Tony Blair Should Face Trial Over Iraq War, Says Desmond Tutu

THE OBSERVER: Anti-apartheid hero attacks former prime minister over 'double standards on war crimes'

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for Tony Blair and George Bush to be hauled before the international criminal court [sic] in The Hague and delivered a damning critique of the physical and moral devastation caused by the Iraq war.

Tutu, a Nobel peace prizewinner and hero of the anti-apartheid movement, accuses the former British and US leaders of lying about weapons of mass destruction and says the invasion left the world more destabilised and divided "than any other conflict in history".

Writing in the [sic] Observer, Tutu also suggests the controversial US and UK-led action to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003 created the backdrop for the civil war in Syria and a possible wider Middle East conflict involving Iran.

"The then leaders of the United States and Great Britain," Tutu argues, "fabricated the grounds to behave like playground bullies and drive us further apart. They have driven us to the edge of a precipice where we now stand – with the spectre of Syria and Iran before us." » | Toby Helm, political editor | Sunday, September 02, 2012

Zintan Holds Tight to 'Prize' Saif al-Islam
Fighters in the western mountain town of Zintan have refused to give up Saif al-Islam, the most prominent son of slain ruler Muammar Gaddafi, saying his secrets are too important to risk. On Sunday, Zintanis detained an International Criminal Court lawyer who was visiting Saif al-Islam for allegedly trying to deliver letters to him. They say the letters, which she hid in her clothing, posed a danger to Libya's national security. Zintan's leaders say their people sacrificed many lives for the revolution that ended Gaddafi's rule, and that Saif al-Islam has information that could implicate Libya's interim leaders and foreign countries in wrong doing. Al Jazeera's Omar al-Saleh reports from Zintan.

Saif Gaddafi 'Wants to Be Tried in Libya'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the imprisoned son of the former Libyan dictator, has aligned himself with the new government by declaring his opposition to extradition to face war crimes charges in The Hague.

International Criminal Court investigators who met with Saif Gaddafi at a mountaintop detention centre south of Tripoli earlier this month said that he had expressed a preference to be tried in his own country, even if he faced the death penalty.

The ICC also confirmed that Gaddafi had suffered torture and abuse after he was captured last November.

The comments appear to have been made under duress with a government official sitting in on the discussion. Even so, the stakes for Gaddafi could not be higher. Deportation for an ICC trial would remove threat of a death sentence even if he was convinced of all counts in the war crimes trials. » | Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Ghadhafi-Sohn Saif al-Islam in der Haft Gewalt ausgesetzt
NZZ ONLINE: Der Sohn des früheren libyschen Machthabers Ghadhafi, Saif al-Islam, ist in der Haft in Libyen körperlicher Gewalt ausgesetzt. Dies erklärte die Verteidigung am Internationalen Strafgerichtshof (ICC) am Donnerstag. » | sda/afp | Donnerstag, 05. April 2012

ICC Rejects Libya's Request Over Gaddafi Son Surrender
REUTERS.COM: The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday ordered Libya to immediately hand over for trial Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the late Libyan leader, but Libya's new authorities said they still wanted to try him themselves.

The court in The Hague ordered Tripoli to "comply with its obligations to enforce the warrant of arrest" and surrender him into the court's custody without delay, rejecting a Libyan request to delay the handover.

The ICC says it has jurisdiction in the case and that a U.N. Security Council Resolution obliges Libya to cooperate. It has warned that Tripoli's failure to hand Saif al-Islam over could result in it being reported to the Council.

Along with human rights organizations, it harbors concerns about the fairness of Libya's new justice system.

Since the elder Gaddafi was killed after being captured alive by rebel fighters, competing militias have yet to lay down their arms and Western human rights organizations have accused them of carrying out numerous extra-judicial executions and other abuses, raising serious questions about the rule of law. » | Ivana Sekularac and Marie-Louise Gumuchian | AMSTERDAM / TRIPOLI | Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Libya Insists Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Should Be Tried at Home

THE GUARDIAN: NTC says that the International Criminal Court should not be allowed to try Saif Gaddafi for his role in Libya's civil war

Libyan officials are determined to resist attempts to bring Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, before the international criminal court [sic], claiming he should instead face justice at home.

