In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with FRANCE 24, the International Criminal Court’s Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda discussed the ICC’s ongoing cases regarding Libya, Ivory Coast, the Palestinian Territories, Afghanistan, Myanmar and the Philippines.

Speaking to FRANCE 24 from The Hague, the ICC chief prosecutor warned Libyan Marshal Khalifa Haftar that she was monitoring his current offensive on Tripoli. She urged him to hand over one of his lieutenants, Mahmoud al-Werfalli, who is wanted by the ICC and whom Haftar recently promoted.

On the case against former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo, Bensouda expressed hope that appeals judges would overturn the acquittal granted by the court back in January. She stressed that she was also actively pursuing her investigation into possible crimes by current President Alassane Ouattara’s camp.

Bensouda told FRANCE 24 her preliminary probe into potential crimes in Palestine was nearing its conclusion. She admitted the court had been under pressure by the Trump administration to drop her probe into crimes in Afghanistan, including a ban on her travelling to the US. She said she had taken up the issue with Washington.

She added that she had just recently been authorised by judges to open a probe into crimes against the Rohingya minority by the Myanmar authorities, but that it was too early to say if this would involve senior Myanmar military chiefs.

Finally, Bensouda said her office was looking into crimes in the “war on drugs” in the Philippines, but that it was not yet possible to say whether this would target President Rodrigo Duterte.

Source: France 24