By IANS,
United Nations: Noting that proliferation of weapons has emerged as a major threat to stability in Libya, India has asked the new authorities in Tripoli to undertake an inclusive political process for national reconciliation.
“The international community, including the Security Council and the ICC (International Criminal Court), should fully assist the Libyan authorities in this process,” India’s Permanent Representative Hardeep Singh Puri said Wednesday.
“This inclusive approach to national reconciliation, anchored in state sovereignty, is the only way to overcome the multitude of problems that Libya is facing in the present, the ostensible post-conflict scenario,” he said at a UN Security Council briefing on Libya.
Noting that the ICC Prosecutor’s immediate goal is to complete the investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes, Puri hoped he will carry out a thorough and impartial investigation into all alleged crimes by all parties to the conflict in Libya.
“The Prosecutor must not be influenced by non-judicial considerations and focus his attention solely on prosecution without diversion due to extraneous considerations,” he said.
“All those responsible for committing crimes, covered under the Rome Statute, should be held accountable, irrespective of which side to the conflict they may belong to,” Puri said.
“Political or other non-judicial considerations should not exonerate anybody from prosecution for the crimes committed,” he added.