ICC issues arrest warrant for Gaddafi-era security head

By Alaa Abu al-Einein

TRIPOLI, Libya

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday issued an arrest warrant for a Gaddafi-era security chief wanted for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Hague-based tribunal accuses Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled of imprisoning and torturing the regime’s opponents during a bloody 2011 uprising -- supported by NATO airpower -- that ended in Gaddafi’s ouster and death.

“Mr. al-Tuhamy is charged with four crimes against humanity (imprisonment, torture, persecution and other inhumane acts) allegedly committed in Libya from Feb. 15, 2011 until Aug. 24, 2011,” a statement published on the ICC’s official website reads.

He is also charged with “three war crimes (torture, cruel treatment and outrages upon personal dignity) allegedly committed in Libya from at least early March 2011 to Aug. 24, 2011,” the same statement asserts.

Shortly after the eruption of the Libyan uprising, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1970, which referred the situation in Libya to ICC prosecutors.

In the six years since the 2011 uprising, Libya has remained in a state of turmoil, with the country’s stark political divisions yielding three rival seats of government and a host of competing militia groups.