GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Saadi Qadaffi, who fled to Niger, is contesting Interpol’s arrest warrant for him, after earlier dismissing charges of misappropriating funds. His lawyer said Tuesday 2 November that he is challenging the basis of the Interpol warrant, saying it is politically motivated by a new leadership that lacks legitimacy.
The news comes three days after the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, that the presumed heir to the Qddafi regime in Libya, Saif Al-Islam, said it fears Saif Al-Islam, once the presumed heir to the Qaddafi reign, is trying to escape from Libya to Niger with the help of mercenaries, although he is also reported to be asking questions about what will happen to him if he turns himself in. to face prosecutoin by the ICC.
Muammar Qaddafi’s other children have taken refuge in Algeria. They include Hannibal, who provoked a diplomatic row between Libya and Switzerland.
THE HAGUE – The International Criminal Court in The Hague has asked Interpol to issue Red Notices for three Libyan leaders for whom arrest warrants were issued in June: Muammar Qaddafi, Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi. The three are wanted on charges of suspected crimes against humanity, murder and torture.
The ICC’s prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced the measure 8 September, saying that arresting Qaddafi “is a matter of time”.
An Interpol Red Notice seeks the provisional arrest of a wanted person with a view to extradition or surrender to an international court based on an arrest warrant or court decision, the ICC notes in a statement. Interpol, which has in the past year taken a number of steps to increase the effectiveness of the Red Notice system, says “Red Notices, issued at the request of any of the organization’s 188 member countries or an international tribunal for wanted international fugitives, are the most famous of Interpol’s series of colour-coded notices since their creation by Interpol in 1946. Red Notices are not international arrest warrants; they are aimed at circulating internationally a national arrest warrant or judicial decision concerning a wanted fugitive.”
Some 5,000 Red Notices are issued annually.
They have been used to help track down terrorists since 2005 when the Interpol-United Nations Security Council Special Notice was created following the passage of a UN Security Council resolution, to help the UN Security Council’s 1267 Committee carry out its mandate covering the freezing of assets, travel bans and arms embargos aimed at individuals and entities associated or belonging to al Qaeda and the Taliban.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Two of the sons of Muammar Qadaffi are under arrest as rebels take over the city of Tripoli, in Libya Monday 22 August. But the man who led the country for more than 40 years has not yet been found and fighting rages on Monday morning around the Qadaffi compound in the city. The ICC has confirmed that Muammar Qadaffi’s son Saif Al-Islam, for whom it issued an arrest warrant 27 June, has been arrested. He is president of the Qadaffi International Charity and Development Foundation, a foundation registered under Swiss law.
Breaking news from Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN, Guardian, International Criminal Court/ICC
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Canadian Philippe Kirsch from Quebec, an international law expert and former judge on an International Criminal Court, reportedly has been named the arbitrator in an ongoing dispute between Switzerland and Libya.
Reuters published the news Tuesday 15 February, based on Libya reports from the foreign ministry office there.
Switzerland’s foreign affairs office has declined Swiss media requests to confirm the news.
Two previous names suggested by the countries failed to gain the approval of both: Briton Elizabeth Wilmshurst and Indian Sreenivasa Pammaraju.
The two countries agreed in August 2009 to set up an arbitration panel to resolve a series of differences that arose in the wake of the Geneva arrest of Libyan Hannibal Qadaffi, son of the country’s leader.
Two men held hostage in Libya were part of the dispute between Switzerland and Libya
They formalized the decision to have a panel in June 2010, agreeing to find an arbitor within 30 days and to resolve the dispute within 60 days.
Background, GenevaLunch
Links to other sites: Reuters, swissinfo, World Radio Geneva
International sports, cricket
Doha, Qatar, (GenevaLunch)- The Anti-Corruption Tribunal of the International Cricket Council (ICC) handed out long bans to the three Pakistani players involved in spot-fixing during the 2010 Tests against England, 5 February. Captain Salman Butt was banned for 10 years, five of which are suspended. Mohammad Asif for seven years, two suspended, and Mohammad Amir for five years.
