The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Thursday she was opening an initial probe into the deadly unrest in Gabon triggered by disputed elections.
The news came only days after President Ali Bongo, re-elected by a wafer-thin margin in the August 27 vote over his rival Jean Ping, vowed to form "an inclusive government" for the oil-rich central African country.
Chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said Libreville had referred the violence to her office on September 21, asking it "to open an investigation without delay."
Violence initially erupted on August 31 after Bongo was first declared the winner of the elections. Opposition demonstrators set parliament ablaze and clashed with police, who made hundreds of arrests.
Opposition figures say more than 50 people were killed. The government has given a toll of three dead.
In a standoff, Ping declared himself "president-elect" and asked for a recount in one of the provinces.
In the letter of referral to the ICC signed by Gabon's Justice Minister Denise Mekamne Edzidzie, the government accuses Ping and his supporters of incitement to genocide and crimes against humanity.
It highlights a speech which Ping gave during his electoral campaign, in which he allegedly called on his supporters to "get rid of the cockroaches."
"These words were an incitement to commit the crime of genocide," the letter says.
In what will be a lengthy process, Bensouda said her office will "be conducting a preliminary examination".
Gabon is a signatory to the Rome Statute which provides the guidelines for prosecutions at the ICC, set up in 2002 in The Hague to try the world's worst crimes.
Bensouda cautioned however that a "preliminary examination is not an investigation but a process of examining the information" to see if there is enough evidence for a full inquiry.
"I must consider issues of jurisdiction, admissibility and the interests of justice in making this determination," she said in a statement.
Bongo's family has exercised a long grip on power in Gabon with Ali Bongo taking over from his father Omar Bongo, who ruled for four decades, after his death seven years ago.
Ali Bongo was installed for a second time as president on Tuesday, three days after the Constitutional Court dismissed Ping's claims of fraud.
But his second mandate has received a cool reception from the African Union and the United Nations, while the European Union voiced regret the vote count had not been transparent.
