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By Libya Herald reporters.
Tunis, 13 November 2017:
European civil rights lawyers acting on behalf of alleged victims in Libya will tomorrow demand the International Criminal Court (ICC) consider prosecuting armed forces commander-in-chief Khalifa Hafter.
The UK-based Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers has taken legal steps to press ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to launch an investigation into Hafter’s ultimate responsibility for the actions of troops he commands.
“Hundreds of civilians have been deliberately targeted by those forces resulting in their murder, torture, and displacement” said Guernica 37 ahead of the press conference it plans tomorrow in the Hague which is the home to the ICC .
The law firm told the Libya Herald: “We are acting on behalf of a number of victims. We cannot of course disclose their identities but we can confirm that we are acting on behalf of a number of direct victims (victims of actual attacks) and indirect victims (persons whose family members disappeared or were killed”).
Guernica 37, named after the Spanish Civil War bombing of the Basque town of Guernica in 1937 which killed hundreds of civilians, is making a preliminary filing against Hafter. If Bensouda considers there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation, under Article 15 of the ICC’s founding document, the Rome Statute, she will ask the Pre-Trial Chamber to authorise an investigation.
The ICC has this year issued a warrant for the arrest of Saiqa Special Forces major Mahmoud Warfali in connection with the filmed murder of 33 bound prisoners. Saiqa Special Forces is a Libyan National Army unit under the ultimate command of Hafter.
