By Libya Herald reporters.
Tunis, 4 November 2017:
War crimes in Libya should be probed by an independent body supported by the international community, a group of leading Libyan lawyers has proposed.
Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL) along with Human Rights Watch, has long been critical of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for failing to investigate alleged war crimes.
“The ICC has frequently stated that it will look into the international crimes perpetrated in Libya,” said LFJL director Elham Saudi, speaking of the recent Derna airstrikes in which 15 civilians died, “but it is now time to start holding people accountable. Actions speak louder than words and the ICC must take immediate action to avoid any further suffering”.
ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has for two years in succession assured the UN Security Council that her office was working on prosecutions in Libya but complained that she lacked the resources to investigate crimes. The warrant the ICC has issued for the arrest of Saiqa Special Forces major Mahmoud Warfali is understood to be based on a series of videos in which Warfali is apparently involved in the summary execution of 33 bound captives.
Saudi said the UN and the international community must recognise “that an independent investigative mechanism tasked with establishing the facts, including by establishing the perpetrators of the attack and monitoring serious abuses and violations in Libya with a view to identifying individual criminal responsibility, is long overdue”.
She noted that this year there had been a pattern of indiscriminate attacks in Libya. In October alone, armed clashes cross the country, including in Tripoli, Kufra and Misrata had led to at least 47 civilian casualties.
“The targeting of civilians or civilian objects by military operations is in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and constitutes a war crime according to the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols” she said.
She also deplored the siege of Derna by the Libyan National Army (LNA). She said people in the town had suffered from severe shortages of basic necessities, including medical supplies and food.
Turkey has also joined the international censure of the Derna airstrikes. “We strongly condemn the air strikes against a residential area near the Derna which caused the deaths and injuries of some civilians, including women and children” said a statement put out by the Turkish embassy in Tripoli.
It wished Allah’s mercy on the dead and sent its condolences to families and the wounded wishing them a rapid recovery.
