[Debate] "Libya's failure to hand over Gaddafi son must be referred to UN, says ICC counsel"

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Is there anything "revolutionary" about this picture or about anything
else reported in MSM about Libya today?

<http://bit.ly/IS0wHI>
Libya's failure to hand over Gaddafi son must be referred to UN, says
ICC counsel
Xavier-Jean Keïta's call for formal complaint follows inadvertent
release of scathing report on treatment of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi

Chris Stephen
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 April 2012 12.34 EDT

The chief defence counsel of the international criminal court has
called on the court to make a formal complaint to the UN about Libya's
failure to hand over war crimes suspect Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

Xavier-Jean Keïta said on Thursday that patience with the Tripoli
authorities, who have held Gaddafi in isolation for four months, has
been exhausted.

"Libyan authorities have also been cautioned of the consequences of
non-co-operation, but have taken no steps to commence the
implementation of Mr Gaddafi's surrender," said Keïta.

He recommended the move after highly critical reports were released by
the ICC accusing Libya's government of obstructing court officials.

Libya said this week it will try Gaddafi, 39, for "murder, rape and
torture" on home soil.

But the ICC, which has charged the second son of the late Muammar
Gaddafi with war crimes and crimes against humanity, is concerned he
will not get a fair trial in Tripoli. Those charges have primacy under
international law.

Last week the ICC's defence counsel accused Libya of manipulation in
its dealings with the court, saying he was told by Tripoli officials
that Gaddafi would be tried not for war crimes but for "alleged
failure to have licences for two camels, and cleaning of fish farms".

On Wednesday The Hague court inadvertently released a scathing report
in which a senior registrar who interviewed Gaddafi, being held by
militia in the mountain town of Zintan, said there was evidence of
torture.

The report, which judges withdrew two hours after they posted it on
the ICC website, said the registrar was unable to meet Gaddafi alone
in his cell, with a Libyan prosecutor insisting on being present. Only
when the official briefly left the room was Gaddafi able to speak
freely.

"The registry representative quickly asked the suspect how he was and
whether he was mistreated," she wrote. "His attitude changed from
relaxed to intense and without saying a word he waved the hand where
two fingers were missing and pointed to a missing tooth in the upper
front of his dentition."

ICC rules state that a suspect must be handed over to The Hague court
for trial, unless a government can demonstrate it can hold fair
proceedings on home soil.

Libya says it will present a request for a home trial by 30 April, but
the justice minister, Ali Khalifa Ashur, said last weekend that
Gaddafi's trial would start before that date and would be finished
before elections scheduled for June.

"It is clear that the ICC will not be in a position to render its
decision on the admissibility of the case until after Mr Gaddafi has
been tried, and potentially sentenced and executed," wrote Keita.

Amnesty International has complained that Libya's justice system is
"virtually paralysed" and unable to hold a fair trial.

A referral to the UN security council, if ordered, would represent a
show of strength for the court as it struggles to assert its
authority.

It also takes the ICC into uncharted territory.

In the past, the UN and EU have ordered sanctions against Serbia and
Croatia for failure to hand over war crimes suspects.
-- 
Yoshie Furuhashi
<http://mrzine.org/>