Latest news with #ReformandRehabilitationInstitution
Voice of America
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Voice of America
ICC opens inquiry into Italy over release of Libyan warlord
Judges at the International Criminal Court have officially asked Italy on Monday to explain why the country released a Libyan man suspected of torture, murder and rape rather than sending him to The Hague. Italian police arrested Ossama Anjiem, also known as Ossama al-Masri, last month but rather than extraditing him to the Netherlands, where the ICC is based, sent him back to Libya aboard an Italian military aircraft. 'The matter of state's non-compliance with a request of cooperation for arrest and surrender by the court is before the competent chamber,' the court's spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah said in a statement. Addressing parliament last week, Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio defended the decision to send al-Masri home, claiming the ICC had issued a contradictory and flawed arrest warrant. The court, he said, "realized that an immense mess was made,' he told lawmakers. Al-Masri was arrested in Turin on the ICC warrant on Jan. 19, the day after he arrived in the country from Germany to watch a soccer match. The Italian government has said Rome's court of appeals ordered him released on Jan. 21 because of a technical problem in the way that the ICC warrant was transmitted, having initially bypassed the Italian justice ministry. The ICC said it does not comment on national judicial proceedings. Al-Masri's arrest had posed a dilemma for Italy because it has close ties to the internationally recognized government in Tripoli as well as energy interests in the country. According to the arrest warrant, al-Masri heads the Tripoli branch of the Reform and Rehabilitation Institution, a notorious network of detention centers run by the government-backed Special Defense Force, which acts as a military police unit combating high-profile crimes including kidnappings, murders as well as illegal migration. Like many other militias in western Libya, the SDF has been implicated in atrocities in the civil war that followed the overthrow and killing of longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Additionally, any trial in The Hague of al-Masri could bring unwanted attention to Italy's migration policies and its support of the Libyan coast guard, which it has financed to prevent migrants from leaving. In October, the court unsealed arrest warrants for six men allegedly linked to a brutal Libyan militia blamed for multiple killings and other crimes in a strategically important western town where mass graves were discovered in 2020.
Arab News
10-02-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
International Criminal Court opens inquiry into Italy over release of Libyan warlord
THE HAGUE: Judges at the International Criminal Court have officially asked Italy on Monday to explain why the country released a Libyan man suspected of torture, murder and rape rather than sending him to The Hague. Italian police arrested Ossama Anjiem, also known as Ossama Al-Masri, last month but rather than extraditing him to the Netherlands, where the ICC is based, sent him back to Libya aboard an Italian military aircraft. 'The matter of state's non-compliance with a request of cooperation for arrest and surrender by the court is before the competent chamber,' the court's spokesperson Fadi El-Abdallah said in a statement. Addressing parliament last week, Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio defended the decision to send Al-Masri home, claiming the ICC had issued a contradictory and flawed arrest warrant. The court, he said, 'realized that an immense mess was made,' he told lawmakers. Al-Masri was arrested in Turin on the ICC warrant on Jan. 19, the day after he arrived in the country from Germany to watch a soccer match. The Italian government has said Rome's court of appeals ordered him released on Jan. 21 because of a technical problem in the way that the ICC warrant was transmitted, having initially bypassed the Italian justice ministry. The ICC said it does not comment on national judicial proceedings. Al-Masri's arrest had posed a dilemma for Italy because it has close ties to the internationally recognized government in Tripoli as well as energy interests in the country. According to the arrest warrant, Al-Masri heads the Tripoli branch of the Reform and Rehabilitation Institution, a notorious network of detention centers run by the government-backed Special Defense Force, which acts as a military police unit combating high-profile crimes including kidnappings, murders as well as illegal migration. Like many other militias in western Libya, the SDF has been implicated in atrocities in the civil war that followed the overthrow and killing of the Libyan president Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. Additionally, any trial in The Hague of Al-Masri could bring unwanted attention to Italy's migration policies and its support of the Libyan coast guard, which it has financed to prevent migrants from leaving. In October, the court unsealed arrest warrants for six men allegedly linked to a brutal Libyan militia blamed for multiple killings and other crimes in a strategically important western town where mass graves were discovered in 2020.
