On 15 May, the International Criminal Court (ICC) reported that it had received on 12 May a declaration lodged by the Libyan government declaring Libya’s acceptance of the ICC’s jurisdiction with respect to alleged crimes in its territory from 2011 to the end of 2027.
The declaration was lodged under article 12(3) of the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC, which enables a State not party to the Statute to accept the exercise of jurisdiction of the Court.
In a briefing to the UN Security Council the same day, the ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan demanded that Libya’s Attorney General, Siddiq ql-Sour, arrest Osama Najeem aka al-Masri – Head of Libya’s Judicial Police in charge of Mitiga Prison – and hand him over to the ICC on charges of committing crimes against humanity and torturing prisoners in Mitiga prison. He revealed that the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) is cooperating with the ICC, is continuing to investigate Najeem, and has frozen funds belonging to Njeem in Britain worth £12 million. He also said that Dabaiba has officially dissolved Rada and has removed Najeem from his post.
On the clashes and PM Abdul Hameed Dabaiba’s anti-militia moves and narrative, Khan said Dabaiba’s act to dissolve the militias was historic and that it is an opportunity to stop abuses by these groups. He said militias in Libya are now concerned that the ICC will try to arrest them, calling on states to cooperate to remove the sense of impunity that militias and security officials feel they enjoy in Libya. He reported that the ICC will complete the Tarhuna crimes and Mitiga prison crimes investigative reports by the end 2025 and Q1 of 2026.
On 16 May, the HoR said it was ‘surprised’ that the ICC had extended its jurisdiction based on a declaration by an expired government. It stressed that the Libyan judiciary is ‘willing and able to prosecute the perpetrators of crimes on Libyan territory’. It said the ICC’s actions undermine national reconciliation efforts in Libya.