International criminal court to probe allegations against Taliban of committing war crime

New Delhi: The international criminal court’s new prosecutor has asked the court to relaunch an inquiry into alleged crimes against humanity committed by the Taliban and supporters of Islamic State in Afghanistan since 2003, The Guardian reported.

The move by Karim Khan shows a determination to use international law to investigate not only past but also contemporary crimes against humanity. The Hague-based ICC has notified the Taliban via Afghanistan’s embassy in the Netherlands that it intends to resume an investigation, the report said.

A previous ICC inquiry was deferred in April 2020 following a request by the then Afghan government of Ashraf Ghani to be given time to gather evidence in cooperation with ICC lawyers.

Khan, a British QC who is three months into his nine-year tenure as ICC prosecutor, said, “odious and criminal acts should stop immediately and investigations commence to vindicate the principles that were established 75 years ago at Nuremberg and to honour humanity’s basic responsibility to itself”.

His submission states there is no longer the prospect of a genuine and effective domestic investigation into crimes within Afghanistan.

“The current de facto control of the territory of Afghanistan by the Taliban, and its implications (including for law enforcement and judicial activity in Afghanistan), represents a fundamental change in circumstances necessitating the present application,” the submission states, The Guardian reported.

He points out that “credible reports suggest that the Taliban have released thousands of prisoners allegedly linked to al-Qaida and IS terror groups, from Bagram airbase detention facilities. This action does not support the notion that the Taliban will genuinely investigate article 5 crimes, now, or in the future.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Sambad English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)