The International Criminal Court is investigating alleged crimes against humanity committed by Libya leader Moammar Gadhafi and his aides during the violent crackdown of recent popular uprisings in his country, an ICC prosecutor told CNN on Thursday.
The United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his family, and has referred Libya's crackdown on anti-government demonstrators to the International Criminal Court. The European Union on Monday decided to impose sanctions of its own.
On Monday, prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said the ICC in The Hague had been in contact with Libyan army officers in its first attempt to gather information on civilian deaths, and pledged no impunity for anyone found to have committed crimes against humanity.
Moreno-Ocampo added he hoped to decide within days whether to open a formal investigation that could lead to indictments against those responsible, and had formed a team to begin gathering information.
Speaking to CNN on Thursday, Moreno-Ocampo indicated such an investigation would indeed be undertaken by the ICC, saying of Libya's leadership: "I want to be clear: If their troops commit crimes, they could be made criminally responsible."
Moreno-Ocampo, however, added that he would have to review evidence further before being able to determine whether or not crimes against humanity did in fact take place, saying "This is the beginning of the investigation. I can give no details."
"We cannot confirm these allegations that these civilians were bombed by planes. But we have... confirmation that civilians that were demonstrating were shot by security forces," he told CNN.
The ICC prosecutor added that the court was interviewing "people and we will present the evidence to the judges. The judges will decide who should be prosecuted."
Moreno-Ocampo also said that protest leaders could also be held accountable for criminal activity, saying that evens have moved beyond "just civilian demonstrations."
"Now, there are people opposing Gadhafi with weapons. And also we would like to warn them, you cannot commit crimes. Our business in Libya is [to] stop the crimes," he said.
The Libya conflict makrs the second time the UNSC had asked the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal to intercede in a conflict, following its 2005 request to probe mass killings in Darfur in western Sudan. In that case it took two months for the prosecutor to open an investigation.