Libya (S/PV.7059)

Security Council 7959th meeting on the situation in Libya in regards to the ICC (S/PV.7059), took place on 14 November 2013.

The ICC Prosecutor Ms. Fatou Bensouda briefed the Council on Libya during Security Council meeting S/PV.7059 on 14 November 2013, with

responding remarks from Security Council Member States and Libya. The Prosecutor’s statement focused on the volatile security situation,

the thousands of detainees that remained in uncertain conditions with allegations of torture and killings, tensions around the Tawergha

minority issue, the positive development which took place in the draft law that made rape during armed conflict a war crime in Libya, and

especially the invocation of complementarity in both the Al-Senussi and Al-Qadhafi cases, with the ICC finding the Al-Senussi case

inadmissible and the Al-Qadhafi case admissible before the ICC, and the Prosecutor’s subsequently called for Libya to hand over Saif Al-Islam

Al-Qadhafi to the ICC. The ICC also signed a burden-sharing memorandum of understanding with Libya, whose purpose was to facilitate a

collaborative effort to bring individuals to justice at the ICC or Libya.

The ICC Prosecutor and several Security Council Member States – including France, Guatemala, the UK and the USA – made reference to

women, peace and security concerns. Ms. Bensouda and the representatives from France and the USA welcomed the draft law that would

make rape during armed conflict a war crime in Libya, while Guatemala and the UK acknowledged the investigations into gender crimes and

called for accountability.

Although there were several references to the investigations into gender-based crimes and the need for accompanying justice and

accountability, the briefing missed the opportunity to highlight the broader women, peace and security agenda as it related to the rule of

law reform in Libya. In this regard, the Prosecutor touched upon security sector reform, torture, detention and transitional justice, but

brought no gender perspective to these considerations. Further, although the draft law that would make rape during armed conflict a war

crime in Libya was a welcomed development, there was no attention given to the fact that rape is a narrow categorization that may have

effectively excluded other forms of sexual- and gender-based violence.

The June MAP on the situation in Libya (June 2013) was not specific to the ICC, and so did not directly parallel this briefing in content.

However, the June MAP did call for accountability for serious and ongoing crimes, as well as effective protection of human rights (including

for detainees) and guarantees of non-discrimination. In response, the Prosecutor’s briefings (and subsequent Member States’ responses)

touched upon these issues broadly, and the Prosecutor and several Member States highlighted gender crimes specifically. However, the

briefing did not address women, peace and security concerns otherwise.

The previous briefing by the ICC Prosecutor on Libya, S/PV.6962, also included statements from Member States France, Guatemala, UK and

USA on sexual- or gender-based crimes and the ICC’s respondent investigations. However, unlike the current briefing, the previous briefing

also included statements on gender-based crimes by Azerbaijan, Argentina, Luxembourg, and Togo.