War Crime Charges Brought Against Qaddafi

The New York Times reports:

The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants on Monday for Libya’s leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, one of his sons and his intelligence chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity during the first two weeks of the uprising in Libya that led to a NATO bombing campaign.

In addition to Colonel Qaddafi, warrants were issued for Seif al-Islam Qaddafi and the chief of military intelligence, Abdullah Senussi, the Libyan leader’s brother-in-law. Reading out the decision, the presiding judge, Sanji Monogeng of Botswana, said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that the three were criminally responsible for the murder and persecution of hundreds of civilians during peaceful protests in February.

The decision by a three-judge panel said it was impossible to know the number of people killed or imprisoned because the crimes were covered up.

The order, another step in the isolation of the Qaddafi regime, raised the questions of how — and whether — the court could gain custody of the men since it has no police powers.