UNITED NATIONS – The International Criminal Court is considering whether to investigate migrant-related crimes in Libya, which has become a “marketplace” for human trafficking, the chief prosecutor said Monday.
Fatou Bensouda told the UN Security Council that her office was collecting evidence of crimes allegedly committed against migrants attempting to transit through Libya.
Thousands of vulnerable migrants, including women and children, are being held in detention centers across Libya where “crimes, including killings, rapes and torture, are alleged to be commonplace,” she said.
Bensouda, a Gambian lawyer and ICC chief prosecutor since 2012, said she was “dismayed by credible accounts that Libya has become a marketplace for the trafficking of human beings”.
The ICC prosecution is “carefully examining the feasibility of opening an investigation into migrant-related crimes in Libya” if these cases fall under the court’s jurisdiction, she said.
Libya has been in turmoil since the 2011 fall of Moamer Kadhafi, its territory controlled by two rival government backed by rival militias, some of whom have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
The chaos has been a boon for migrant smugglers and human traffickers who have turned Libya’s coast into a key departure point to Europe.
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