ICC to deal with war crimes by Khalifa Haftar, Russian thugs in Libya
Where there is war, there is suffering, pain, death and destruction. Another constant companion of any conflict is inhumane behavior, which becomes a breeding ground for war crimes. Not a single conflict on our planet could so far do without war crimes. And what’s important to understand is that none of the latest such conflicts around the globe unfolded without Russia’s participation.
Recently came the reports that that the International Criminal Court received at its disposal evidence of war crimes committed by the Libyan National Army Field led by Khalifa Haftar in the territories under their control.
It’s about a minimum of 11 mass graves discovered in Libya to date. ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensuda called on the UN-recognized Government of National Accord to take all action required to protect and ensure the safety of mass burial sites and carry out a thorough probe into the killings.
First of all, we’re talking mass graves in the town of Tarhuna, liberated from the LNA on June 5, where GNA units saw mass graves filled with bodies of local residents, as well as morgues where signs of torture could be seen on stored bodies.
UN observers in Libya have already stated that they endorse the move to set up an investigation group, urging it to ID all victims and find out how they died.
And now, the most important thing is that both in the suburbs of Tripoli, the city of Tarhuna, and the entire war-struck territory of Libya have seen mercenaries with Russia’s Wagner PMC taking active part in hostilities on the side of a de-facto war criminal Khaftar’s LNA.
And it is not surprising that as soon as the question was raised about the investigation of war crimes in Libya, Russia has revived a massive information campaign claiming its citizens have not been taking part in the conflict.
In particular, Russian president’s special envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, said that reports on the presence of Wagner PMCs in Libya and their participation in hostilities on the side of the LNA was built on rigged data and aimed at compromising Moscow’s Libya policies.
In turn, U.S. AFRICOM said 2,000 Wagner mercenaries were fighting on the side of the LNA Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. They’ve participated in the 14-month botched attack on Tripoli from its very onset, AFRICOM adds.
In fact, all cities and towns occupied by the LNA saw atrocities on the part of Wagner PMC mercenaries, which is their traditional feature. It’s worth recalling a mortifying video and photos that stunned the whole world, showing them torture and slay a Syrian captive. An earlier investigative report also showed how neo-Nazis undergo training in a Russian “Partizan” camp just outside St Petersburg before joining Wagner ranks.
This leads to suggesting that, once the investigation into the Libya massacres are over, Russians will face the fact that their government-controlled fellow countrymen supported the war criminal Khalifa Haftar and were involved in torture and brutal killings of civilians.
Also, it is worth noting that in Libya such an investigation will be possible due to an adequate response to the LNA aggression on the part of the GNA and its allies. In turn, in other countries where Russian thugs operate, including Syria, Mozambique, the Central African Republic, Venezuela, and the occupied part of Donbas, such probe remains unattainable so far. At least, for now…
Alexander Kovalenko