International prosecutor probes new cases in Libya

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says she is collecting evidence for filing possible new war crimes charges against supporters and opponents of Moammar Gadhafi during last year's Libyan civil war.

Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she expects to decide soon on "the direction" of a possible new case that could see the first charges stemming from the Libyan civil war since the ICC issued arrest warrants for Gadhafi, his son and heir-apparent Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi in May 2011. They were accused of committing crimes against humanity by targeting civilians in a crackdown against rebels that led to the Libyan leader's ouster and death.

Libya has challenged the ICC's right to try Seif al-Islam. Bensouda said she doesn't expect the tribunal's judges to take too long to decide whether he should be prosecuted at the court in The Hague, Netherlands, or in his home country.

"I think they will ... consider giving clarity to the parties and participants as soon as possible," she said.

In a wide-ranging interview, Bensouda also discussed the importance of capturing the infamous African warlord Joseph Kony, her recent visit to Kenya to seek cooperation in the upcoming trial of four prominent Kenyans for crimes stemming from the country's 2007-2008 post-election violence, and her frustration at being unable to act in response to the ongoing attacks on civilians.

Bensouda was at U.N. headquarters to give her first briefing on ICC activities in Libya to the Security Council since she took over the prosecutor's job from Luis Moreno-Ocampo in June. The council referred the Libyan uprising against Gadhafi to the court in February 2011.

The prosecutor said in the interview after Wednesday's council briefing that if the judges rule that Seif al-Islam should be tried by the ICC "it will be difficult" to enforce the decision.

But she said Libya has been operating within the Rome statute that established the court in challenging the ICC's jurisdiction, and she expects the government's cooperation in handing Seif al-Islam over if that is the judges' decision. If the judges decide to allow Seif al-Islam to be tried in Libya, "we will continue to monitor what Libya is doing," she added.

Seif al-Islam is being held by a militia group in the Libyan town of Zintan. Bensouda said she has been urging the government to appoint a lawyer for him. Al-Senoussi was captured after fleeing to Mauritania and was extradited to Libya in September.

Regarding possible new Libya cases, the prosecutor said she is collecting information on allegations of rape and sexual violence targeting men and women, gathering evidence against other members of the Gadhafi government, and investigating allegations of war crimes committed by rebel forces against Gadhafi loyalists and residents of Tawerga. The town was used as a staging ground by Gadhafi's forces to launch attacks on Misrata, Libya's third-largest city and its commercial hub, where rebel fighters fought off a bloody siege in what became one of the turning points of Libya's civil war.

Bensouda said she is examining allegations that civilians in Tawerga were subject to killings, looting, torture and forced displacement by Misrata militias which could constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/international-prosecutor-probes-cases-libya-17689910

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