The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) yesterday announced a preliminary probe of possible crimes against humanity committed in Libya, after a referral by the UN.
“The office is currently assessing allegations of widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population,” prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told journalists in The Hague.
“The office of the prosecutor has now to decide whether an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed in Libya since Feb. 15, 2011, should be opened,” he said.
The UN Security Council on Saturday referred the situation in Libya to the court, saying “the widespread and systematic attacks currently taking place against the civilian population may amount to crimes against humanity.”
The unrest has killed at least 1,000 people and set off a “humanitarian emergency,” the UN refugee agency UNHCR said.
Meanwhile, the West moved to send its first concrete aid to Libya’s rebellion in the east of the country, hoping to give it the momentum to oust Qaddafi. However, his regime clamped down in its stronghold in the capital.
Qaddafi’s opponents, including mutinous army units, hold about the entire eastern half of the country, much of the oil infrastructure and some cities in the West. Qaddafi is dug in in Tripoli and nearby cities, backed by better armed security forces and militiamen.
In the capital, there were attempts to restore aspects of normalcy, residents said. Many stores downtown reopened and traffic in the streets increased. Long lines were formed outside banks by Libyans wanting to receive the equivalent of US$400 per family that Qaddafi pledged in a bid to shore up public loyalty.
In Paris, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said yesteday that France was sending two planes with humanitarian aid to Benghazi, the opposition stronghold in eastern Libya. The planes would leave “in a few hours” for Benghazi with doctors, nurses, medicines and medical equipment, he said.
“It will be the beginning of a massive operation of humanitarian support for the populations of liberated territories,” he said on RTL radio.
Germany has proposed an international freeze on all payments to Libya for 60 days to deprive Qaddafi of the means of “oppressing the people,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said during a special meeting of the UN Human Rights Council.
“We must do all we can to end this killing, for example by not allowing the dictator fresh money to hire foreign soldiers,” he said.
The EU also slapped its own arms embargo, visa ban, freeze on assets and other sanctions on Qaddafi’s regime yesterday.
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