Libyan Official: Haftar not Willing to Turn in ICC-Wanted Werfali

Field Marshal Haftar is commander of the Libyan National Army. Philippe Wojazer / Reuters
Field Marshal Haftar is commander of the Libyan National Army. Philippe Wojazer / Reuters
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Libyan Official: Haftar not Willing to Turn in ICC-Wanted Werfali

Field Marshal Haftar is commander of the Libyan National Army. Philippe Wojazer / Reuters
Field Marshal Haftar is commander of the Libyan National Army. Philippe Wojazer / Reuters

Libyan National Army Commander Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar held his position refusing to hand over LNA Saiqa Special Forces officer Mahmoud Werfali to the International Criminal Court.

A Benghazi-based official advocated for Werfali’s innocence.

"Werfali is innocent of all charges, and the commander-in-chief will not hand him over to anyone," the official told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“The LNA Saiqa Special Forces officer has been put through interrogation concerning posed allegations, yet his involvement was not substantiated,” the official added.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Werfali, a commander in the Al-Saiqa Brigade, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday.

"We have arrested Werfali based on reports we have received, but so far there is no concrete evidence. If these crimes are proven, there will be a trial and a conviction," Haftar said.

Haftar addressed the international community saying: "There are crimes being committed in Libya every day, so why are you focusing only on Werfali?"

A video posted by media outlets and on social networking sites in Libya in September showed Werfali overseeing the execution of 20 prisoners who were said to be fighting with “extremist groups” in Benghazi.

"Instead of the West lifting the ban on arming the Libyan army, which fights terrorists, it supports illegitimate parties," added Haftar.

ICC Prosecutor Bensouda said Werfali should be tried “for his direct participation in seven separate rounds of executions, in which a total of 33 people were murdered in cold blood in Benghazi or surrounding areas.”

"The ICC should focus on the arrest of those who killed and displaced men, women and children and who committed torture, murders and destructive acts in Libya," said LNA spokesman Milad al-Zawawi.

Last May, Werfali announced his resignation from the Special Forces, but it was rejected by the General Command. The following month, a UN panel of experts said he was involved in "managing secret detention black sites outside Benghazi."

In the same vein, Egypt’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Amr Abul Atta, responded to the ICC’s request to extradite Wefrali, saying that "the Rome Convention provides that the international tribunal cannot consider (pending cases) such as Werfali Trial so long that Libya’s jurisdictional authority is covering the case.

Atta also called on the court to not show bias through singling out a Libyan faction while overlooking others.



Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
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Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo

Human rights defenders rallied on Thursday to support the top UN expert on Palestinian rights, after the United States imposed sanctions on her over what it said was unfair criticism of Israel.

Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese serves as special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, one of dozens of experts appointed by the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to report on specific global issues.

She has long criticized Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, and this month published a report accusing over 60 companies, including some US firms, of supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank and military actions in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday Albanese would be added to the US sanctions list for work which had prompted what he described as illegitimate prosecutions of Israelis at the International Criminal Court.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk urged Washington to reverse course.

"Even in the face of fierce disagreement, UN Member States should engage substantively and constructively, rather than resort to punitive measures," he said, Reuters reported.

Juerg Lauber, the Swiss permanent representative to the UN who now holds the rotating presidency of the Human Rights Council, said he regretted the sanctions, and called on states to "refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal" against the body's experts.

Mariana Katzarova, who serves as the special rapporteur for human rights in Russia, said her concern was that other countries would follow the US lead.

"This is totally unacceptable and opens the gates for any other government to do the same," she told Reuters. "It is an attack on UN system as a whole. Member states must stand up and denounce this."

Russia has rejected Katzarova's mandate and refused to let her enter the country, but it has so far stopped short of publicly adding her to a sanctions list.

Washington has already imposed sanctions against officials at the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for suspected war crimes in Gaza. Another court, the International Court of Justice, is hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israel of genocide.

Israel denies that its forces have carried out war crimes or genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza, which was precipitated by an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023.

"The United States is working to dismantle the norms and institutions on which survivors of grave abuses rely," said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

The group's former head, Kenneth Roth, called the US sanctions an attempt "to deter prosecution of Israeli war crimes and genocide in Gaza".

The United States, once one of the most active members of the Human Rights Council, has disengaged from it under President Donald Trump, alleging an anti-Israel bias.