Gender Report Card on the International Criminal ... - YWCA Canada

OTP Situations and Cases
On 16 May 2011, the ICC Prosecutor applied for
Arrest Warrants against Muammar Mohammed
Abu Minyar Gaddafi (Gaddafi), his son Saif Al-
Islam Gaddafi (Saif Al-Islam) and his brother-inlaw
Abdullah Al-Senussi (Al-Senussi). 936 On 27
June 2011, Pre-Trial Chamber I decided to issue
Arrest Warrants against Gaddafi, Saif Al-Islam
and Al-Senussi for crimes against humanity. 937
The Prosecutor’s application and the decision
issuing the Arrest Warrants are discussed in
detail, below.
Despite not including charges for rape and
other forms of sexual violence in his application
for Arrest Warrants, the Prosecutor has made
numerous public statements about rape. On 17
May 2011, he told reporters that ‘there’s some
information with Viagra. So, it’s like a machete,
[...] It’s new. Viagra is a tool of massive rape. So
we are investigating.’ 938 He confirmed that the
investigations into allegations of rape were
ongoing, but that it was difficult to know how
widespread the occurrence of rape was. 939 On 8
June 2011, the Prosecutor was interviewed by
the BBC, and reiterated that there was evidence
that Gaddafi ordered military agents to punish
women with rape in order to spread terror. 940 The
Prosecutor again said that some witnesses had
confirmed that the Gaddafi Regime had bought
containers of Viagra-type drugs to carry out the
936 ICC-01/11-4-RED.
937 ICC-01/11-12; ICC-01/11-13; ICC-01/11-14; and ICC-
01/11-15.
938 ‘ICC to investigate reports of Viagra-fueled gang-rapes
in Libya’, CNN, 17 May 2011, available at , last visited on 2 November 2011.
939 ‘Libya: Gaddafi investigated over use of rape as weapon’,
BBC News, 8 June 2011, available at , last visited on 27
October 2011.
940 ‘Libya: Gaddafi investigated over use of rape as weapon’,
BBC News, 8 June 2011, available at , last visited on 27
October 2011.
policy and to ‘enhance the possibility of rape’. 941
He indicated that the charge of rape might be
added to the case following the issuance of
Arrest Warrants.
On 29 June 2011, the Prosecutor and the Head
of the Executive Council of the Interim National
Council (INC) in Libya, Mahmoud Jibril, met
in The Hague. 942 The Prosecutor stressed the
importance of implementing Security Council
Resolution 1970 and executing the Arrest
Warrants against Gaddafi, Al-Islam and Al-
Senussi. The arrest of Saif Al-Islam by the NTC
was widely reported in August 2011, and on 22
August the Prosecutor publicly confirmed that
his transfer to The Hague was being discussed. 943
However, on 23 August Saif Al-Islam made a
public appearance in Tripoli surrounded by
supporters, and reportedly said ‘screw the
criminal court’ when asked about the ICC
arrest warrants. 944 The ICC then retracted the
Prosecutor’s prior statements and said that it
had never received confirmation of his arrest. 945
941 ‘Libya: Gaddafi investigated over use of rape as weapon’,
BBC News, 8 June 2011, available at , last visited on 27
October 2011.
942 ‘Head of the Executive Committee of the INC-Libya
Mahmoud Jibril meets with the ICC Prosecutor’, Press
Release ICC Website, available at , last
visited on 27 October 2011.
943 ‘ICC confirms that Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi has been
arrested in Libya’, Hague Justice Portal, 22 August 2011,
available at , last visited on 17
November 2011.
944 ‘Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam is free’, The Guardian, 23
August 2011, available at , last
visited on 17 November 2011.
945 ‘After public appearance, ICC says Seif al-Islam’s
“arrest” was never confirmed’, Al Arabiya News, 23
August 2011, available at , last visited on 17
November 2011. The ICC’s public statements regarding
the reported arrest of Saif Al-Islam are no longer publicly
available on the ICC’s website, as of 17 November 2011.
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