Libyan War Commander shot dead

Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf al-Wefalli was a high-ranking member of the Libyan National Army. He was born in 1978 and graduated from the country’s military college in 2000. Between his graduation and 2014, he was a member of the al-Saiqa unit. He then joined the rebels, and from 2015 onwards, he became a regional commander and was in charge of a detention centre. He is, as per an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, responsible for the death of at least 33 persons in the period of June 2016 – July 2017. He was not personally involved in each killing, but in so far that he either killed them himself or ordered their execution. The ICC notes that the persons killed were detained, and were either civilians or persons hors de combat, meaning they were not involved in active military activities at the time of their executions. The Geneva Conventions specifically protect these individuals, and breaching those provisions results in acts of war. It is described that the executions, which took place over at least 7 incidents, were exceptionally cruel, degrading and dehumanising.

The International Criminal Court has, under article 58(1) of the Rome Statute, the right to issue a warrant of arrest. This was issued in 2017 by the Pre-Trial Chamber of the Court. The Libyan National Army announced only a few days after the arrest warrant that it had al-Werfalli but did not mention whether they would agree to his extradition and prosecution before the ICC. In late January 2018, new footage of al-Werfalli, in which he appears to publicly execute ten persons in Benghazi, emerged on social media.

In the last days of March 2021, the military commander wanted for war crimes has allegedly been shot dead by unidentified attackers in the city of Benghazi. Al-Werfalli and his cousin were driving a vehicle, which was attacked by gunmen and the pair was pronounced dead on arrival at the Benghazi Medical Centre. Whilst Al-Werfalli was deemed a merciless killer, his arrest and prosecution would have been a great achievement of the ICC and given the people that suffered under his rule a sense of justice.

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/03/libyan-commander-loyal-hifter-assassinated-benghazi