By ANITA SNOW, Washington Post
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council moved Saturday to halt Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s deadly crackdown on protesters, slapping sanctions on him, his five children and 10 top associates.
Voting unanimously after daylong discussions interrupted with breaks to consult with capitals back home, the council imposed an asset freeze on Gadhafi, his four sons and one daughter and a travel ban on the whole family along with 10 other close associates. The council also backed an arms embargo.
Council members also agreed 15-0 to refer the Gadhafi regime’s deadly crackdown on people protesting his rule to a permanent war crimes tribunal for an investigation of possible crimes against humanity.
The council said its actions were aimed at “deploring the gross and systematic violation of human rights, including the repression of peaceful demonstrators.” And members expressed concern about civilian deaths, “rejecting unequivocally the incitement to hostility and violence against the civilian population made from the highest level of the Libyan government.”
The uprising that began Feb. 15 has swept over nearly the entire eastern half of the country, breaking cities there out of his regime’s hold. Gadhafi and his backers continue to hold the capital Tripoli and have threatened to put down protests aggressively.
There have been reports that Gadhafi’s government forces have been firing indiscriminately on peaceful protesters and that as many as 1,000 people have died.
The day was consumed mainly with haggling behind closed doors over language that would refer Libya’s violent crackdown on protesters to the International Criminal Court, or ICC, at the Hague.
All 15 nations on the council ultimately approved referring the case to the permanent war crimes tribunal.
Council members did not consider imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, and no U.N.-sanctioned military action was planned. NATO also has ruled out any intervention in Libya.
The Libyan mission to the U.N., run by diplomats who have renounced Gadhafi, told the council in a letter that it supported measures “to hold to account those responsible for the armed attacks against the Libyan civilians, including through the International Criminal Court.”
The letter was signed by Ambassador Mohamed Shalgham, a former longtime Gadhafi supporter who had a dramatic change of heart after the crackdown worsened. Shalgham pleaded with the council on Friday to move quickly to halt the bloodshed in his country.
Earlier Saturday, in Ankara, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the council not to impose sanctions, warning that the Libyan people, not Gadhafi’s government, would suffer most.
Also Saturday, U.S. President Barack Obama said in a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Gadhafi needs to do what’s right for his country by “leaving now.”
The White House on Friday announced sweeping new sanctions and temporarily abandoned its embassy in Tripoli as a final flight carrying American citizens left the embattled capital. The U.S. put an immediate freeze on all assets of the Libyan government held in American banks and other U.S. institutions. The sanctions also freeze assets held by Gadhafi and four of his children.
Britain and Canada, meanwhile, temporarily suspended operations at their embassies in Tripoli and evacuated their diplomatic staff.
Gadhafi is no stranger to international isolation.
U.N. sanctions were slapped on his country after suspected Libyan agents planted a bomb that blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, killing 270 people, mostly Americans.
Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing in 2003 and pledged to end efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. and Libya in 2009 exchanged ambassadors for the first time in 35 years, after Libya paid about $2.7 billion in compensation to the families of the Lockerbie victims.
In Geneva on Friday, the U.N. Human Rights Council called for an investigation into possible crimes against humanity in Libya and recommended Libya’s suspension from membership of the world body’s top human rights body.
UN Security Council Resolution 1970, Libya Sanctions
The UN Security Council has adopted a comprehensive resolution to respond to the outrageous violence perpetrated by Muammar Qadafi on the Libyan people. This resolution imposes immediate measures to stop the violence, ensure accountability and facilitate humanitarian aid.
The Security Council has demanded an end to the violence and urged Libyan authorities to respect human rights, ensure the safety of foreign nationals allow the safe passage of humanitarian supplies and lift restrictions on all forms of media.
1) Refers the situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
- The Security Council referral gives the ICC jurisdiction over crimes committed in Libya after February 15, the day of the first
- protests in Benghazi. The ICC may investigate crimes including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
- A referral the ICC is necessary because Libya is not a party to the ICC Rome Statute.
- The ICC Prosecutor will report regularly to the Security Council.
2) Imposes an arms embargo and other arms restrictions
- All states are prohibited to provide any kind of arms to Libya.
- All states are prohibited from allowing the transit to Libya of mercenaries.
- Libya is prohibited from exporting any arms to any other state.
- States are called upon to inspect suspicious cargo that may contain arms. When such arms are found, states are required to seize
- and dispose of them.
- All states are called on to strongly discourage their nationals from traveling to Libya to contribute to human rights violations.
3) Imposes targeted sanctions on key regime figures
- Seventeen Qadafi loyalists are subject to an international travel ban.
- Six of these individuals, including Qadafi himself and his immediate family members, are also subject to a freeze of their assets.
- The Security Council commits to ensure that any frozen assets will be made available to benefit the people of Libya.
- A Sanctions Committee is established to impose targeted sanctions on additional individuals and entities who commit serious
- human rights abuses, including ordering attacks and aerial bombardments on civilian populations or facilities.
4) Provides for humanitarian assistance
- All states are called upon to work together to facilitate humanitarian assistance and support the return of humanitarian agencies.
- The Security Council expresses its readiness to consider additional measures to achieve the delivery of such assistance.
5) Commits to review the measures
- The Security Council will keep these sanctions under review and strengthen, modify or lift them in light of the situation.
