(New York) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s upcoming briefing to the United Nations Security Council on Libya highlights the court’s critical role to deliver justice in the country amid ongoing efforts to undermine its global mandate, Human Rights Watch said today. On May 15, 2025, the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, will provide his biannual briefing to the Security Council on his office’s investigation in Libya.
The briefing is taking place in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order on February 6, 2025, that authorizes sanctions targeting the court’s work. The Security Council referred the situation in Libya to the first ICC prosecutor on February 26, 2011, mere days after the start of the revolution that ousted Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi. The prosecutor’s office opened the investigation on March 3, 2011.
“The ICC’s role in Libya is critical to bring justice in the face of more than a decade of unchecked abuses by armed groups and quasi-security forces,” said Balkees Jarrah, acting Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “ICC members on the Security Council and beyond should reaffirm their support for the court and condemn any attempts to hamper its essential work.”
In November 2023, Khan announced that his office intended to complete its investigative activities in Libya by the end of 2025, meaning that it would not seek additional arrest warrants after that date. Civil society organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have raised concerns about this timeline. They have cited the ongoing lack of effective cooperation with the ICC by the Libyan authorities, lack of credible domestic prosecutions for serious crimes that continue to be committed across Libya with impunity, and the absence of international oversight following the end of the mandate of the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya in March 2023.
The Security Council resolution referring the situation of Libya to the ICC prosecutor requires Libyan authorities to cooperate with the ICC. That includes arresting and surrendering anyone wanted by the court who is in Libya. Without its own police force, the ICC relies on states to enforce its arrest warrants.
The ICC has issued arrest warrants against 12 individuals in relation to the Libya situation. These cases relate to crimes allegedly committed during the 2011 revolution, crimes related to the 2014-2020 hostilities in Libya, and crimes in detention facilities, including against migrants. Three of the people wanted by the court have since died and eight remain at large. ICC judges declared the case against Abdullah Al-Senussi, former intelligence chief under Gaddafi, inadmissible before the court.
Consecutive interim authorities and governments in Libya have failed to arrest and surrender ICC suspects on Libyan territory, since 2011, limiting progress on justice. The Security Council has failed to respond to previous requests from ICC judges seeking the council’s support to ensure Libya’s cooperation.
On January 19, 2025, Osama Elmasry Njeem, wanted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Libya, including against migrants, was arrested in Italy. Two days later, he was freed by Italian authorities on “procedural grounds” related to the arrest and sent back to Libya aboard an Italian state aircraft. Italy now faces a potential finding of non-cooperation with its obligations as an ICC member, which could then be transmitted to the court’s Assembly of State Parties or the Security Council for further action. Libyan authorities did not arrest Njeem upon arrival, as they were obligated to do, and have not commented on his status.
Security Council and ICC members should commit to backing the ICC’s mandate in Libya, including by ensuring effective cooperation with the court and enforcing findings of non-compliance by the court’s judges, said Human Rights Watch.
The February 6 executive order authorizes asset freezes and entry bans on ICC officials and others supporting the court’s work in investigations the United States opposes. The Trump administration has, so far, imposed sanctions on the ICC prosecutor.
President Trump’s order makes clear that his administration seeks to shield United States and Israeli officials from facing serious crimes charges before the ICC. ICC judges issued warrants of arrest for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
During his first term, President Trump imposed sanctions on then-ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and another senior court official following Bensouda’s decision to request authorization to open an investigation into the situation in Afghanistan, which included potential cases against US nationals. The Biden administration rescinded the sanctions.
“ICC members should urge the Trump administration to revoke its executive order and condemn its attack on the court for what it is—an affront to the global rule of law,” Jarrah said. “Sanctions are a tool to be used against those responsible for the most serious crimes, not those seeking to deliver justice on behalf of victims of abuses.”
