(A Libyan woman holding a Kingdom of Libya flag walks past a caricature of Muammar Gaddafi near the court house in Benghazi June 8, 2011. REUTERS/Esam Al-Fetori )
The ICC's chief prosecutor told journalists gathered at the UN today that he has gathered evidence which shows that Libyan leader Col Muammar Gadaffi ordered military agents to "punish women" with rape to spread terror and silence dissent. Human rights groups and journalists working in the region have reported this for months, and the case of Iman Al-Obeidi brought such allegations to international attention (she has since sought refuge in Romania). But this new validation, and the possibility of charges being brought against Gadaffi in the International Criminal Court, are significant.
"It was never the pattern he used to control the population. The rape is a new aspect of the repression. And that's why we had doubts at the beginning but now we are more convinced," he said. "Apparently, he decided to punish, using rape."
He said it was difficult to know how widespread the use of rape was.
"In some areas we had a number of 100 people raped. The issue for us was, can we attribute these rapes to Gaddafi himself, or is it something that happened in the barracks," he explained.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo also said some witnesses had confirmed that the Libyan government was buying containers of Viagra-type drugs to carry out the policy, and to "enhance the possibility to rape".
"We are trying to see who was involved," he added.
Libya: Gaddafi investigated over use of rape as weapon (BBC News)
