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8523rd Security Council Meeting: Situation in Libya
With clashes continuing across Libya amid persisting impunity for war crimes, urgent action is needed to end the hostilities and ensure a return to negotiations on restoring peace and justice, the International Criminal Court’s Chief Prosecutor told the Security Council today.
“The status quo is not sustainable,” said Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, presenting the seventeenth report issued by her Office pursuant to resolution 1970 (2011). The current lack of accountability undermines respect for the rule of law and impedes progress towards stability and security in Libya, she added.
“In a country devastated by war and conflict, with great human suffering, it is past time for the protective embrace of the law to feel real and tangible to Libyans,” she emphasized. The Office of the Prosecutor aims to close the impunity gap. “Acting within our mandates, we share a joint burden and great responsibility in this regard for the sake of all Libyans and Libya,” she added, stressing: “We must not fail to deliver on that joint duty.”
Providing an update on cases against Said Al-Islam Qadhafi, Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled and Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf Al-Werfalli, she said the individuals remain at large, pointing out that executing warrants requires the full cooperation of the Council and all parties. Indeed, progress is hampered and confidence in the Court undermined when arrest warrants remain unexecuted year after year, she noted. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor’s Office continues to monitor the situation, paying close attention to conflict in and around Tripoli, where more than 50,000 people have been displaced and more than 400 killed since April, she said, adding that it is also gathering evidence of crimes against migrants, include rape and enslavement.
“Impunity for atrocity crimes is hardly conducive to bringing peace and stability to this war-torn country,” she said. “We are aware that, given the prevailing climate of impunity in Libya, there are people who see the International Criminal Court as their only hope to hold alleged perpetrators of atrocity crimes to account.”
With the floor open, many Council members condemned the recent spate of violence, expressing grave concerns about the deteriorating humanitarian situation and reiterating that all parties must return to negotiating a path towards peace. The United Kingdom’s representative stressed that it is as important as ever that the Council monitor developments in Libya and return to a United Nations-led political process.
Many speakers commended the International Criminal Court’s efforts, with France’s representative saying its role today is just as important as it was in the past. The Court must be able to carry out its prerogatives in an unfettered way, she said, emphasizing that any lasting peace requires justice for the victims. Echoing concerns about crimes against migrants, she said “these challenges cannot be overcome without the support of the Court and this Council”.
The representative of the United States cautioned that in bringing perpetrators to justice, “we must also be careful in recognizing the proper tools”. Underlining that the International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction over Member States that have not signed the Rome Statute, he said that does not, however, undermine the commitment of the United States to international law.
Expressing a different perspective, the Russian Federation’s representative said that despite the Chief Prosecutor’s briefings on the situation in Libya every six months for the past eight years, the Court has generated neither momentum nor results. The conflict has deep roots, beginning with a number of States which attempted to “bomb democracy” into the country, he recalled. The result was chaos, migration and rampant violence, which the International Criminal Court seems to have overlooked.
Libya’s representative, speaking on behalf of the country’s Foreign Minister, said the Government of National Accord is taking steps to protect its citizens and ensure justice is delivered. However, the current security conditions must be considered in terms of arresting individuals, he cautioned, pointing out that some of them are not even on Libyan territory. Nevertheless, the Government fully supports resolution 1970 (2011) and hopes the Council will place the situation in Libya at the top of its priority list in order to adopt a binding resolution to stop the hostilities and ensure that those who started the hostilities “go back where they came from”.
Also speaking today were representative of Kuwait, Dominican Republic, Germany, Peru, China, South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Belgium, Poland, Equatorial Guinea and Indonesia.
The meeting began at 3:05 p.m. and ended at 4:41 p.m.
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