The Independent
10-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
International Criminal Court opens inquiry into Italy over release of Libyan warlord
Judges at the International Criminal Court have officially asked Italy on Monday to explain why the country released a Libyan man suspected of torture, murder and rape rather than sending him to The Hague. Italian police arrested Ossama Anjiem, also known as Ossama al-Masri, last month but rather than extraditing him to the Netherlands, where the ICC is based, sent him back to Libya aboard an Italian military aircraft. 'The matter of state's non-compliance with a request of cooperation for arrest and surrender by the court is before the competent chamber,' the court's spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah said in a statement. Addressing parliament last week, Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio defended the decision to send al-Masri home, claiming the ICC had issued a contradictory and flawed arrest warrant. The court, he said, "realized that an immense mess was made,' he told lawmakers. Al-Masri was arrested in Turin on the ICC warrant on Jan. 19, the day after he arrived in the country from Germany to watch a soccer match. The Italian government has said Rome's court of appeals ordered him released on Jan. 21 because of a technical problem in the way that the ICC warrant was transmitted, having initially bypassed the Italian justice ministry. The ICC said it does not comment on national judicial proceedings. Al-Masri's arrest had posed a dilemma for Italy because it has close ties to the internationally recognized government in Tripoli as well as energy interests in the country. According to the arrest warrant, al-Masri heads the Tripoli branch of the Reform and Rehabilitation Institution, a notorious network of detention centers run by the government-backed Special Defense Force, which acts as a military police unit combating high-profile crimes including kidnappings, murders as well as illegal migration. Like many other militias in western Libya, the SDF has been implicated in atrocities in the civil war that followed the overthrow and killing of longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Additionally, any trial in The Hague of al-Masri could bring unwanted attention to Italy's migration policies and its support of the Libyan coast guard, which it has financed to prevent migrants from leaving. In October, the court unsealed arrest warrants for six men allegedly linked to a brutal Libyan militia blamed for multiple killings and other crimes in a strategically important western town where mass graves were discovered in 2020.
Al Jazeera
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Italy officials say accused Libyan freed over ICC warrant ‘inaccuracies'
Italy had no choice but to free a Libyan officer wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) because of mistakes and inaccuracies in the court's arrest warrant, the country's justice minister said. The allegation from Minister Carlo Nordio on Tuesday comes after authorities in Italy detained and then released Osama Elmasry Njeem on an ICC warrant that said he was suspected of the murder, torture, and rape of detainees in Libya. Njeem is the head of the Tripoli branch of the Reform and Rehabilitation Institution, a notorious network of detention centres. He was flown home to Tripoli two days after being taken into custody in Turin in January. The ICC, which has been investigating allegations of serious crimes committed in Libya since the country's 2011 civil war, demanded an explanation from Italy over why Njeem was freed, saying Rome let him go without any consultation. His release also triggered a legal investigation into Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, two of her ministers, and a cabinet undersecretary. 'Huge, hasty mess' On Wednesday, Nordio, one of Meloni's ministers under investigation, told parliament the ICC's warrant was 'marked by inaccuracies, omissions, discrepancies and contradictory conclusions'. Nordio said there was 'uncertainty' in the warrant over when Njeem was suspected of committing the alleged crimes, saying the document stated alleged abuses were committed from 2015 to 2024, but later referred to crimes committed from 2011 onwards. The ICC later corrected the mistake when it publicly unsealed the warrant. 'It is my intention … to ask the ICC for justification of the inconsistencies,' Nordio said, adding the international court realised it made 'a huge, hasty mess'. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who also addressed parliament, said Njeem had been subsequently expelled from Italy following his release because he was viewed as dangerous. He denied claims by opposition leaders that Njeem had worked with Italy to help control migrant flows from Libya, or Rome faced external pressure to free him. Since 2017, Italy has had an agreement with the United Nations-backed Libyan Government of National Unity in Tripoli. Under the deal, Rome provides training and funding to the Libyan coast guard to deter the departures of migrants or return those already at sea back to Libya. Warring parties in Libya signed a ceasefire agreement in March 2020, but a political standoff has led to the formation of two separate governments in the North African country. The opposing body, the Government of National Stability, is based in the eastern city of Benghazi. 'I deny in the most categorical manner that … the government received any act or communication that could even remotely be considered a form of undue pressure,' Piantedosi said. Credibility 'tarnished' Italy's opposition leaders swiftly rejected the ministers' explanations and demanded that Meloni come in person to explain her government's decision. 'The international credibility of Italy has been tarnished by your decision to release a Libyan torturer,' said Elly Schlein, head of the main opposition group, the Democratic Party. 'What kind of country do we want to be, colleagues? On the side of the tortured or on the side of the torturers?' Schlein asked in parliament. Last week, Meloni revealed that Rome's chief prosecutor, Francesco Lo Voi, was investigating her, Nordio, Piantedosi and the cabinet undersecretary for intelligence matters, Alfredo Mantovano, over allegations they aided and abetted a crime and misused public funds. All four have denied the allegation and accused Lo Voi of politicising the case. Meloni and the two ministers have also been named in a complaint filed on Monday in Rome by a South Sudanese migrant who says he was tortured by Njeem in the Mitiga detention centre, east of Tripoli.
