The UN human rights chief warned Friday against bounty hunters who may be seeking to kill Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, saying that all assassinations are "not within the rule of law."

"The rule of law is essential. That applies to Gaddafi as well as everybody else," said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in response to the $1.67 million reward put on Gaddafi's head by Libyan rebels - dead or alive. "Clearly, rule of law would apply to summary executions. Summary execution is not permissible in peace time or in war time," Colville stressed.

By Geraldine Coughlan in The Hague

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Global rule of law
The burning issue of how to apply the rule of law globally, is most evident in Libya. Libya's rebel leadership has announced its transfer from the eastern city of Benghazi, where the revolution to topple Gaddafi began six months ago, to govern the country from Tripoli.

In that case, the question is - where would Gaddafi face justice? In court in Tripoli or before the International Criminal Court in The Hague?

Rebel leaders say they want to put Gaddafi on trial, but he also faces charges of crimes against humanity along with his son Saif al-Islam and spymaster Abdullah al-Senussi at the ICC.

Cairo - why not Tripoli?
With Egypt's Hosni Mubarak on trial in Cairo and Syria's Bashar al Assad possibly facing international justice, many are asking whether Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) could put Gaddafi on trial in Tripoli.

Libya has not signed up as a member of the ICC and as the court does not have its own police force, there’s no one available to go and arrest these ‘wanted men’. But the Libyan rebels have said they will cooperate with the court. If so, they could transfer Gaddafi to The Hague, if they arrest him. 

More than enough evidence
The ICC's chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo says there is more than enough evidence to support claims that the Gaddafi regime has caused hundreds of victims among the country’s civilian population.
Ocampo says, for example, that Gaddafi, his son and security chief arranged for Viagra to be issued to military personnel so they could rape women.

Ocampo has investigated the allegations at the request of the United Nations, and issued arrest warrants in June. The three are accused on two counts of murder and persecution as crimes against humanity.

The UN has previously said some military action in Libya could amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity. As Ocampo is still investigating the situation in Libya, it is expected that he could add war crimes to his list of alleged crimes committed.

ICC cells ready
Although the NTC says it will seek a seat at the UN next month, following the apparent overthrow of Gaddafi this week, it is unlikely that Gaddafi will be tried in Libya.

As the UN Security Council used its special powers in June to refer the situation in Libya to the ICC, the court has jurisdiction over crimes committed in the country.

The cells are ready at the ICC's detention unit in The Hague, awaiting Gaddafi et al. If the 'great leader' does end up in The Hague, it would mean one of the most high-profile trials the world has seen.

But the wheels of international justice grind slowly, though methodically. So if Gaddafi is transferred to the ICC within days - it would still take at least a year before the world would hear the court confirm a full indictment against him.

Facts: ICC - Libya suspects

• - Muammar Gaddafi - Commander of the Armed Forces of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and holding the title of Leader of the Revolution, and as such, acting as the Libyan Head of State
• - Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi - Honorary chairman of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation and acting as the Libyan de facto Prime Minister
• - Abdullah Al-Senussi - Colonel in the Libyan Armed Forces and current head of the Military Intelligence
• - Warrants of Arrest: issued on 27 June 2011, on charges of murder and persecution as crimes against humanity

(mw)