Court Rules Ex-Intelligence Chief Can Be Tried at Home
New York, July 24, 2014 – An International Criminal Court (ICC) decision approving Libya’s bid to prosecute former
intelligence chief Abdullah Sanussi comes down amid a near breakdown of
Libya’s judicial system, Human Rights Watch said today.
Sanussi is
currently on trial in Libya for, among other charges, serious crimes related to
his alleged role in trying to suppress the country’s 2011 uprising, though the
proceeding against him raises serious due process concerns.
On July 24, 2014, an ICC appeals chamber upheld an earlier pretrial
chamber decision that held Sanussi's case was “inadmissible” and
that Libya could therefore prosecute him domestically for the crimes outlined
in the ICC’s arrest warrant. The higher chamber rejected Sanussi’s
appeal and upheld the pretrial chamber, finding that Libya had
demonstrated that it was investigating the same case as the one before the ICC
and able and willing genuinely to carry out an investigation. The decision is
final and no further appeal is available.
“The Sanussi decision comes out at a
time when the challenges facing Libya’s justice system continue to mount at an
alarming pace,” said Richard Dicker, international justice director at
Human Rights Watch. “Libya has done little to provide Sanussi with basic due
process rights, like thousands of others detained across the country who remain
without any meaningful access to a lawyer.”
On October 24, a Libyan judge charged Sanussi, Saif
al-Islam Gaddafi, a son of Muammar Gaddafi who is also an ICC suspect, and 35
others with serious crimes during the 2011 uprising, and ordered the case sent
to trial. The trial began on March 24 in a specially designated
courtroom in Al-Hadba Corrections Facility in Tripoli. Subsequent trial
sessions took place on April 14, April 27, May 11, May 25, and June 22. The
next session is scheduled for August 18.
A recent Human Rights Watch investigation revealed that Libya has failed to grant Sanussi basic due process
rights. On January 23, Human Rights Watch interviewed Sanussi in Al-Hadba Corrections Facility, where he
is detained. Sanussi told Human Rights Watch that he had not had access to a
lawyer of his
choosing and described multiple interrogation sessions without legal counsel.
Sanussi said he had not had the chance to review the evidence against him.
Human Rights Watch has reported on the challenges
facing the Libyan judicial system, particularly the government’s inability to gain
control over all detainees in militia-run facilities, including Saif al-Islam
Gaddafi. Other challenges include the abuse of detainees in custody, officials’
failure to give them access to lawyers, and the lack of judicial reviews of
their cases. These issues weigh heavily on Libya’s ability to ensure that the
fundamental rights of defendants, including Sanussi, are respected, Human
Rights Watch said.
Throughout 2013, there were reports
of threats and physical attacks on lawyers, prosecutors and judges in parts of
Libya. Human Rights Watch has documented such attacks by militias and
unidentified people in Benghazi, Derna, Zawiyah, and Misrata. At least four
judges and prosecutors were among the dozens of victims of seemingly politically motivated assassinations in 2013 by unidentified
assailants. Unidentified assailants also attacked courthouses in various
regions. On February 8, unidentified people assassinated Libya’s former general
prosecutor, Abdelaziz al-Hasadi, in the eastern city of Derna.
The current escalation in violence in Libya risks
derailing the country’s fragile transition even further, Human Rights Watch
said. The violence includes fighting between rival militias around Tripoli
International Airport in recent weeks, which media reports said left numerous
dead as well as dozens injured. The precarious security environment has led the
United Nations and other international organizations and businesses to
temporarily withdraw staff from Libya.
Under article 19(10) of the ICC
treaty, the court’s prosecutor may ask the ICC judges to review a finding of
inadmissibility if she is fully satisfied that new facts have surfaced that
negate the basis of the court's original ruling on the matter.
On May 21, the same ICC appeals chamber confirmed an earlier decision rejecting Libya’s separate bid to prosecute
Saif-al-Islam Gaddafi in Tripoli. However, Libya has failed to turn Gaddafi over to the ICC, despite an
outstanding obligation to surrender him to the court. On July 11, an ICC
chamber noted that Libya's obligation to turn Gaddafi over to The Hague has
been outstanding for over a year and indicated that the court may take further action to ensure
Libya’s cooperation.
Article 87
of the ICC treaty permits the court to issue a finding of non-cooperation.
Because the ICC has jurisdiction in Libya as a result of a Security Council
referral, such a finding would be sent to the Security Council for follow-up.
The Security Council then has a range of options, including resolutions,
sanctions, and presidential statements. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly
called on Libya to surrender Gaddafi to the ICC.
“As the country enters another month of chaos,
where judges, lawyers and prosecutors are being killed, it’s hard to imagine
that Libya can hold any fair trial, much less a trial of this sensitivity and
significance,” Dicker said. “We look to the ICC prosecutor to closely follow
Sanussi’s case and to ask the court to revisit the ruling if necessary.”
For more Human Rights Watch reporting
on Libya, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/middle-eastn-africa/libya
For more Human Rights
Watch reporting on Libya and the ICC, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/international-justice/232
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