United Nations (AP) The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor called Libya and other countries on Tuesday to assist in the arrest of six men who are allegedly connected to a violent militia that is accused of numerous murders and other crimes in a strategically significant western town where mass graves were found in 2020.
In order to help with the arrests, Karim Khan told the U.N. Security Council that he is willing to cooperate with the Libyan government and people as well as with both ICC-party and non-ICC-party nations.
Because it lacks a police force, the ICC depends on the assistance of its 124 member states in order to carry out arrest warrants.
From at least 2015 until June 2020, when government forces drove them out of Tarhuna, the six individuals were either important members of or connected to the Al Kaniyat militia, which ruled the town. About 65 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of Tripoli, the capital, is Tarhuna.
Khan informed the council via video from Libya that he had seen Tarhuna victims earlier Tuesday and they had told him about their plight. He claimed to have walked through the locations where their loved ones had been murdered and tortured. He claimed that a Libyan had informed him that there was a victim in every Tarhuna home.
Their determination is steely. They firmly believe that fair procedures, accountability, and justice are necessary for themselves, their families, their neighborhood, and Libya as a whole, Khan stated.
According to the prosecutor, the victims’ resolve inspires new optimism that the conversation is turning to action and that justice may be served.
Abdelrahim al-Kani, Makhlouf Douma, Nasser al-Lahsa, Mohammed Salheen, Abdelbari al-Shaqaqi, and Fathi al-Zinkal were among the six persons for whom the ICC issued arrest warrants in early October.
Three of the individuals, according to Khan at the time, were senior members or leaders of Al Kaniyat. At the time of the alleged crimes, three additional people were Libyan security officials connected to the militia.
Khan stated on Tuesday that we are aware of their location.
The ICC prosecutor stated that the victims informed him that while they are happy with the warrants, they are requesting your assistance in getting those people arrested and making sure that they are able to testify in court.
After longstanding tyrant Mohamed Gadhafi was overthrown and killed in 2011 by an uprising supported by NATO, Libya descended into anarchy. Rogue militias and foreign countries supported alternative administrations in the east and west as the nation broke apart.
Following the retreat of the militia after a 14-month campaign by military leader Khalifa Hifter, who remains a formidable force in the east, to take control of Tripoli from a variety of militias affiliated with the old U.N.-recognized government, the mass graves were discovered in Tarhuna.
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