In his speech at the Security Council: Al-Sunni demands respect for the consensus reached by the Libyans, the road map and its outcomes.

New York, April 29, 2022 (LANA) - Libya's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador "Taher Al-Sunni," stressed that the Libyan people are very keen on building a modern civil state, establishing the principle of accountability and not impunity, which will only be achieved by activating the path of Comprehensive National Reconciliation, activating justice, showing the truth, frankness, apology and reparation, and the call for forgiveness and tolerance so that we can turn the page of the painful past, which the Libyan people have suffered over the past years.

In his speech - before the Security Council during its session to hear the briefing of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and review his 23rd report - Ambassador Taher Al-Sunni reiterated that achieving justice on Libyan soil is a sovereign competence and national jurisdiction, in order to prosecute any accused in accordance with of the Libyan Penal Code, which reflects Libyan sovereignty over its territory and its citizens, and that the Libyan judiciary is committed to ensuring a fair and impartial trial for all wanted persons.

Al-Sunni also reiterated the Libyan authorities’ cooperation with the Criminal Court according to the mandate granted to it, which comes within the framework of the memorandum of understanding signed between the Office of the Libyan Attorney General and the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as an auxiliary role to the Libyan judiciary, but it is not in any way a substitute for it. We look forward to updating this memorandum to suit the current situation and what is proposed by the Attorney General's Office.

Al-Sunni welcomed the new strategy announced by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, considering it a strategy based on giving priority to the situation in Libya, providing the necessary resources and cooperating with the authorities to enhance and support accountability efforts; and we hope that this strategy will contribute to supporting the Libyan Attorney General’s Office, in order to implement the course of justice and not impunity, and there should be no selectivity or politicization of cases.

In his speech, the representative of Libya clarified that lasting peace is linked to justice and respect for human rights, and therefore we need to acknowledge the suffering of the victims’ families, restore confidence in state institutions and achieve justice, calling on the court to quickly disclose the results of its investigations after its team visited Libya three times in more than a year, especially with regard to the mass graves discovered in the city of Tarhuna and other grave violations and war crimes that have been committed against civilians and innocents not only now but since 2011 - without exception and without politicization, wherever and by whomever it was, in order to help uncover those involved locally and internationally, and that this contributes to supporting the path of transitional justice and comprehensive national reconciliation.

On the immigration file, he touched on what was mentioned in the Public Prosecutor’s report, Al-Sunni affirmed the Libyan state’s keenness to protect illegal immigrants against any violations they may be exposed to due to the current crisis, indicating that despite all the challenges, we are doing what we can to protect and rescue them and work to deport them whenever possible, we affirm our total rejection and condemnation of any violations that some outlaws may commit, which are considered individual actions that we are working to address, but at the same time we will not accept any attempts by some countries to create and impose conditions that would export their crises to us and establish the principle of settlement, in violation of national laws and legislation.

Al-Sunni expressed his astonishment at the negative attitude of the international community towards human traffickers, as the focus is only on those involved inside Libya, while everyone knows that human traffickers and their international networks are cross-border, pointing out that confronting this phenomenon must begin with the elimination of these networks. and its leaders in full wherever they are.

Al-Sunni called on the President of the Court and his team that his new future strategy includes comprehensive investigations to detect and prosecute these international criminals associated with the situation of migrants in Libya, and to impose sanctions on them without exception, whether they are in countries of origin and transit in Africa or countries of destination in Europe.

Libya’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador “Taher Al-Sunni,” concluded his speech before the Security Council by saying that national judicial institutions are able to establish justice despite all the challenges the country is going through, and the biggest challenge lies in the ability to enforce the law, and this requires your support for all national efforts to build institutions, support stability, and end all kinds of interference in Libya.

 The conferees called for respecting the Libyan ownership and leadership for a comprehensive solution, respecting the consensus reached by the Libyans, the road map and its outputs, and supporting the ongoing dialogues to end all temporary and fragile transitional stages and unify institutions, so that the appropriate conditions can be created for holding the general elections correctly and with the participation of all, respecting the will of the Libyans and their right to self-determination. Until we reach a state of stability, we can build a state of justice and the rule of law, and remove the Libya file once and for all from the corridors of the International Criminal Court and the Security Council, according to him.

=Lana=