If a country is not a member of the International Criminal Court (such as Libya and Sri Lanka), its citizens can be prosecuted by the ICC for crimes against humanity, war crimes, or genocide only if the UN Security Council refers it.

The below are extracts from UNSC resolution 1970 (2011) related to the referring of Libya to the ICC:

“The Security Council,

“In the Bush White House it was forbidden to speak of "root causes" of terrorism, as this would suggest some degree of legitimacy on the part of those who should only be thought of as mindless killers."

- Robert L. Grenier, Director of the CIA Counter-Terrorism Center (CTC) from 2004 to 2006. See his comment forAl-Jazeera here.

“When there is a systematic link between cultural identity and economic status, democracy becomes a problem, rather than a solution. It exacerbates cultural conflicts to the point of violence, because it provides a formal opportunity for the majority to force their will on the minority.

The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted an arms embargo against Libya, a travel and assets ban on Moamer Gaddafi's regime and ordered a crimes against humanity investigation into the bloodshed.

The vote is thought to be the first time the Security Council has voted unanimously to refer a member state to the International Criminal Court.

Notable is the support by the United States, Russia and China for referring Libya to the ICC.

“The honest truth is that part of the support western governments offered the likes of President Mubarak was because he appeared to be a guarantor of stability in the region.

“The central assumption of the durability of long-standing and unpleasant regimes has been swept away. This change in circumstance has left many of the old orthodoxies seeming out of date and on the wrong side of history.

“[Liberal] ideas, to a large extent nurtured in the hothouse of Western consciousness and then innocently exported as a sign of goodwill … might originally be intended only as public relations move.

“But over time such ideas gave rise to the dreams of the oppressed and victimised - and when the unexpected historical moment finally arrived, burst into flame.

“The Libyan Diaspora has a significant role to play in this uprising. Though undeniably important, it is not enough for Libyans to protest outside embassies overseas. Due to Qaddafi’s shut down of the Internet, the Diaspora has become more important, particularly in spreading information about gatherings … and pressuring the international community to support the well-deserved and long overdue freedom for the Libyan people.”

Amid mass demonstrations in the Middle East, around 3,000 people took to the streets across southern Yemen last week in a "Friday of Rage", demanding secession from the north, but heavily deployed security forces quickly stamped out protests.

“We don’t decide between countries we trade with on the basis of whether they are nice or not. There are lots of regimes around the world. If we didn’t trade with them we would be shooting ourselves in the foot.”

- Libyan British Business Council director-general Robin Lamb, Feb 22.

“We, the undersigned non-governmental, human rights, and humanitarian organizations, urge you to mobilize the United Nations and the international community and take immediate action to halt the mass atrocities now being perpetrated by the Libyan government against its own people. The inexcusable silence cannot continue. … There is no question here about intent. The government media has published open threats [against demonstrators]. … You have a clear and unambiguous responsibility to protect the people of Libya.”