Euronews
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Italy's justice minister defends repatriation of Libyan warlord wanted by ICC
Italy's justice minister vigorously defended the government's decision to repatriate a Libyan warlord wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), arguing on Wednesday that the court itself had made an 'immense mess' of the case with an inconsistent and flawed arrest warrant. Carlo Nordio told the lower house of the Italian parliament that he had acted cautiously regarding the 18 January warrant against Ossama Anjiem, also known as Ossama al-Masri, who is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Nordio said the Hague-based court had later 'corrected, or rather completely overturned, the previous warrant' by amending the timeframe of al-Masri's alleged offences. 'The court itself detected the errors and attempted to amend them five days later, because it realised that an immense mess was made,' Nordio told his colleagues. The Italian government has faced sharp criticism from the ICC, human rights organisations, and opposition politicians for releasing al-Masri from detention on 21 January and deporting him to Libya on an Italian military aircraft. Al-Masri was detained in Turin on 19 January, a day after arriving from Germany to watch a football match. He heads the Tripoli branch of the Reform and Rehabilitation Institution, a network of detention centres controlled by the government-backed Special Defence Force. The ICC warrant, published on the court's website, accuses al-Masri of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed at Mitiga prison in Libya from 2015 onwards, including murder, torture, rape, and sexual violence — offences that carry a life sentence. However, the Italian government insists that Rome's court of appeal ordered his release due to a technical issue in how the ICC warrant was transmitted, as it initially bypassed the Italian justice ministry. Nordio reiterated this argument, stating he had only received an 'informal email of a few lines' from Interpol three hours after al-Masri's arrest. He also pointed to contradictions in the original warrant, which initially stated the crimes occurred between 2015 and 2024, but in its conclusions, referred to offences committed from '2011 onwards'. 'An irreconcilable contradiction emerges regarding an essential element of the arrestee's criminal conduct, regarding the time of the crime committed,' Nordio added. However, when the ICC publicly unsealed the warrant on 24 January, it issued an amended version to 'correct certain typographical and clerical errors'. The updated document confirmed the timeframe as 2015-2024. Accusations of breaching ICC obligations Human rights groups have condemned Italy's decision to repatriate al-Masri, calling it a major violation of its responsibilities as a founding member of the ICC. Under Article 89 of the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court in 1998, signatories are obligated to comply with arrest and surrender requests. Opposition lawmakers have seized on the controversy to criticise Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, demanding she personally address parliament on the matter. During Wednesday's session, they held up placards reading: 'Meloni, patriot at large'. Italy has strong ties with Libya's internationally recognised government, whose help it relies on to curb migration across the Mediterranean from the North African coast. Critics have accused Meloni's government of capitulating to pressure from Libyan militias, allegedly out of fears that had al-Masri been handed over to the ICC, they would retaliate by increasing the number of migrant boats sent towards Italy. However, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who also addressed parliament on Wednesday, dismissed any suggestion that al-Masri had acted as a government intermediary on migration issues. He also denied that Italy had received threats in connection with his arrest. Opposition leader Elly Schlein of the Democratic Party sharply criticised Nordio's defence, arguing that his legal justifications for dismissing the ICC warrant were misplaced. 'Minister Nordio, you didn't speak to this chamber as a minister, but as the defence lawyer of a torturer,' Schlein said. Nordio's critique of the ICC aligns with the government's broader attempt to shift focus onto the judiciary's handling of the case. Last week, Rome's chief prosecutor informed Meloni, Nordio, Piantedosi, and another senior official that they were under investigation for allegedly facilitating irregular migration by repatriating al-Masri. Meloni has spent days denouncing what she describes as political interference from Italy's judiciary and defending the government's decision, framing it as a matter of national security. 'When the security of the nation and the interests of Italians are in play, there is no room for backing down,' she wrote on X on 29 January.
