Ayed: Which current or former international leader should be prosecuted by the ICC and why?

By: /
7 May, 2012
By: Nahlah Ayed
London correspondent for CBC News The National

The ideal scenario for Libya would be to try Moammar Ghaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam on Libyan soil. This was articulately argued recently by international lawyers helping the country fend off demands of his extradition by the ICC to answer to allegations of crimes against humanity. It is a “historic opportunity to eradicate the long-standing culture of impunity,” the Libyan government argued. However, recent statements from Libya’s defence minister and head of the militia holding Ghaddafi in Zintan have stirred fresh concerns about the country’s ability to provide him with the fair and safe trial the government is promising. Osama al-Jiwaili suggested Ghaddafi would be tried in the remote town of Zintan, instead of the capital Tripoli, where the government maintains it will furnish proper facilities for the proceedings. This, on top of other concerns already raised by human rights organizations (like his lack of access so far to a defence lawyer, and, no less significantly, the summary execution of his father) suggests Libya perhaps isn’t yet in the best position to give Ghaddafi a proper trial. It may be time to hand him over to the ICC until Libya can prove otherwise—a move that will not only show its willingness to abide by international law, but one that also does not prevent Libyan authorities from trying him at home in the future.

Before you click away, we’d like to ask you for a favour … 

Journalism in Canada has suffered a devastating decline over the last two decades. Dozens of newspapers and outlets have shuttered. Remaining newsrooms are smaller. Nowhere is this erosion more acute than in the coverage of foreign policy and international news. It’s expensive, and Canadians, oceans away from most international upheavals, pay the outside world comparatively little attention.

At Open Canada, we believe this must change. If anything, the pandemic has taught us we can’t afford to ignore the changing world. What’s more, we believe, most Canadians don’t want to. Many of us, after all, come from somewhere else and have connections that reach around the world.

Our mission is to build a conversation that involves everyone — not just politicians, academics and policy makers. We need your help to do so. Your support helps us find stories and pay writers to tell them. It helps us grow that conversation. It helps us encourage more Canadians to play an active role in shaping our country’s place in the world.

Become a Supporter