ICC in the Media, Update #49

As we preliminarily reported in our last update, Gaddafi, former President of Libya wanted by the ICC, was killed last week by provisional government forces. Reportedly the ICC has now turned its focus to the remaining two indictees, the former Chief of Police Abdullah al-Senussi and Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam. Is is reported that Abdullah fled through Niger and is now hiding in the Malian desert. A senior official in Libya's transitional government has stated that both suspects are currently in talks with the ICC about potentially handing themselves over to the Court. The Prosecutor has confirmed that the ICC is in indirect talks with Gaddafi's son over surrendering himself. In other ICC news, on Tuesday the short list of candidates for the next ICC Prosecutor was released. The list is comprised of four individuals including Fatou Bensouda, current ICC Deputy Prosecutor hailing from Gambia, as well as candidates from Canada, Tanzania and Britain. In the Kenya case, the ICC judges have decided to take a concurrent decision of whether to pursue trials against the six post-election violence suspects out of concern for the protection of victims and witnesses. The judges did not specify the date they will release their decision. Reportedly a number of US Senators are putting pressure on the US government to secure a UN Security Council referral to the ICC for potential crimes against humanity perpetrated by Syria's President Assad. In other news, Zimbabwe's Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs has said the nation has rejected ratification of the Rome Statute. Reportedly the reason cited for this rejection was the belief that the Court is a tool wielded by western powers against dictators. Finally, earlier this week Italian jurist and architect of the modern international criminal justice framework Antonio Cassese passed away at age 74. He was the first president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and later served as president of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Photo credits: Voice of America & Reuters.