafi, personally, ordered attacks on unarmed Libyan civilians. His forces attacked Libyan civilians in their homes and in the public space, repressed demonstrations with live ammunition, used heavy artillery against participants in funeral processions, and placed snipers to kill those leaving mosques after the prayers. The evidence shows that such persecution is still ongoing, as I speak today, in the areas under Gaddafi control….(m)ost of the victims are Libyans, but the widespread and systematic attacks against them are affecting the international community as a whole. The crimes are crimes against humanity.”
The ICC’s Pre-Trial chamber must now approve Ocampo’s request for the arrest warrants. Once approved, the next step will be actually bringing Gaddafi and other accused Libyans into custody, which could prove challenging. Under the Rome statute, any country which is a state party to the ICC would be obligated to hand over Gaddafi to the Court if he entered their country, which would limit his movements outside of Libya. However, Sudanese President Bashir has been able to travel to various ICC member countries-including Kenya, Chad, and most recently, Djibouti-without being arrested, despite the charges issued against him by the Court. Enforcement of ICC arrest warrants, clearly, remains problematic.
Read the Prosecutor’s full statement on the Libyan warrants.
