Amnesty Claims it Has Evidence of War Crimes in Libya Amnesty International states it has evidence that parties involved in fighting in for Tripoli in Libya may have committed war crimes, by launching indiscriminate attacks and using inaccurate explosive weapons, thereby killing and harming many civilians. Forces loyal to Khalifa Hifter began attacks to capture Tripoli in April, fighting militias allied with the government. Amnesty International details a rocket attack near a city centre, an artillery attack in a civilian neighbourhood, and a rocket attack on a civilian house, and notes that airstrikes have targeted a school, hospitals, a migrant detention centre, and forced Tripoli’s one international airport to close.
Though Libya is not a State Party to the Rome Statute, the UN Security Council unanimously referred the situation in Libya to the ICC in 2011. Consequently, the ICC may exercise jurisdiction over crimes committed in Libya after the referral date of 15 February 2011. The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I found reasonable grounds to believe that there was a non-international armed conflict in Libya since at least March 2011, and charged several suspects with crimes against humanity and war crimes. The proceedings against Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi were withdrawn when he died, and those against Abdullah Al-Senussi were determined to be inadmissible before the ICC. (Washington Post)
Former KLA Commander summoned by Kosovo Specialist Chambers The Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) invited Azem Syla, a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), to The Hague for questioning. It is not yet known whether he is being questioned as a witness or as a possible suspect. Syla also served as a former Member of Parliament for the Democratic Party of Kosovo. Several other Kosovo Albanians have also been called to give interviews in The Hague.
The SPO has been probing killings, abductions, illegal detentions, sexual violence, and other crimes that may have been committed by KLA members during 1998 and 1999. A report published in 2010 alleged that former KLA commanders, including Azem Syla, ran organized criminal enterprises, including detention centres in Albania. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers will try those indicted by the SPO. Over 100 former KLA fighters and leaders have been invited for interviews during the past year. The first indictments are expected to be announced soon. (Balkan Insight; Gazeta Express)
Post by: Ryan Corbett
The post 24 October 2019 – Amnesty Claims it Has Evidence of War Crimes in Libya, and Former KLA Commander summoned by Kosovo Specialist Chambers appeared first on ICL Media Review.