Algeria reaffirmed, the night before last, before the UN Security Council its commitment to an inclusive political solution in Libya, based on respect for the sovereignty and unity of the country. Algiers also calls for enhanced cooperation between the Libyan judiciary and the International Criminal Court to guarantee fair investigations and trials.
In his intervention during a Council meeting on the situation in Libya, the member of Algeria’s Permanent Mission to the UN, Medjd-Eddine Samir Boussahel, stated that “Algeria reaffirms its firm commitment to respecting the independence, sovereignty, and unity of the Libyan people and its territorial integrity, as well as its support for an inclusive inter-Libyan political process, under the auspices of the UN, aiming to reach a final and comprehensive solution to the crisis in this brotherly country,” recalling that achieving justice in Libya “remains a legitimate national demand and a fundamental right.”
In this perspective, the Algerian diplomat specified that the mandate of the International Criminal Court (ICC) concerning the situation in Libya “must be exercised within the framework of the principle of complementarity with national judicial authorities, and not based on their exclusion or substitution,” emphasizing the need to “focus efforts on strengthening cooperation and coordination between Libyan courts, holders of primary jurisdiction, and the ICC, in order to guarantee the investigation of crimes and violations and to ensure fair and transparent trials.”
Algeria “takes note of the Libyan government’s decision to voluntarily accept the Court’s jurisdiction,” a decision that reflects the commitment of the highest Libyan authorities to actualize justice regarding crimes and violations, and welcomes “the positive cooperation between Libyan authorities and the ICC, capable of accelerating the pace of ongoing investigations towards their completion as soon as possible,” he supported.
He affirmed, in the same context, that Algeria insists on “the necessity for the international community, especially the UN, to fully assume its responsibilities in supporting the justice sector in Libya, through intensified training programs, capacity building, and the transfer of expertise enabling this sector to effectively fulfill its missions as the holder of authentic judicial authority.”
Mr. Boussahel stressed that the ICC’s mandate in Libya “should not be limited to pursuing local elements involved in various crimes but should extend to foreign parties whose involvement in destabilizing Libya, spreading division, and inciting against the Libyan people and state is proven, whether through violation of the arms embargo, recruitment of mercenaries and foreign fighters, or illicit financing.”
At the end of his intervention, he reiterated Algeria’s call to “continue the efforts of the ICC and its prosecutor in investigating crimes committed in various hotspots, including Palestine and notably in the Gaza Strip, where thousands of innocents have lost their lives.”