Colonel Ahmed Bani, the military spokesman for Libya's interim rulers, said they were insistent that the international body should not win custody of its most wanted man. "We will not accept that our sovereignty be violated like that," he said. "We will put him on trial here. This is where he must face the consequences of what he has done. We will prove to the world that we are a civilised people with a fair justice system. Libya has its rights and its sovereignty and we will exercise them."

The gruesome scenes of his father's death give Gaddafi, 39, little incentive to surrender to the new rulers, or the rebel forces searching for him in the Sahara.

It is understood that Gaddafi has acknowledged to the ICC and the National Transitional Council that he is aware of his father's brutal demise in his hometown of Sirte. Officials in Tripoli fear that the former heir apparent does not intend to surrender to The Hague, and is playing for time in an attempt to escape into a nearby African state. » | Martin Chulov in Tripoli | Saturday, October 29, 2011

ICC Warns Libya's Saif al-Islam Against Fleeing

REUTERS.COM: The International Criminal Court said on Saturday Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was in contact through intermediaries about surrendering for trial, but it also had information mercenaries were trying to spirit him to a friendly African nation.

The ICC has warned the 39-year-old, apparently anxious not to be captured by Libyan interim government forces in whose hands his father Muammar Gaddafi was killed last week, that it could order a mid-air interception if he tried to flee by plane from his Sahara desert hideout for a safe haven. » | Aaron Gray-Block | THE HAGUE | Saturday, October 29, 2011

THE GUARDIAN: Gaddafi's son says he is innocent: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has told the International Criminal Court he is innocent of alleged crimes against humanity » | Reuters | Saturday, October 29, 2011

Libya: Col Gaddafi Son Saif Opens ICC Talks on Surrender
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Muammar Gaddafi's fugitive son, who is wanted for crimes against humanity has established indirect contacts with the International Criminal Court on his surrender, the court's chief prosecutor said.

The prosecutor said that his office was in "informal contact" with Muammar Gaddafi's son through intermediaries regarding his surrender to the war crimes court.

"Through intermediaries, we have informal contact with Saif. The office of the prosecutor has made it clear that if he surrenders to the ICC, he has the right to be heard in court, he is innocent until proven guilty. The judges will decide," prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo would not say with whom the court is talking. He also said the court does not know al-Islam's whereabouts.

If Saif is brought before the court, Mr Moreno-Ocampo said, he will "have all the rights and be protected," and will be allowed to present his defence.

"We believe we have a strong case," the prosecutor told CNN. "We believe he should be convicted." » | Telegraph Foreign Staff | Friday, October 28, 2011

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Pope Accused of Crimes against Humanity by Victims of Sex Abuse

THE GUARDIAN: Victims' complaint to the international criminal court accuses Pope Benedict and three others of failing to prevent abusers

Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests have accused the pope, the Vatican secretary of state and two other high-ranking Holy See officials of crimes against humanity, in a formal complaint to the international criminal court (ICC).

The submission, lodged at The Hague on Tuesday, accuses the four men not only of failing to prevent or punish perpetrators of rape and sexual violence but also of engaging in the "systematic and widespread" practice of concealing sexual crimes around the world.

It includes individual cases of abuse where letters and documents between Vatican officials and others show a refusal to co-operate with law enforcement agencies seeking to pursue suspects, according to the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a US-based organisation that represents the claimants. » | Karen McVeigh | Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Interview with ICC's Moreno-Ocampo on Arrest Warrant for Gaddafi
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, speaks to Al Jazeera about the court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader. Gaddafi is accused of crimes against humanity.

Gaddafis Named as International Criminal Court Suspects
THE GUARDIAN: Chief prosecutor requests crimes against humanity arrest warrants for Libyan leader, son Saif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi

Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and his brother-in-law and intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, have been named as suspects for crimes against humanity by the chief prosecutor for the international criminal court in The Hague.

