ICC makes progress in investigating alleged war crimes in Libya

On Monday, the International Criminal Court received a declaration lodged by the Libyan government declaring the country’s acceptance of the ICC's jurisdiction with respect to alleged crimes in its territory from 2011 to the end of 2027.

ICC chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, was expected to brief the United Nations Security Council Thursday to detail the office’s 29th report which details findings from its’ investigation into crimes in Libya.

However, Khan was unable to make his appearance after being slapped by sanctions from President Donald Trump in February.

Despite obstacles such as the sanctions, the ICC noted that it had seen " an unprecedented six months of dynamism in our work in the situation in Libya".

The ICC notably issued its first public arrest warrant for crimes committed in detention facilities in Libya earlier this year.

"There is what can be described as a black box of suffering on the coast of the Mediterranean that nobody has wanted to open. A black box that contains the cries, the ongoing pain, as we speak, of some of the most vulnerable people in both the West and the East of the country", the statement by the ICC to the UN Security Council noted on the subject of Libyan detention facilities and potential crimes committed there.

Ambassador Christina Markus Lassen, the Permanent Representative of Denmark, commended the ICC prosecutor’s office for their work in Libya by highlighting the unsealed arrest warrants for alleged crimes and efforts to ensure that the voices of victims and survivors are heard.