Prosecutor Khan, we thank you for the briefing and appreciate that you are with us from Libya. And we welcome the Permanent Representative of Libya to the Council.
Prosecutor Khan, your visit, and that of the Deputy Prosecutor in June, bare testament to your prioritization of the Libya file. That is well in line with your previous statements to this Council and we fully support you, and the ICC as the most important international institution when it comes to ensuring individual accountability for atrocity crimes.
Norway welcomes the appointment of Abdoulaye Bathily as SRSG for Libya and Head of UNSMIL. We praise his support to the ICC and encourage all parties to fully co-operate and support the SRSG’s work.
As to the political situation in Libya, we remain concerned. We call on all parties to redouble efforts to agree on a constitutional framework for holding free and fair elections.
We also call on the Libyan authorities, its partners, and the international community more broadly to co-operate with the ICC’s Prosecutor’s Office. We thank the involved parties for facilitating the Court’s visits to Libya and the region. We encourage more efforts by the Libyan authorities to provide access to evidence and prompt responses to all requests for assistance by the Office of the Prosecutor.
Norway supports the Prosecutor’s follow up of the renewed strategy and the roadmap for accountability that he outlined in April. We note that more than 20 missions have been carried out to Libya and other countries, and that the Prosecutor’s Office has a continuous presence in the region. We also appreciate the outreach to civil society and the work for victims, survivors, and witnesses.
Let me also highlight the arrest of two key suspects of crimes against victims of human trafficking, who were recently extradited to Italy and The Netherlands. This is a good example of complementarity and the Court’s importance beyond the cases before the Court itself. We applaud the co-operation with other institutions and states. It is encouraging to see it generates concrete results.
When it comes to arrest warrants, we thank the Prosecutor for the updates about terminations due to confirmed deaths and national proceedings. We note the announcement by the Prosecutor today that new applications for arrest warrants are submitted. This is a core part of the Court’s work.
Accountability for the most serious crimes committed is key. Holding the perpetrators of such atrocities to account is crucial for reconciliation in Libya.
In closing, let me reiterate Norway’s unwavering support for the Court and the Office of the Prosecutor.