[JURIST] The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] on Tuesday urged [press release] the UN Security Council [official website] to take action to strengthen the deteriorating security situation in Libya. Fatou Bensouda [official website] expressed her concerns over the recent increases in assassinations, terrorist attacks and targeting of innocent civilians. Bensouda stated, “[t]he international community must be more proactive in exploring solutions in order to tangibly help Libya restore stability and strengthen accountability for Rome Statute crimes.” Bensouda urged the Security Council to call on neighboring member states to aide the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) [official website]. Bensouda also said she would continue to work with UNSMIL to gather further evidence to bring justice for international law violations in Libya.

The Libyan conflict [JURIST backgrounder] has seen the country besieged by violence and destruction. In April UNSMIL strongly condemned [JURIST report] the continuous airstrikes on the town of Zintan, noting a high danger to civilians. One moth earlier UNSMIL had warned the Security Council that the situation in Libya was deteriorating [JURIST report] and the country would likely become unstable without international intervention. Also in March the UN reported that armed groups in Libya deliberately attacked [JURIST report] human rights defenders, killing, torturing and abducting the advocates