Presenting his request for arrest warrants to the ICC, the chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said the men formed an inner circle who carried out the Libyan leader's orders to crush peaceful protests by ordering attacks with live ammunition and heavy weapons.

"His second eldest son Saif al-Islam is a de facto prime minister and Abdullah Senussi is his right-hand man, the executioner. [My] office documented how the three held meetings to plan and direct the operations," Moreno-Ocampo said. The prosecutor said he had "direct evidence" of the three men committing the crimes.

A panel of three ICC judges will now decide whether to grant the arrest warrants, after which Moreno-Ocampo said it was primarily up to Libyans themselves to enforce them.

However, the naming of Saif al-Islam as a prime suspect in crimes against humanity will alone be enough to cause shock and embarrassment to his prominent and wealthy circle of friends in Europe and the US, and particularly in the UK, where he studied at the London School of Economics and lived in Hampstead Garden Suburb, an exclusive district of London.

"His address book is going to be bulging with significant contacts. The question is going to be how long those contacts stayed in touch and at what point they cut him off," a source familiar with the investigation said. Those questions may be answered in part by a study of Saif al-Islam's mobile telephone records and other communications by the ICC investigators. » | Julian Borger, diplomatic editor | Monday, May 16, 2011

ICC Prosecutor Seeks Arrest Warrant for Gaddafi
REUTERS: The International Criminal Court prosecutor said on Monday he had requested arrest warrants for Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and the country's spy chief on charges of crimes against humanity.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had said earlier this month he would seek three arrest warrants for the "pre-determined" killing of protesters in Libya following U.N. Security Council referral of the violence to the Hague-based court in February.

It had been widely expected that Moreno-Ocampo would seek an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Gaddafi, but in addition to a warrant for his son Saif, the prosecutor said he would also seek the arrest of Libya's head of espionage, Abdullah al-Senussi.

"The office gathered direct evidence about orders issued by Muammar Gaddafi himself, direct evidence of Saif al-Islam organizing the recruitment of mercenaries and direct evidence of the participation of al-Senussi in the attacks against demonstrators," Moreno-Ocampo said at the ICC. » | Reporting by Aaron Gray-Block; Editing by Giles Elgood | THE HAGUE | Monday, May 16, 2011

Al Jazeera Speaks to Arsalan Iftikhar
Italian foreign minister on Thursday said that the international criminal court will likely issue an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Al Jazeera spoke to Arsalan Iftikhar, an international human rights lawyer, on the issue

Libyan Leaders Face Arrest On War Crimes Charges
THE GUARDIAN: Gaddafi regime systematically opened fire on peaceful protests, says International Criminal Court prosecutor

The Gaddafi regime committed war crimes against Libyan pro-democracy demonstrations, opening fire "systematically" on peaceful protesters, according to a report issued by the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), who will seek arrest warrants against Muammar Gaddafi and two other senior members of his regime later this month.

Addressing the UN security council in New York, the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said he will ask judges at the court in The Hague for three warrants. He has not named his suspects but in his report to the UN security council on Wednesdayhe said they were the people who gave the orders for the alleged atrocities. The Guardian has learned from well-informed sources that Gaddafi will top the list, and that his brother-in-law and intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, is also likely to be included.

Other names in the frame include the leader's second oldest son Saif al-Islam and Mahmoud Al-Baghdadi, in effect, the nation's prime minister.

"It is indeed a characteristic of the situation in Libya that massive crimes are reportedly committed upon instruction of a few persons who control the organisations that execute the orders," Moreno-Ocampo said. He added that the arrests were a manner of urgency. » | Julian Borger, diplomatic editor | Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Syria: President Bashar al-Assad Faces Indictment by the International Criminal Court
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: President Bashar al-Assad faces indictment by the International Criminal Court as Western leaders were told on Sunday that the Syrian leader could be held to account for the deaths of 120 anti-government protesters.

An influential body of international judges and lawyers called for Mr Assad and his lieutenants to be held to account for Easter weekend attacks in which troops and militamen fire on civilians.

