ICC Requests Arrest of Libya Regime Trio

A rebel walks next to a cartoon depicting Moammar Gadhafi as Adolf Hitler, holding a book titled 'My green book' in the rebel Media Center in Benghazi, Libya, Monday, May 16, 2011. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, announced Monday that he would seek arrest warrants against the leader of Libya, Moammar Gadhafi, his son Seif al-Islam and the country's intelligence chief on charges of crimes against humanity (AP Photo via Daylife)

The Financial Times has the story:

The International Criminal Court chief prosecutor has requested arrest warrants for Colonel Muammer Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, his son Saif al-Islam, and the head of the country’s intelligence service, Abdullah al-Senussi, accusing them of crimes against humanity.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said his office had “strong evidence” that the three had ordered attacks on civilians in the weeks following the outbreak of the Libyan uprising. “We have direct evidence of each of them involved in the crimes,” he said.

Col Gaddafi had “personally ordered attacks on unarmed Libyan civilians”, in which armed forces shot demonstrators, fired heavy weapons on funeral processions and “placed snipers to kill those leaving mosques after prayers”, the prosecutor said.

The UN Security Council ordered the court to launch an investigation into war crimes in Libya as part of its Resolution 1970 in late February. Mr Moreno-Ocampo’s office will not identify any of the sources it has used in its investigation, but is widely believed to have gathered testimony from defectors of Mr Gaddafi’s regime.

The office says it has not used testimony from sources still within Libya in order not to bring them into danger of reprisals from the regime. But it said it was confident it could prove its case against the three accused.

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Mr Moreno-Ocampo said co-operation from the UN Security Council, Arab League and African Union had enabled the court to move faster than ever before, investigating and issuing warrants even while war crimes were continuing to occur.

The court has no enforcement powers, relying instead on member states. Mr Moreno-Ocampo explained that the court expected the Libyan government itself to enforce the warrants and deliver Mr Gaddafi to justice.

That prospect seems unlikely, though the three could be arrested if they attempt to travel outside Libya.

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