ICC Prosecutor on unsealing of 6 arrest warrants in Libya

Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court has granted my Office’s request to unseal warrants of arrest against the following six Libyan nationals alleged to have committed Rome Statute crimes in Tarhunah:

Abdurahem Khalefa Abdurahem Elshgagi aka Abdurahem AL KANI
Makhlouf Makhlouf Arhoumah DOUMAH
Abdelbari Ayyad Ramadan AL SHAQAQI
Fathi Faraj Mohamed Salim AL ZINKAL
Nasser Muhammad Muftah DAOU
Mohamed Mohamed AL SALHEEN SALMI
Three of the six suspects were leaders and/or prominent members of the Al Kaniyat militia that controlled Tarhunah from at least 2015 to June 2020, when government forces ousted them from the city. Three other suspects were in the Libyan security sector and were associated with the Al Kaniyat militia at the time of the alleged crimes. Since June 2020, hundreds of bodies have been exhumed from mass graves in and around Tarhunah, allegedly victims of the Al Kaniyat militia.

The Chamber’s decision to issue and unseal these warrants is an important moment in our collective work to deliver justice and accountability for crimes committed in Libya pursuant to Security Council resolution 1970 (2011) and in line with the renewed strategy I presented to the Council in relation to this situation upon taking up my position as Prosecutor.

My Office applied for these warrants of arrest in November 2022 and April 2023 and the decisions to issue the arrest warrants were made in April and July 2023. The applications were filed and the decisions were issued confidentially or under seal in order to maximise arrest opportunities and to minimise risks to an ongoing criminal investigation. For that reason, no details of these warrants could be provided until this stage. It is now my view that arrest and surrender can be achieved most effectively through the unsealing of these warrants.

Through its investigations to date, the Office has received a wide range of credible information indicating that Tarhunah residents have been subjected to crimes amounting to war crimes, including murder, outrages upon personal dignity, cruel treatment, torture, sexual violence, and rape. In my visit to Tarhunah in 2022, I heard accounts of people kept in appalling and inhumane conditions, and saw farms and landfill sites that were turned into mass graves. I saw the courageous work of Libyan forensic experts seeking to excavate remains so that we can collectively deliver justice for victims. I heard from mothers who no longer wished to live in their homes due to the pain caused by the memories of their sons being taken from them before their eyes.

ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC and the Office of the Prosecutor’s Libya team visited Tarhunah, Libya in November 2022.

Pre-Trial Chamber I examined the six arrest warrant applications and the evidence and, by majority, was satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects have committed crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court and that the arrest of the suspects is necessary. These warrants of arrest underscore my commitment to significantly deepen the impact of our action in the Libya situation, and deliver on the mandate provided to us by the Security Council.

My Office is seeking to work closely with Libyan authorities so that these individuals can face the charges against them in a court of law, pursuant to United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1970(2011). My Office will also work closely with the Registrar to help secure the arrest of these individuals.

I would like to thank all victims who approached my Office and provided information to establish the truth. I applaud them for their courage and determination to seek accountability for such crimes. I would wish to underline to them that our work on Libya is continuing with considerable focus, in line with our renewed strategy for this situation.

As I noted in my recent statement to the United Nations Security Council, the Libya situation is a priority for my Office. Deepening our cooperation with national authorities in pursuit of accountability is one of the core principles at the heart of both the renewed strategy for the Libya investigation outlined in my UN Security Council Report in April 2022, and in my Office’s Policy Paper on Complementarity and Cooperation.

This message of cooperation, dynamic complementarity and accountability is one I and Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan have emphasised during our visits to Libya in 2022 and 2024, and during multiple bilateral meetings with Libyan authorities since 2022.

As we move towards the completion of the investigative phase of our activities at the end of 2025, we will continue to accelerate our work across the priority lines of inquiry outlined in my reports to the United Nations Security Council pursuant to Resolution 1970(2011).