REDRESS’ Post

🚨 On 18 January, #ICC judges issued an arrest warrant against Mr. Osama Elmasry Njeem (‘Osama Almasri Njeem’) for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and sexual violence, committed in Libya since February 2015.     The International Criminal Court requested 6 States Parties to arrest the suspect, including Italy, an ICC member state since 1999.   𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐂𝐂 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐫 𝐍𝐣𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐈𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 19 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐲𝐚.      The ICC recalls:  🔹 The duty of all States Parties to cooperate fully with the Court in its investigations and prosecutions of crimes, and     🔹 That if a State identifies any problems preventing the execution of its request, they should consult with the Court.     ℹ️ https://lnkd.in/d8AvfeFM    As part of the EU commitment to international justice and the ICC, Italy also committed to support the ICC and identified that non-cooperation constituted one of the most serious challenges to the effective functioning of the ICC ➡️ https://lnkd.in/e3XiX3g3     🗣️ 💬 #𝐍𝐆𝐎𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 reflections ⬇️    🔵 In response, #NGOVoices Lawyers for Justice in Libya, European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights e.V. (ECCHR), FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights, Libya Crimes Watch (LCW) REDRESS and partners regret Italy’s failure to surrender Mr Njeem to the ICC, as a breach of its obligations under the Rome Statute, and call on Italy to provide an explanation: https://lnkd.in/d8WDd_-f     🔵 Amnesty International recalled Italy’s “fundamental obligation to promptly arrest and surrender to the ICC all those subject to arrest warrants issued by the Court.”  https://lnkd.in/eYXRc5NV    🔵 Human Rights Watch notes that by shielding alleged war criminals such as Almasri from accountability before the #ICC, Italy’s actions send a negative message to victims that political interests take precedence over prospects of justice ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eedEwxK3 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐲𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 32 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 31 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈𝐂𝐂 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.