The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for the Libyan leader for "crimes against humanity". Max Fisher looks at the implications:
As long as Qaddafi clings to power, it doesn't mean much. The ICC relies on member states to actually perform arrests. The Hague-based court can issue all of the warrants and indictments it wants, but it only has effective jurisdiction in countries that have both signed and ratified the treaty recognizing the court and its authority. The court issued an arrest warrant in 2009 for Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, who today is still in office So, in practice, an ICC arrest warrant can be little more than a lifelong ban against traveling to certain countries.
This map, via Wikimedia commons, shows the ICC's global membership. The countries in green are party to the ICC and could arrest Qaddafi; countries in orange signed but didn't ratify the treaty and couldn't arrest the Libyan leader for an ICC warrant. Neither could the countries in gray, which do not recognize the court.
The Dish 