"Those ordering and carrying out these attacks, including those firing live rounds into crowds, must be held criminally accountable," the International Committee of Jurists (ICJ) said in a statement.

As opposition supporters continued to bury dead comrades on Sunday, four more were reported to have been killed.

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, warned all Britons in Syria that the scale of violence was so grave they should leave immediately or risk not being able to leave "at all" as the turmoil worsened.

Western governments were coming under growing scrutiny for their divergent policies towards Libya and Syria, where more than 300 people have been shot dead since unrest began five weeks ago.

Critics complained that while the West has been comparatively quick to go to the aid of the Libyan people, Syrians struggling against one of the Middle East's most repressive regimes had largely been abandoned to their fate. "The international community has failed so far to protect the people of Syria from wide-scale human rights violations," Wilder Taylor, the ICJ's secretary-general, said.

Syria has deployed many of the same tactics used by Col Gaddafi in Libya, with unarmed protesters facing live fire by both the security forces and loyalist militiamen and snipers.

But many Western officials have been reluctant to criticise Mr Assad too harshly, even though his regime has long been treated as a near pariah. » | Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Sunday, April 24, 2011

Bashar al-Assad is a brutal dictator who should be brought to justice. He is a man with a smiling face but an iron fist. Pursue him for the brutality he has visited upon his own innoocent people.

It is high time that the USA, UK, and the rest of the West stopped pursuing hypocritical foreign policies all for the sake of oil. It is high time that we in the West had more ethical foreign policies, and paid the ultimate price if that indeed need be. Westerners will never be liked in the Arab, oil-producing world whilst we pursue these nonsensical, hypocritical policies for our own ends. Little wonder the Arabs in the street despise Americans in particular, and Westerners in general! What use is it to try and “win hearts and minds” with initiatives whilst innocent people are dying in their hundreds, nay thousands?

Innocent Muslims have suffered enough! Never will there be peace in the world whilst hypocrisy rules supreme. Never!

How can it make sense to talk the talk, but not walk the walk? How can it make sense to talk up democracy for one oppressed people, but at the same time ignore repression and brutality in countries like Bahrain and Syria? We fight on the side of rebels in Libya, yet ignore the plight of Bahrainis and Syrians. Go figure! Talk about inconsistency! There you have it! – © Mark

Vers une procédure pénale internationale contre Kadhafi ?
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: L’ONG Avocats sans frontières (ASF) a enquêté auprès de victimes des forces du colonel Moummar Kadhafi. Elle évoque des "crimes contre l’humanité et crimes de guerre à grande échelle" dont elle va informer la Cour pénale internationale. [E]

Torture, exécutions sommaires, massacres, boucliers humains, utilisation de bombes à sous-munitions: les témoignages des violences infligées ces dernières semaines par le pouvoir libyen à la population sont multiples, estime l’avocat français Philippe Moriceau, vice-président d’ASF France.

A Benghazi et sa région, dans l’est de la Libye, les forces de Kadhafi avaient rapidement progressé mi-mars, jusqu’à entrer dans la ville de 700.000 habitants le 19 mars. Des dizaines de chars et des centaines de soldats loyalistes avaient tenu la cité 24 heures, avant d’être chassés par les bombardements aériens occidentaux et la contre-offensive rebelle. » | AFP | Vendredi 22 Avril 2011

Saudis Liken Gaza Assault to Nazi War Crimes
IC PUBLICATIONS: Saudi Arabia on Sunday compared Israel's deadly assault on the Gaza Strip to Nazi war crimes as Yemen called for trying Israeli officials at the International Criminal Court.

Saudi Arabia, which condemns the Israeli war crimes against the Palestinian people and the threats of Israeli officials to turn Gaza into an inferno, sees that Israel through its actions is copying the war crimes of the Nazis," an unidentified Saudi official told the official SPA news agency. Saudi likens Gaza assault to Nazi war crimes >>>

THE GUARDIAN:
A catastrophic turn of phrase: What did the Israeli minister mean when he talked of a 'shoah' befalling the Palestinians in Gaza? By Brian Klug

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