International court of crimes is about to issue a warrant for arrest of Gaddafi !

Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and some of his sons of crimes against humanity during the turmoil in the country and may request arrest warrants within months said chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo of the International Criminal Court’s


Luis Moreno-Ocampo will investigate between 10 and 20 people including Qaddafi, members of his family, the foreign minister and the heads of security and military intelligence, Qaddafi’s personal security and Libya’s external security organization.


“Civilians were shot during demonstrations and allegations are that security forces were doing that,” Moreno-Ocampo said in an interview in his office in The Hague yesterday after concluding a preliminary investigation. “We’re focusing on six or seven incidents that are most serious” and expect to request warrants from the court’s judges in a few months, he said.


The uprising against Qaddafi follows the ousting of longtime rulers by protest movements in Tunisia and Egypt in the past two months. More than 150,000 people have fled Libya to neighboring Egypt and Tunisia since Feb. 19, the United Nations refugee agency said March 1.


“The UN Security Council made a decision within two weeks after the crimes and referred them to the court, with no hesitation and unanimously -- that’s amazing,” Moreno-Ocampo said, adding the court can profit from the “huge change” in the Arab world. “Backing of the Arab world is critically important; the rest of the world has to support them.”




The Security Council has imposed an arms embargo on Libya and called for an immediate end to violence that it says “may amount to crimes against humanity.” The council referred the allegations to the International Criminal Court for investigation and possible prosecution.


President Barack Obama said late yesterday that the U.S. and the rest of the world are outraged by the “appalling violence” in Libya. Qaddafi “has lost legitimacy to lead and he must leave,” Obama said at a White House news conference.


The International Criminal Court is the only permanent tribunal for prosecuting individuals accused of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world. Its first judges were installed in 2003.


The court was established under the 1998 Rome Statute, a treaty now signed by representatives of 114 states. The Security Council requested the ICC to investigate the alleged crimes as Libya isn’t one of the treaty states.


“We always have a mission impossible, we will investigate when no one else investigates or can investigate,” he said. “There will be no impunity in Libya.”




Source ; bloomberg