United Nations Security Council members should use the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s briefing on her Libya investigation on November 11, 2014, to express concern about the country’s deteriorating situation, Human Rights Watch said today. Security Council members should underline the ICC’s ongoing jurisdiction to investigate grave abuses being committed by all sides.The briefing comes amid soaring insecurity in Libya, and as concerned countries pursue a political settlement and cessation of violence between the parties to the armed conflicts in the eastern and western parts of the country. Security Council members should send a strong message to the Libyan authorities to cooperate with the court, and in particular to comply with the court’s order to surrender Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Muammar Gaddafi’s son, to The Hague.
“Security Council members should make clear that the state of impunity in Libya needs to end,” said Richard Dicker, international justice director at Human Rights Watch. “Turning a blind eye to justice has been a main driver for the country’s current instability.”Accountability for grave abuses should remain a key component for any durable solution of the political dialogue in Libya, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch research in many countries has shown that the failure to hold those responsible for the most serious international crimes to account can fuel future abuses.
