International Criminal Court Begins Libya Inquiry

By Marlise Simons

THE HAGUE — The International Criminal Court has started a formal investigation into possible crimes against humanity in Libya that will focus on the role of the country’s leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, several of his sons and members of his inner circle, the chief prosecutor said Thursday.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor, said his office had received confirmation that Libyan security forces had fired on peaceful demonstrators, killing hundreds, and that many had been illegally detained in episodes involving at least nine different towns since Feb. 15.

He also said in an interview that judging by the information he had received, many more insiders from the Libyan government had defected than was publicly known. “The system appears to be breaking down,” he said, adding that reports about recent events and the inner workings of the government had come from multiple sources. “We cannot name names to protect the families,” he said.

In a unanimous vote on Saturday, the United Nations Security Council instructed the international prosecutor to investigate the violence in Libya, and it approved a series of other measures including imposing an arms embargo on the country, banning international travel for 16 Libyan leaders and freezing the assets of Colonel Qaddafi and members of his family.

While the criminal investigation and the international sanctions are expected to take weeks to have any effect, they reflected widespread condemnation of the bloody crackdown in Libya against antigovernment protesters.

Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said he hoped that at this stage his actions could have a deterrent effect. He said he was putting senior officials in Libya — “individuals with formal or de facto authority” — on notice that they could be held responsible if forces under their command committed crimes.

In addition to Col. Qaddafi and his sons, the prosecutor is expected to investigate the heads of security and military intelligence, the foreign minister and the head of Libya’s external security organization.

Until now, he said, the serious episodes all involved attacks against civilians by government-led forces. But he warned that “some opposition groups also have weapons. If they commit crimes, their leaders will also be investigated.”

Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said his office in recent days had been inundated with reports from inside and outside the Libya. “Today I even received a letter from the lawyer of the Qaddafi family. He asked that the investigation be fair,” the prosecutor said. NYTIMES