Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe / ICC Prosecutor Fatou  Bensouda at UN Security Council May 8, 2019 addressing Situation in Libya.

By Gary Raynaldo   DIPLOMATIC TIMES

US authorities last month  revoked International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s entry into the United States, as part of its sweeping policy to deny visas to ICC members investigating alleged war crimes committed by American troops in Afghanistan. However,  Bensouda was allowed entry into the U.S. this week to conduct her official duties at the  United Nations’ world headquarters in New York. Addressing the UN Security Council, the ICC prosecutor reiterated the war tribunal’s demand for the arrest  of three Libyans wanted for grave crimes.  Bensouda said the arrests  ‘would send strong and necessary message’ to victims. Arrest warrants remain outstanding against Mahmoud al-Werfalli, the commander of an elite unit of the Libyan National Army; Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the second son of late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi; and Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled, the former head of the Libyan Internal Security Agency during the final years of the government of Muammar Gaddafi.  Bensouda told the Council the the authorities in Libya remained “under and obligation to arrest and surrender Gaddafi to the ICC”, although he is appealing against the warrant on the grounds that he has already been tried for the same offences.  Bensouda also addressed the humanitarian crisis in Libya due to an escalation in deadly violence in the country.  Since fighting broke out on the edge of Libya’s capital, Tripoli, earlier this month, more than 42,000 people have been displaced and thousands are believed trapped in the city’s southern outskirts, according to the UN.

“I urge this Council and all member states of the United Nations to ensure a consistent and unambiguous message is conveyed to all warring factions in Libya that the rules of international humanitarian law must be fully respected, and that perpetrators of atrocity crimes will be held individually criminally responsible.”

-ICC Prosecutor  Fatou Bensouda  United Nations May 8, 2019.

ICC Calls Still Pursuing Arrest Of  Son Of Former Libyan Dictator Gaddafi

Photo Credit: Daily Mail /  Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, is being sought by the International Criminal Court.  In 2011, the ICC issued a warrant of arrest against Gaddafi for alleged crimes against humanity of murder and persecution. Gaddafi argued that as a consequence of domestic proceedings conducted against him in Libya he cannot be tried at the ICC.  Bensouda rejects that argument. 

“As I address you today, to my great regret, the fighting in Libya continues unabated. Over the past six months, violence has escalated and armed clashes have occurred in several areas of Libya, including Derna in the east, Murzuq in the south, and Tripoli in the west. As always, my Office continues to closely monitor the ongoing conflict, gathering information from diverse sources and assessing whether crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court may have been committed. My Office is of course paying close attention to the ongoing armed conflict in and around Tripoli since early April this year. Reports indicate that the fighting has already cost 432 lives, including at least 23 civilians.  In addition, there are serious concerns for the safety of migrants and refugees who are detained in centres near areas of conflict.”

-ICC Prosecutor  Fatou Bensouda  United Nations May 8, 2019.