Mahmoud al-Werfalli

Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf al-Werfalli (born 1978) is a commander in al-Saiqa, an elite unit of the Libyan National Army, one of the warring factions in Libya's civil war since 2014. Al-Werfalli was indicted in 2017 in the International Criminal Court for the war crimes of murder and ordering the murder of non-combatants under article 8(2)(c)(i) of the Rome Statute.[1] As of 6 April 2019, the ICC had two outstanding warrants for al-Werfalli's arrest.[2][3]

Childhood

Al-Werfalli was born in 1978.[1] He is a member of the Warfalla tribe, which was loyal to former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi and from which many members of Gaddafi's security forces were recruited.[1][4]

Military career

Al-Werfalli began his career in the Libyan Army in 2000 after graduating from the country's military college. He eventually became a member of the elite al-Saiqa unit and remained a member when the Libyan Civil War against Gaddafi's rule began in 2011.[1] Soon thereafter al-Saiqa, under the command of Wanis Bukhmada, defected and joined the rebels.[1]

Following the end of Gaddafi's rule, al-Saiqa aligned itself with the Libyan National Army, led by Khalifa Haftar, and fought against the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries in and around the city of Benghazi from 2014 to 2017 in a battle for control of the city. By at least 2017, al-Werfalli was a regional commander of al-Saiqa and oversees at least one detention center.[1] In that year al-Werfalli gained international notoriety by appearing in videos posted by al-Saiqa's social media accounts that depicted him executing or ordering the execution of prisoners.[5] In total 7 videos were published.[6] One video in particular depicted the execution of 20 men.[7] Al-Werfalli's actions were singled out by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which documented several of these incidents and called for a full investigation.[8][9]

International Criminal Court charge

Mahmoud al-Werfalli was indicted on 15 August 2017 with the war crime of murder with regard to the situation in Libya. The arrest warrant against him alleges that he "appears to be directly responsible for the killing of, in total, 33 persons in Benghazi or surrounding areas, between on or before 3 June 2016 and on or around 17 July 2017, either by personally killing them or by ordering their execution."[1] The arrest warrant notes that in seven incidents, which were videoed and posted on al-Saiqa's social media accounts, al-Werfalli either appeared to order the execution, or conducted the execution himself, of prisoners.[1] The Court notes in the arrest warrant that "the executions were exceptionally cruel, dehumanising and degrading."[1] Two days after the Court issued the warrant of arrest, the Libyan National Army (LNA) announced that it had arrested al-Werfalli and that he was under investigation.[10]

On 24 January 2018, he was accused of executing 10 prisoners in Benghazi.[3][11][12] Automatically after that, an Interpol red notice against him, on behalf of International Criminal Court, was issued.

As of 6 April 2019, al-Werfalli had not been transferred to the custody of the ICC.[2]

References

1. "ICC-01/11-01/17: The Prosecutor v. Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf Al-Werfalli Warrant of Arrest" (PDF). International Criminal Court. 2017-08-15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
2. "Libya: Threat of Tripoli Fighting Raises Atrocity Concerns — Hiftar's Forces, Rival Militias Have History of Abuses". Human Rights Watch. 6 April 2019. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
3. The Office of the Prosecutor (9 May 2018). "Fifteenth report of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to the United Nations Security Council pursuant to UNSCR 1970 (2011)" (PDF). International Criminal Court. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
4. Kelly, Sanja; Walker, Christopher; Dizard, Jake, eds. (2008). Countries at the crossroads: a survey of democratic governance. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 708. ISBN 978-0-7425-5899-1.
5. "ISIL fighters executed by Haftar's forces in Libya". Al Jazeera. 2017-07-23. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
6. "Death squad kills 33 ISIS men and posts videos online - Terror.News". Terror.News. 2017-09-04. Retrieved 2017-09-06.
7. Lion, Patrick (2017-07-24). "'ISIS fighters' in hoods and orange jumpsuits shot dead by Libyan fighters in mass execution video". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
8. Throssell, Liz (2017-07-18). "Press briefing notes on Libya". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
9. Nebehay, Stephanie; Lewis, Aidan (2017-07-18). "U.N. urges east Libya army to probe executions, suspend commander". Reuters. Retrieved 2017-08-16.
10. "East Libyan forces say have arrested commander sought by ICC". Reuters. 2017-08-17. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
11. http://www.libyanexpress.com/icc-wanted-libyan-commander-mahmoud-al-werfalli-conducts-summary-executions-of-10-prisoners-in-benghazi/
12. Triebert, Christiaan (February 9, 2018). "What Werfalli Did — Haftar's Commander Continues Executions in Defiance of ICC Arrest Warrant". bellingcat. Retrieved February 10, 2018. On Jan. 24, Mr Werfalli appeared in a video posted on Facebook executing ten blindfolded individuals