The charges include deliberately bowling “no-balls,” the equivalent of foot faults, and allowing “maiden overs” in which the batsman does not score any runs.
The cheating was linked to a massive betting scam, uncovered by UK tabloid The News of the World. Some cricketers have said the trio should have been banned for life but there is also some sympathy for 18-year-old fast bowler Mohammad Amir, who looked one of the best young players before the scandal broke.
The trio, along with agent Mazhar Majeed are also likely to face criminal charges of corruption.
Links to other sites: Yahoo Cricket, Times of India, Telegraph
Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations has gone on the attack to deflect multiple charges against his government. Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad told CNN (programme will air 9 December) that his country will never hand over its president, Omar al-Bashir, to the International Criminal Court in The Hague where he is accused of war crimes. The ambassador lashes out in the TV interview at other criticisms of his country, which range from the opposition party saying it is corrupt to some US senators calling for an investigation into whether the country has an ongoing genocide. Sudan’s civil war nominally ended in 2005, but the number of deaths from violence in Darfur as well as other areas remains high. The ambassador 23 November called for UN peacekeepers to leave his country, following a UN report and criticism from Ban Ki-moon. The fighting in Darfur is over, according to the ambassador, but Aljazeera reports that concerns are growing over elections in April 2010.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, CNN, Voice of America
Johannesburg, South Africa (GenevaLunch) – New Zealand beat Pakistan by five wickets in their semi-final to set up a contest with Australia for the ICC champions trophy. Pakistan’s batsmen never really got going and only reached their modest total of 233 for nine, thanks to a half century by Umar Akmal and a late flourish by the tail enders.
South Africa (GenevaLunch) – The English batsmen put on a rare display as they beat South Africa in the ICC Champions Trophy. Andrew Strauss won the toss and decided to bat but lost the opening batsmen quickly. Owais Shah (98) and Paul Collingwood (82) then gradually took control and Eoin Morgan added 67 in just 34 balls. England reached an impressive 323 for 8: the second highest score in the tournament’s history.
The UK government is reviewing its policy for people entering or transiting the country, and some individuals suspected of being involved in violence in the wake of Kenya’s elections in December 2007 may be on the list of those banned. Some 20 people have been refused entry since 2006, UK High Commissioner to Kenya, Robert Macaire, told a press conference Tuesday 4 August. “We are looking at our policy to conform to the global policy not to allow people who incite to violence from entering our country,” His comments followed a meeting with Kenya’s immigration minister. Macaire says most of those banned are business people who are suspects in corruption cases.
According to AllAfrica/DailyNation, his remarks come “in the wake of heightened activity” at the ICC (International Criminals Court) in The Hague, as it reviews the report of Kenya’s Waki Commission, which investigated the violence.
Geneva, Switzerland (Tribune de Geneve, Fre) – The man who shot his boss, then killed himself in the ICC building near the airport, worked for a private security company, Sigma. Police are seeking a motive for the crime.
Geneva, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – A 47-year-old man who lived in France has died after shooting his 62-year-old boss in the head Tuesday 14 April, then turning his gun on himself. The head of the consulting and advisory company is in hospital, but doctors have not commented on his chances of recovering. The incident took place near the airport at the ICC (International Center Cointrin) where the company is located.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, although, reports the BBC, it “stopped short of accusing [him] of genocide” and AllAfrica, which carries several articles on the arrest, says two of the three judges who ruled on the warrant refused to consider genocide charges. The Sudanese leader reportedly called the decision worthless. He is the first sitting head of state to be charged by the ICC.
Months of wrangling behind it, the first International Criminal Court (ICC) case opens in The Hague, to try Thomas Lubanga Dyilo for recruiting and enlisting children under the age of 15 in his FPLC militia between September 2002 and August 2003 to perpetrate the war in the DR Congo. This is also the first time under international law that victims will participate fully in a trial. The ICC was established in 1998 by a treaty signed by 108 countries. It “is an independent, permanent court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. . . It is a court of last resort.” Related: BBC
