The International Criminal Court has unsealed arrest warrants for six men allegedly linked to a brutal Libyan militia responsible for multiple killings and other crimes in a strategically important western town where mass graves were discovered in 2020.
Libya has been in turmoil since the NATO-backed uprising that overthrew and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Since then, the country has been divided between rival administrations in the east and west, each supported by militias and foreign governments.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan stated that evidence gathered in the investigation indicates that residents of Tarhunah have been victims of war crimes including murder, cruel treatment, torture, sexual violence, and rape. The court has unsealed warrants for six suspects: Abdelrahim al-Kani, Makhlouf Douma, Nasser al-Lahsa, Mohammed Salheen, Abdelbari al-Shaqaqi, and Fathi al-Zinkal.
Three of the suspects were identified as leaders or senior members of the Al Kaniyat militia that controlled Tarhunah from at least 2015 to June 2020, while the other three were Libyan security officials associated with the militia during the alleged crimes. Warrants for four suspects were issued in April 2023 and two more in July of the same year but were previously kept under seal.
The mass graves were discovered in Tarhunah after the militia withdrew following a failed 14-month campaign by military commander Khalifa Hifter to take control of Tripoli from militias allied with the former U.N.-recognised government. The ICC, lacking its own police force, relies on cooperation from its 124 member states to enforce arrest warrants.
Khan mentioned that the office is working closely with Libyan authorities to ensure the suspects face the charges in a court of law and is collaborating with court officials to facilitate their arrest. The ICC initiated an investigation in Libya in 2011 at the request of the U.N. Security Council. While arrest warrants were issued for former dictator Gadhafi and others, Gadhafi was killed before being detained for trial, and his son Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi remains wanted by the court.