In a sudden reversal from its commitment, the Libyan government has announced that it will not be handing over Libyan security official, Osama Najim al-Masri to the International Criminal Court. Osama Al-Masri was previously arrested in Italy and deported to Libya instead of being handed over to the ICC. Al-Masri has a pending arrest warrant against him by the ICC for crimes against humanity over widespread torture in Libya’s prisons and kidnaping. The ICC also started an investigation over the matter.
Libya’s Prime Minister made a verbal commitment to hand over Al-Masri to the ICC when he declared his commitment to clamp down against militias. In his public discourse, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah said that Al-Masri was being accused by the ICC of raping a 14-year old and this presence in Libya was no longer tolerated.
Libya’s prisons are run without judicial and institutional oversight, and are often used by armed militias and gangs as part of their criminal operations that include, kidnapping, torture and even murder.
The Libyan government has walked back on its commitment to hand over Al-Masri to the ICC despite its ongoing efforts to clamp down on armed militias and institutionalise the security forces.
Newsroom
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