Gadhafi, Sons to be investigated for possible crimes against humanity

Mar 3, 2011 – 9:04 AM

Arthur Max
AP
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The International Criminal Court will investigate Libyan
leader Moammar Gadhafi and his inner circle, including some of his sons, for pos
sible crimes against humanity in the violent crackdown on anti-government protes
ters, the prosecutor said Thursday.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Gadhafi’s security forces are alleged to have attacked “peac
eful demonstrators” in several towns and cities across Libya since Feb. 15, and he
identified Gadhafi and several commanders and regime officials as having formal
or de facto command over the forces that may have committed crimes.
Moreno-Ocampo vowed there would be “no impunity in Libya.”
Armed with unusual authority from the U.N. Security Council, Moreno-Ocampo acted
with unprecedented haste to launch an investigation, partly to warn Libyan offi
cials against any continued slaughter of civilians.
He said the court was using the opportunity “to put them on notice: If forces unde
r their command commit crimes, they could be criminally responsible.”
He also warned that leaders of the Libyan opposition, who have seized weapons fr
om the Libyan military, could be investigated if allegations were raised against
them.
“No one has the authority to attack and massacre civilians,” he said.
Moreno-Ocampo mentioned only Gadhafi by name, but identified seven people by the
ir positions to be investigated. They were the commander of the 32 battalion, th
e head of Gadhafi’s personal security, the national security adviser, the director
-general of the external security organization, the spokesman of the regime, the
head of the security forces and the minister of foreign affairs. Gadhafi’s son Kh
amis commands the elite 32nd battalion.
Gadhafi has denied using violence against demonstrators, whom he described as ag
ents of al-Qaida. International media have been unable to witness the worst of t
he reported incidents.
Contacting former Libyan officials and army officers, Moreno-Ocampo said he spen
t the last six days gathering information on the structure of authority in Libya
to find those in control of the forces. He also has appealed for video and phot
ographs of any alleged atrocities.
“We are not saying who is responsible yet,” he said. “Today is the start of the invest
igation.”
He said it could take several months before he presents his case to judges and r
equests arrest warrants.
It is the second time the court, which was created in 2002 as the world’s first pe
rmanent war crimes tribunal, has investigated a sitting head of state. Sudan’s Oma
r al-Bashir has been indicted on three counts of genocide for attacks in the wes
tern Darfur region, but Bashir has rejected the charges against him and refused
to surrender to the court.
The U.N.-backed court has no power to execute its own arrest warrants, and must
rely on national authorities to take suspects into custody and extradite them to
The Hague.