Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: war crimes

war crimes

An injured man uses a piece of timber as a crutch to try to get away from the scene of one of the worst attacks since 2001. The Taleban said they were targeting the Ministry of Interior buildings in Kabul. Using a van painted to look like an ambulance, the suicide attack killed 114 civilians, and injured 229 more. Such intentional killing of civilians by Taleban is one of the crimes the ICC Prosecutor had wanted to investigate. (Photo: Andrew Quilty, 2018)

ICC rejects war crimes investigation in Afghanistan: Continuing impunity for perpetrators, no voice yet for victims

Kate Clark •

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has decided not to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity that have allegedly taken place on Afghan soil. The Court’s Chief Prosecutor, after finding that there was evidence of the Taleban committing a range of crimes, including murder and intentionally attacking civilians, and of Afghan government forces and the […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

The Killing of Razeq: Removing the Taleban’s strongest foe in Kandahar, an indirect hit at elections

Thomas Ruttig •

An attack in Kandahar city has left the province’s governor, NDS chief and police commander, the unrivalled strongman of southern Afghanistan, General Abdul Razeq, dead. The commander of United States and NATO forces, General Scott Austin Miller who had just been meeting the three, was unharmed. The attack mimics earlier assassinations of officials and strongmen. […]

War and Peace Read more

Ferocious Attack on ICC: Washington threatens court if it investigates alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan

Kate Clark •

President Trump’s National Security Advisor, John Bolton, has made a withering attack on the International Criminal Court (ICC), threatening prosecutions against personnel and retaliation against any country cooperating with the Court if it ‘goes after’ America. Bolton’s intervention comes as the judges of the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber weigh up whether or not to authorise a […]

International Engagement Read more
Photographs of those who disappeared in AGSA custody, placed by family members in the Puligun (Polygon) area of Pul-e Charkhi, where mass graves have been found. Families hold a ceremony every year on 10 December to remember their lost relatives (Photo: Victims’ Families Association, with permission, 2016)

An April Day That Changed Afghanistan 3: The legacy of the Saur Revolution’s war crimes

P. Gossman •

The coup d’etat that brought the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was a watershed for Afghanistan, driving it into a conflict from which it has yet to recover and ushering in a whole new level of violence by the state against its citizens. Forced disappearances, the routine use of torture for punishment as well […]

Context and Culture Read more

An ICC Delay: Court postpones decision on whether to investigate war crimes in Afghanistan

Kate Clark •

The International Criminal Court has announced a delay in deciding whether or not to authorise an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity by American and Afghan government forces and Taleban and other insurgent groups in Afghanistan. A decision had been expected during the last month, but a routine changeover of the Court’s judges […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

ICC reports: “Victims Overwhelmingly Support” Investigation into War Crimes in Afghanistan

Kate Clark •

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has published its findings from victims who suffered war crimes in relation to the Afghan conflict, either in Afghanistan or in other countries. The victims mentioned murder, rape, forced disappearance, attacks against civilians and pillage. The ICC report said victims’ backing for an ICC investigation was “overwhelming” with 98 per […]

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Photographs of some of the victims of ISKP atrocities in Kabul. It is thought that ISKP victims were among those submitting representations to the ICC. 345 forms on behalf of almost more than seven hundred thousand victims have been submitted. (Photo: AAN, 8 December 2017)

Afghan Victims of War Crimes Want Investigation: Hundreds of thousands apply to ICC

Ehsan Qaane •

31 January was the deadline for victims of Afghan war crimes to share their experiences and opinions with the International Criminal Court (ICC). Based on information so far released by the ICC, the Court has received 345 representations on behalf of more than seven hundred thousand victims. These representations are important as they will factor […]

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نگاهی به روابط محکمه بینا للی جزایی و افغانستان (A Look at ICC-Afghan relations)

AAN •

 قوس1396 ,ماهنامه حقوق بشر (Human Rights Monthly, December 2017) The monthly publication of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission carries an article by AAN’s Ehsan Qaane about the relations between Afghanistan and the International Criminal Court in the context of the court’s deliberations about opening a formal investigation into alleged post-2003 war crimes in the […]

External publications Read more
The Rome Statute was adopted in the UN Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court in 1998. The Afghan Mujaheddin Government sent a delegation, which was led by current Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, to the Conference. That time Abdullah Abdullah was the Deputy of Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Questions and Answers about the International Criminal Court and its Afghanistan Investigation

AAN Team •

On 20 November, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) finally published her request to open a formal investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan. This means that the Prosecutor agrees with the result of the preliminary examination showing that crimes meeting the ICC gravity threshold have been committed in […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more
Civilian victims of a Taleban attack in Daulatabad, Faryab, June 2014. Will an investigation lead to justice for victims like these? Credit: Pajhwok Afghan news

One Step Closer to War Crimes Trials (2): ICC Prosecutor requests authorisation to investigate

Ehsan Qaane • Kate Clark •

International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has requested judicial authorisation to open an investigation into crimes allegedly committed in connection to the Afghan armed conflict. If the judges of the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber agree, there could now be investigations of the Taleban for many types of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and Afghan […]

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Thematic Dossier XVI: Afghanistan’s War Crimes Amnesty and the International Criminal Court

AAN Team •

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently pondering whether to open an investigation into war crimes committed in Afghanistan since 2003, allegedly by the Taleban, the American military and CIA and Afghan government forces. In order to provide context to this possible investigation, AAN is publishing a dossier that brings together our reporting on amnesty […]

Dossiers Read more

AAN’s Ehsan Qaane on International Criminal Court’s investigation in Afghanistan – August 2017

Ehsan Qaane •

AAN’s Ehsan Qaane answered important questions regarding International Criminal Court’s intervention in Afghanistan.

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