In December 2014, following over one year of inaction to surrender Gaddafi, ICC judges held that Libya had failed to cooperate with the court and forwarded their finding to the Security Council for follow-up. The Security Council has a range of options open to it to encourage Libyan cooperation including resolutions, sanctions, and presidential statements.
During the May 12 briefing with the ICC prosecutor, Security Council members should stress Libya’s outstanding obligation to transfer Gaddafi to The Hague and agree to steps to facilitate its cooperation with the court, Human Rights Watch said.
On July 24, ICC judges upheld an earlier decision approving a bid by Libya to prosecute Sanussi domestically. Sanussi, together with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and 35 others, is on trial in Libya for, among other charges, serious crimes related to his alleged role in trying to suppress the country’s 2011 uprising.
A Human Rights Watch investigation conducted in January 2014 revealed that Libya had failed to grant Sanussi, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, and co-defendants basic due process rights. In February 2015, a UN human rights report indicated concern that the trial risked falling short of basic international standards.
In its November letter, Human Rights Watch urged the ICC prosecutor to consider asking ICC judges to revisit, based on new facts, their ruling approving the domestic prosecution of Sanussi. In her last briefing to the Security Council in November 2014,
Bensouda said her office was monitoring developments in the trial against Sanussi in Libya, and would assess whether or not to request review of the ICC decision based on the information it collected. As far as Human Rights Watch has been able to determine, Sanussi remains without access to meaningful legal representation.
“It’s past time for the Security Council to understand that justice for current abuses in Libya will be essential for a durable peace,” Dicker said. “Silence by Security Council members on the impunity plaguing Libya today would be an affront to thousands of victims.”
(Source: Human Rights Watch)
