Physical Address
Indirizzo: Via Mario Greco 60, Buttigliera Alta, 10090, Torino, Italy
Medjd-Eddine Samir Boussahel.
Algeria reaffirmed, this Tuesday evening, 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 strengthened cooperation between Libyan justice and the International Criminal Court to guarantee fair investigations and trials.
In his intervention during a meeting of the Council on the situation in Libya, the member of the Permanent Mission of Algeria to the UN, Medjd-Eddine Samir Boussahel, affirmed that “Algeria reaffirms its firm commitment to respect the independence, sovereignty and unity of the people of Libya and its territorial integrity, as well as its support for an inclusive inter-Libyan political process, under the aegis of the UN, aiming to achieve a definitive and comprehensive solution to the crisis in this brother country”, recalling that the achievement of justice in Libya “remains a legitimate national demand and a fundamental right”.
In this perspective, the Algerian diplomat clarified that the mandate of the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding the situation in Libya “must be exercised within the framework of the principle of complementarity with the national judicial authorities, and not on the basis of their exclusion or their substitution”, stressing the need to “focus efforts on strengthening cooperation and coordination between the Libyan jurisdictions, holders of main 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 decision of the Libyan government to voluntarily accept the jurisdiction of the Court”, a decision which reflects the commitment of the highest Libyan authorities to achieve justice regarding crimes and violations, and welcomes “the positive cooperation between the Libyan authorities and the ICC, capable of accelerating the pace of ongoing investigations with a view to their closure as soon as possible”, he maintained.
He affirmed, in the same context, that Algeria insists on “the need for the international community, in particular the UN, to fully assume its responsibilities in supporting the justice sector in Libya, through the intensification of training programs, capacity building and the transfer of expertise capable of enabling this sector to effectively carry out its missions, as holder of authentic judicial competence.”
Boussahel stressed that the mandate of the ICC in Libya “must not be limited to the prosecution of local elements involved in the various crimes, but must extend to foreign parties whose involvement in the destabilization of Libya, the propagation of division and incitement against the Libyan people and State, is proven, whether through the violation of the arms embargo, the recruitment of mercenaries and foreign fighters, or even illicit financing.”
At the end of his speech, he reiterated Algeria’s call to “continue the efforts of the ICC and its prosecutor in the investigation of crimes committed in the various centers of tension, including in Palestine and particularly in the Gaza Strip, where thousands of innocent people have lost their lives.”