Libya Arrest warrants published for suspected Libyan war criminals

More than four years after the discovery of mass graves in the Libyan city of Tarhuna, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued arrest warrants for six suspected war criminals. The Libyan nationals are accused of murder, violation of human dignity, cruel treatment, torture, sexual violence and rape, among other things, according to the ICC.

Three of them are said to have been leaders and prominent members of the Kanijat militia. According to the UN, the militia committed the most serious crimes against the civilian population in Tarhuna - around 90 kilometers southeast of Libya's capital Tripoli - between 2013 and 2022. Among the suspects wanted under arrest warrant is the militia leader Abdurahem al-Kani, who is considered one of the namesakes of the Kanijat.

The militia, notorious for its brutality, fought alongside General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) during the civil war following the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. With several thousand men, it had established itself in Tarhuna since 2013 and led a reign of terror for several years.

The three other suspects allegedly belonged to the Libyan security sector at the time and supported the Kanijat, explained ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan. Hundreds of bodies have been exhumed from mass graves in the militia's former territory since June 2020.

Chief Prosecutor Khan had requested the arrest warrants for the six suspects in November 2022. The ICC judges issued them in April and July 2023, but the identities of the suspects were initially kept under wraps for investigative reasons. Khan explained that the investigators have since come to the conclusion that the arrest and handover of the six suspects can be "most effectively supported by unsealing these arrest warrants". His office is working closely with the Libyan authorities.

SDA