THU 28 - 3 - 2024
 
Date: Mar 4, 2011
Source: The Daily Star
International Criminal Court to investigate Gadhafi, sons
‘No one has the authority to attack and massacre civilians,’ says ICC prosecutor

Friday, March 04, 2011

By Aaron Gray-Block
Reuters

 

THE HAGUE: The international war crimes tribunal said Thursday it would investigate Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, his sons and members of their inner circle for crimes committed by their security forces.
Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo of The Hague-based International Criminal Court said no one had the authority to massacre civilians after a bloody crackdown on demonstrators against Gadhafi’s rule in which possibly thousands have died.


He said the court had identified several people at the top of the command chain who could be investigated.
“They are Moammar Gadhafi, his inner circle including some of his sons, who had this de facto authority. There are also some people with formal authority who should pay attention to crimes committed by their people.”
The U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Gadhafi and his family Saturday and referred Libya’s crackdown on demonstrators to the court.


Gadhafi has vowed to stay in Libya and fight to the death since protests against his 41-year rule began in mid-February, inspired by the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt that ousted longstanding authoritarian rulers.
The prosecutor identified several attacks that would be investigated, including violence in the eastern city of Benghazi on Feb. 15 and some attacks in Tripoli on Feb. 20.


“No one has the authority to attack and massacre civilians. As soon as someone commits crimes this is our business to investigate it and try and stop it,” Moreno-Ocampo said, adding that the court could issue arrest warrants over the atrocities in a few months’ time.

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim called the ICC investigation “close to a joke” since no fact-finding mission had been sent to his country and said it was based purely on media reports.


“We have armed gangs having tanks, aircraft and machine guns and attacking police stations, army camps, ports and airports and occupying Libyan cities. This is far away from a peaceful movement,” he told BBC radio.
Other people in Gadhafi’s circle who will come under the court’s scrutiny include the commander of the 32nd brigade, foreign mercenaries, a spokesman of the regime and the Libyan National Security adviser, Moreno-Ocampo said. He did not identify them by name, but said the inner circle included some of Gadhafi’s sons.


Outside that circle, he pointed to the head of Gadhafi’s personal security, the director general of the Libyan External Security Organization, plus other organizations including the head of the regime’s security forces as potential suspects.


Bill Pace, head of a coalition of non-governmental organizations that support the work of the court, said the U.N. Security Council and its member states should now stand by the referral and ensure that Libya and other states cooperate fully with the court.
“This includes facilitating the gathering of evidence as well as ensuring the arrest of suspects,” Pace said.



 
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