A Blog on International Justice
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has appeared in court today, charged with attempting to escape from the jail in which he has been held since he was arrested in November 2011. Libyan prosecutor accuses Gaddafi of conspiring to break out of his detention last year, in the western mountain [...]
In a recent article published on the Opinio Juris blog, Kevin Jon Heller discussed the latest development in the Libyan government’s ongoing admissibility challenge in the case of Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi. Heller critically discusses Libya’s recent request to the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber to disclose evidence supporting its admissibility challenge on an ex parte basis. The [...]
The International Criminal Court (ICC) held its first public hearing in the case of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. One of Gaddafi’s lawyers, Melinda Taylor, has warned the ICC its reputation would be harmed if it allows a trial inside Libya. Ms Taylor was speaking at a hearing that will ultimately decide whether Gadhafi is tried in [...]
Deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s intelligence chief was extradited to Libya from Mauritania on Wednesday. Senussi was sent back to Libya six months after being arrested at Nouakchott airport in Mauritania after flying in from Morocco. He was disguised as a Tuareg chieftain and was carrying a fake passport. He fled Libya after last year’s [...]
Yesterday, Melinda Taylor, one of the four International Criminal Court (ICC) staff members detained for 26 days in Zintan by the Libyan authorities, gave a press conference where she declared that a fair trial cannot be granted to the son of deposed Libyan dictator Moamar Gaddafi. The ICC has indicted Saif al-Islam Gaddafi for crimes [...]
The four staff members from the International Criminal Court (ICC) held by a militia in Zintan, Libya, have been released. It was announced by the court’s president, Sang-Hyun Song, during a visit to Libya. The four, including Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor, have been held in Zintan since June 7 after travelling there to help prepare Saif al-Islam [...]
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court presented his third report to the Security Council on Libya on 16 May. The report briefly described the background to the conflict, outlining abuses committed by both pro and anti-Gaddafi forces during and following the conflict, as well as attempts by the Libyan government to bring to justice [...]
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi died at the age of 60. He was the only person convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing which caused 270 casualties. He died of cancer at his home in Tripoli. Al-Megrahi was convicted by a special court in the Netherlands in 2001 in relation to the midair explosion of Pan Am [...]
Following on from previous Amnesty International’s calls for an investigation into the NATO airstrikes on Libya, Human Rights Watch issued a report entitled ‘Unacknowledged Deaths: Civilian Casualties in NATO’s Air Campaign in Libya’. In the report, published on 14 March 2012, HRW documents the civilian casualties suffered at the hands of the NATO bombing campaign [...]
by Akshaya Kumar This Wednesday, May 9, Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL) delivered an open letter signed by over 60 members of Libyan civil society to the National Transitional Council (NTC), the country’s interim governing body. The letter demands the repeal of two pieces of legislation and the amendment of a third, arguing that the NTC’s [...]
Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi (Source: Rex Features) The Libyan government has officially requested that the International Criminal Court abandon its case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the former Libyan leader. In an application to the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber, the Libyan government asked that the case be considered inadmissible on the grounds that the Libyan criminal [...]
On 25 April 2012, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has dismissed as inadmissible the Appeal of the Government of Libya against the Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision to reject the second postponement request of the Libyan authorities concerning the surrender of Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi to the ICC. In his Appeal, the Government of [...]
تم نشرالعدد الأول من الرسالة الإخبارية ل «محامون من أجل العدالة في ليبيا» في ٢٥ أبريل تحت إشراف مديرة التحرير إلهام السعودي. هذه الرسالة الإخبارية تبرزمقالة بقلم المحامية أمل علم الدين المتخصصة في القانون الجنائي الدولي، تدرس فيها السؤال المثير للجدل وهو: هل يلزم محاكمة سيف الإسلام القذافي في المحكمة الجنائية الدولية أم في المحاكم الليبية؟ [...]
The ongoing dispute between the ICC and the Libyan authorities over who will try Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the former Libyan leader, continued this week during a visit by the ICC prosecutor to Libya. The Prosecutor reiterated that the Libyan government has to make a case to the international court that it can conduct fair [...]
Former UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw might face civil proceedings for his role in the rendition of Libyan military commander Abdel Hakim Belhadj. Mr Belhadj is today a powerful member of the transitional government in Tripoli. Before the civil war, however, he was among the most prominent opponents of the Gaddafi regime, which accused him [...]
Today, the Government of Libya has filed an appeal against the decision of the ICC Appeals Chamber of 4 April 2012. In this decision, the Chamber rejected the second postponement request of the Libyan authorities concerning the surrender of Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi to the International Criminal Court. In its appeal, the Government of Libya submits it is still [...]
According to Human Rights Watch, the leaders of the Libyan city of Misrata could be held criminally responsible for ongoing serious crimes by forces under their command, including before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. This would be consistent with the UN Commission of Inquiry’s conclusion that militias from Misrata had apparently committed crimes [...]
A document filed by the ICC defence office that has recently been unsealed describes the visit to Saif Gaddafi by members of the ICC which took place on 3 March 2012. According to the document, which was filed on 5 March but only recently made available to the public, Mr Gaddafi is detained in a [...]
The International Criminal Court has refused to allow Libya to postpone surrendering Saif Al Islam Gaddafi to The Hague. In a decision issued today, the Court rejected Libya’s application to postpone transfer and “reiterates its request that Libya … proceed immediately with the surrender of Mr Gaddafi to the Court”. The Court made it clear [...]
Date: 26 April 2012 Time: 7:00PM – 8:30PM Address: Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, London, W2 1QJ What is this event about? Channel 4 News‘ international editor Lindsey Hilsum will be discussing Libya and her new book charting the country’s history from the beginnings of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime to the dictator’s squalid end. Sandstorm, Libya in the Time of Revolution is an [...]
Amnesty International published a report titled ‘Libya – The Forgotten Victims of NATO Strikes’ concerning the military campaign launched in March 2011 against Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi’s Libya. In the months that followed, dozens of civilians were killed in NATO airstrikes on private homes in residential and rural areas where no evidence of military objectives was found. [...]
The former head of Military Intelligence under Colonel Gaddafi, who is wanted on charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, has reportedly been arrested at Mauritania’s Nouakchott airport. Senussi allegedly arrived on a regular flight from Casablanca in Morocco carrying a fake passport. This is not the first time there [...]
In an address to the US House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Non-Proliferation and Trade on 7 March 2012, Ambassador-at-Large Stephen J. Rapp proposed to extend the War Crimes Rewards Program. The Program provides for payments of up to $2 million to be made for useful information leading to arrests of absconding suspects of international [...]
The advance version of the official report of the Commission of Inquiry to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law in Libya has just been uploaded on to the OHCHR website. The Commission was mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate human rights violation in Libya. The final version of the report [...]
by Amal Alamuddin iLawyer Amal Alamuddin has written an article entitled ”Does Libya have to Surrender Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi to The Hague?” for the NGO Lawyers for Justice in Libya (LFJL). The article is available here and will also be published in English and Arabic in LFJL’s forthcoming March newsletter. Share this: