ICC to send team to Libya to investigate mass graves

A DELEGATION from the International Criminal Court (ICC) will visit Libya on Friday to inspect mass graves unearthed in the city of Tarhuna, Yeni Safak reported.

According to the Turkish publication, the delegation would also investigate those involved in alleged war crimes in co-ordination with the Tripoli prosecutor's office.

In June, Human Rights Watch said the attacks by the Libyan National Army (LNA) under the command of General Khalifa Haftar were recorded and posted on social media in May 2020.

One video showed fighters who

Human Rights Watch identified as being linked to the LNA beating a man whom they later claimed to have killed.

Another showed people identified as LNA soldiers apparently desecrating the body of a detained fighter linked to Libya’s internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).

“Khalifa Haftar needs to urgently hold his forces accountable for any war crimes they are committing and apparently advertising online,” said Hanan Salah, senior Libya researcher at Human Rights Watch.

On July 7, the ICC decided to send a team to investigate alleged war crimes committed by forces loyal to Haftar in the city, including the matter of mass graves and the planting of booby trap mines by his militias.

Tripoli has battled Haftar's militias since April 2019 in a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives.

The GNA was founded in 2015 under a Un-led agreement, but efforts for a long-term political settlement failed due to a military offensive by Haftar’s forces, according to reports.