2023-12-06 15:37:00
Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
“The International Criminal Court (ICC) must prioritize and expedite justice for victims of crimes committed by the Taliban, as well as other actors in Afghanistan, before the 2021 takeoverAmnesty International said today during the Court’s annual Assembly of States Parties, which this year takes place in New York from December 4 to 14.
The organization calls for further progress on the long-delayed ICC investigation in Afghanistan, which must be reported publicly and transparently to allow for meaningful participation from local stakeholders, including victims and survivors. Specifically, the ICC should shed light on its progress and, to the extent possible, the general parameters of the cases it is investigating.
“For almost half a century of conflict, a culture of impunity prevails for crimes under international law committed in Afghanistan. Although the ICC’s decision to resume investigations last year offers thousands of victims of crimes under international law real hope of obtaining long-delayed access to justice, truth and reparation, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court must be consistent in fulfilling its commitment by advancing its investigations,” said Smriti Singh, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for South Asia.
“The country remains immersed in a crisis and the ICC is a fundamental institution to ensure justice is done for all victims in Afghanistan. For many of them, the Court represents the only concrete way that exists to obtain justice and the end of impunity.”
At the Assembly of States Parties, Amnesty International also calls on Rome Statute member states to ensure that the ICC has the necessary resources to carry out effective investigations into crimes under international law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. such as persecution based on gender. These crimes include committed against women and girlsthe Shiite communities of the Hazara ethnic group and other religious minoritiesand those carried out in the context of the wars in Afghanistan before and after the Taliban takeover in 2021. It is crucial that, given the significant difficulties of investigating in Afghanistan, Member States commit to strengthening their cooperation with the investigation into this country by the ICC.
Furthermore, the ICC must be provided with sufficient financial and technical resources to enable Afghan victims to meaningfully and effectively realize their rights at the Court.
While the ICC is critical to ensuring accountability in Afghanistan, complementary efforts such as the collection and preservation of evidence for future accountability processes and prosecutions in Afghanistan are essential. States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, in particular, should support these complementary efforts by exercising universal jurisdiction and supporting the establishment of an independent international accountability mechanism such as the UN Human Rights Council.
The Prosecutor’s Office’s decision in 2021 to deprioritize investigations into crimes allegedly committed by the US military and the CIA, as well as the former Afghan National Security Forces, was met with severe criticism. This decision by the Prosecutor’s Office could contribute to the perception that there is a selective system of international justice in which the interests of powerful States are given priority to the detriment of the interests of justice for victims of crimes under international law.
“Amnesty International continues to call for reconsideration of the Prosecutor’s Office’s 2021 decision to deprioritize investigations into alleged war crimes committed by the United States and former Afghan National Forces. This decision remains a stain on the record of international justice. No justification for “deprioritizing” is acceptable. No victim deserves less justice than others,” concluded Smriti Singh.
“The people of Afghanistan deserve an end to impunity and a path to justice, truth and reparation.”
Afghanistan was publicly subject to a preliminary ICC review from 2007 to 2017.
In 2023, Amnesty International documented the discriminatory restrictions imposed by the Taliban on the rights of women and girls since they took power in 2021 which, together with the Taliban’s use of violence and systematic abuses, could constitute the crime of persecution against humanity based on gender. It also documented war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law committed by the Taliban in the context of the armed conflict with the National Resistance Front in Panjshir province, including the war crime of collective punishment against residents of that province. The organization has documented several cases of crimes under international law committed by the Afghan National Forces, the United States military and the Taliban over many years.
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