[JURIST] International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official profile] said Wednesday new charges may be warranted against those close to former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive]. According to Ocampo, an investigation into the use of rape by Gaddafi forces [Reuters report] is nearly finished, and the results of this investigation may be used to file additional charges against Libya’s chief of intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi [warrants], among others. It has been alleged that al-Senussi was involved in the ordering and organizing of mass rapes. While al-Senussi is implicated in these new allegations, Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is not.

Last week, in a statement to the UN Security Council, Ocampo detailed the charges [JURIST report] against al-Senussi and Saif al-Islam as well as what is being done to secure their capture. Late last month, the two reportedly attempted to leave Libya in an effort to surrender themselves [JURIST report] to the ICC, according to the National Transitional Council (NTC) [official website]. Earlier in the month, Ocampo said that he has evidence against Saif al-Islam for his role in planning attacks on Libyan civilians [JURIST report]. According to Ocampo, Saif al-Islam hired mercenaries to assist him in carrying out his plans to attack civilians that protested the rule of his father. The “substantial evidence” against Saif al-Islam is mostly in the form of witness reports, and the court remains in indirect contact with him, where there has been talk of a possible surrender [JURIST reports]. The ability of the ICC to negotiate a possible surrender of Saif al-Islam is a result of his desire to avoid the fate of his father, who was killed by opposition fighters [JURIST report] in October.