In a move that is as rare as it is resolute, the U.N. Security Council on Feb. 27 voted, 15-0, to slap petulant, and increasingly unhinged, Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, his five children and various top aides with a collection of serious sanctions. These sanctions are calculated to counter Gadhafi’s bloody response to widespread opposition protests gripping Libya during the past few weeks.
But perhaps even more exceptional than the sanctions was the Security Council’s unanimous decision to refer Gadhafi’s deadly crackdown to the International Criminal Court for investigation. The referral specifically directs the ICC’s prosecutors to determine whether the Gadhafi regime’s violent response and rapidly escalating body count constitute a “systematic attack against the civilian population” and thus constitute the offense of crimes against humanity. This, indeed, is only the second time the Security Council has taken such bold action — the first being the 2005 referral of the bloody government reprisals in Sudan’s western Darfur region, leading to the indictment of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for genocide and crimes against humanity.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
