By Greg Hall
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague recently issued arrest warrants for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, as well as his son Saif al-Islam, and his military intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi. International prosecutors have accused the three of crimes against humanity, including killing civilian protestors during Libya’s Arab Spring.
The ICC dismissed suggestions by Britain and France to allow Gaddafi the opportunity to stay in Libya as part of a negotiation to entice Gaddafi to step down from power. The ICC said that Gaddafi could not be allowed to escape justice. “He has to be arrested,” said Florence Olara, spokeswoman for the court’s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
Olara said the decision to seek justice had been made in the UN, adding that the ICC’s arrest warrants were “legal facts” which “cannot go away”.
The court is accusing Gaddafi of crimes against humanity and of ordering attacks on civilians during an uprising against him held in February of this year. As a result of the orders issued by Gaddafi, thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed in the attacks.
ICC presiding judge Sanji Monageng said there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that Gaddafi and his son were “criminally responsible as indirect co-perpetrators” for the persecution and murder of civilians in Libya.
“We are extremely happy that the whole world has united in prosecuting Gaddafi for the crimes he has committed,” rebel council spokesman Jalal al-Galal told Reuters news agency from the rebel stronghold Benghazi. “The people feel vindicated by such a response.”
Libya has not accepted the ICC’s decision to call for Gaddafi’s arrest.
Mohammad al-Qamoodi told a Tripoli news conference the court was “a tool of the Western world to prosecute leaders in the third world”.
He added: “The leader of the revolution and his son do not hold any official position in the Libyan government and therefore they have no connection to the claims of the ICC against them.”
For more information please see:
Guardian – Gaddafi can’t be left in Libya, says international criminal court – 26 July 2011
Huffington Post – The Prosecutor v. Muammar Gaddafi — and a Step Closer to Justice – 26 July 2011
BBC – Libya rejects ICC arrest warrant for Muammar Gaddafi – 28 June 2011
Herald Sun – Libya rejects ICC’s arrest warrant for Muammar Gaddafi – June 27 2011
