Intl. Prosecutor Vows Gaddafi Regime Charges; Crimes Against Humanity Certain

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said Wednesday that he was 100 percent certain members of the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi will face charges of crimes against humanity.

Moreno-Ocampo said last week ahead of coalition military strikes on Libyan regime targets that Gaddafi would be guilty of war crimes - a separate category than crimes against humanity - if he carried out a threat to attack civilians in the eastern, rebel-held city of Benghazi.

The prosecutor is investigating Gaddafi, his sons, and people close to his regime for possible war crimes. Moreno-Ocampos told Reuters last week he was building his case.

I am telling them what should not happen. If they keep doing it, it is very easy for me to win my case in court, he said.

Member nations of the United Nations Security Council in late February referred the situation in Libya to the prosecutor since February 15, 2011, the date of the start of an uprising by protesters.

The Security Council decided that Libyan authorities shall cooperate fully with and provide any necessary assistance to the Court and the Prosecutor pursuant to this resolution.

Hardeep Singh Puri, the India's Ambassador the the United Nations, expressed in a statement accompanying the Security Council resolution in late February that he was convinced that the referral of the situation to the International Criminal Court would help to bring about the end of violence.

As reports of violence against civilians continued, however, the United Nations, voted in favor of a measure authorizing force to protect them, although five nations - Brazil, China, Germany, India and Russia - abstained from the vote. The second measure authorizing force passed with a 10-0 vote, with five abstentions.

The referral of the matter to the International Criminal Court might ensure that those responsible for the crimes were brought to justice, said Gerard Araud, France's ambassador to the U.N. in a statement in February.

U.S. officials, including President Barack Obama have called on Gaddafi to leave the country, even as legal processes would continue to hold Gaddafi and regime members accountable.