...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...and his forces had committed war crimes in the eastern city of Derna.
The UK-based newspaper cited London rights lawyers as saying that they had urged the International Criminal Court to investigate instances of torture, murder and mutilation of corpses committed by forces under the command and orders of Haftar.
"The legal opinion, which was shared exclusively with The Independent, marks the first time General Khalifa Haftar’s troops have been formally accused of war crimes in the coastal city, under their control since last summer." The report explains.
It also indicates that the Geneva-based Libyan group Human Rights Solidarity, which commissioned the report, intends to file it with International Criminal Court prosecutors in the coming weeks.
"Human rights lawyer Rodney Dixon, of Temple Garden Chambers, reached this conclusion after studying multiple videos and photos taken in Derna and posted online, which purport to show Gen Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) shooting unarmed civilians, stringing up mutilated bodies and indiscriminately shelling residential areas." The Independent reported.
Several rights groups have accused Haftar before of commanding and ordering a wave of operations against civilians, causing torture, murders, executions, liquidations and displacements.