LONDON
Human Rights Watch has urged the International Criminal Court in the Hague to assess all sides — including former government forces — in Afghanistan for war crimes and crimes against humanity after the Office of the Prosecutor resumed its investigation on Monday.
Patricia Gossman, HRW’s associate Asia director, said: “The ICC offers a rare opportunity to advance justice in a country where accountability is completely absent.
“This investigation needs to address serious crimes by all sides to the conflict, including US forces, to bring justice even when the most powerful nations are involved.”
The ICC’s initial investigation, stalled in March 2020 at the request of the Afghan government, had been in limbo ever since the takeover of the country by the Taliban in August 2021 — with ICC judges needing to determine who represented the country.
Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, was permitted to resume his work on Oct. 31 after judges determined that Afghanistan under the Taliban was not carrying out “genuine” investigations into war crimes or crimes against humanity.
His investigation covers events starting in 2003, following the fall of the Taliban to the US-led coalition, and includes the activities of the Taliban and its affiliates, Daesh, the Afghan National Security Forces and forces belonging to ICC member states stationed in the country, including the US, and their activities in relation to Afghanistan overseas — which relate in part to the practices of the US Central Intelligence Agency.
However, HRW stated that in his initial request to resume his investigation in September 2021, Khan “indicated that any investigation would focus on alleged crimes by the Taliban and the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), a (Daesh)-affiliated group, while deprioritizing alleged crimes by Afghan security forces and US personnel.”
