The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested its judges to authorize an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Côte d’Ivoire following the presidential run-off held last November.
If the judges grant the Prosecutor’s request, it will be the first time the ICC opens a case in a State that is not party to the Rome Statute, which set up the Court.
See the UN News Centre’s report here.
At least 3,000 persons were killed, 72 persons disappeared and 520 persons were subject to arbitrary arrest and detentions in Côte d’Ivoire during the post-election violence, according to the Prosecution.
If authorized, Côte d’Ivoire will be the seventh investigation in Africa for the ICC, which is based in the Hague.
Earlier probes were in Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan’s Darfur, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda, Kenya and Libya.
Regarding Libya, the ICC says it will render its decision on 27 June in relation to the Prosecution’s application for three arrest warrants for Colonel Muammar Gaddhafi, one of his sons, Saif Ghadhafi, and the head of the country’s intelligence forces, Abdullah al-Senussi, for alleged crimes against humanity committed during the ongoing conflict.
