War crimes prosecutor seeks Gaddafi warrant

War crimes prosecutor seeks Gaddafi warrant

Gaddafi is accused of personally ordering attacks on Libyan civilians [Reuters]

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor has asked a three-judge panel to issue arrest warrants for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his second-eldest son, Saif al-Islam, and his intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi.



Luis Moreno-Ocampo described the evidence against the three men as "very strong" in a press conference on Monday and said he believed Libyans eventually would turn them over to the court.

The filing against Gaddafi comes just three months into the uprising against his 41-year rule, which evolved from peaceful protests in major cities to an armed rebellion based out of the east. Gaddafi's regime has brutally attempted to suppress the opposition movement by shelling rebellious cities, and imprisoning and torturing those who speak out.

Ocampo was due to present a 74-page dossier of evidence to the court in the Hague, the Netherlands, on Monday. The judges will decide whether to reject the petition, ask for more evidence or confirm crimes against humanity charges and issue international arrest warrants.

"The evidence shows Muammar Gaddafi personally ordered attacks on unarmed civilians," Ocampo said in a press conference. "[He] committed the crimes with the goal of preserving his authority, his absolute authority."
Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam and Abdullah Senussi held meetings to plan the crackdown, Ocampo said. Security forces loyal to the government then attacked civilians in their homes, used heavy weaponry on funeral processions, and set up snipers to shoot at people as they left prayers at mosques, he said.

Activists were imprisoned, held incommunicado and tortured, he said.
Ocampo described Saif al-Islam as Gaddafi's "de facto prime minister" and Senussi as his "right-hand man" and "executioner".

"The office gathered direct evidence about orders issued by Muammar Gaddafi himself, direct evidence of Saif al-Islam organising the recruitment of mercenaries, and direct evidence of the participation of al-Senussi in the attacks against demonstrators," Ocampo said.

The prosecution's investigation into potential human rights violations has spanned several countries and involved around 1,500 documents, Al Jazeera's Rory Challands said.
But the two-and-a-half months it has taken to come up with a petition for arrest warrants is a "heartbeat in international justice," he added.

Ocampo said he was able to finish his investigation quickly because the Gaddafi regime had committed its crimes in only a few cities, including Tripoli and Benghazi, and because the crimes had been committed in a short time.
Investigators received numerous phone calls from sources inside Libya but took no official testimony, since it would have put them at risk, Ocampo said.

Still, he said he expected Libyans to hand over the three men on their own.
"Gaddafi ruled Libya through fear, and Libyans are losing their fear now," he said.