THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court on Monday gave its principal prosecutor the green light to continue a inquiry into atrocities committed in Afghanistan, saying Kabul “showed no interest” in a domestic disquisition.
The now- deposed Afghan government in early 2020 asked the Hague- grounded ICC to break its disquisition to give Kabul a chance to carry out its own inquiries.
But the Taliban returned to power in August last time as the Afghan government, backed by the United States and its abettors for two decades, atrophied amid chaotic scenes.
“Judges considered that Afghanistan isn’t presently carrying out genuine examinations in a manner that would justify a postponement of the Court’s examinations,” the ICC said in a statement.
“Afghanistan authorities aren’t showing an interest to pursue the postponement request it submitted on 26 March 2020,” the world’s only endless independent war crimes court said.
Prosecutors in September last time asked the court’s judges for authorization to renew their inquiry. The request was transmitted “to the authorities presently representing Afghanistan” for its compliances.
“When no compliances were entered” prosecutors transferred former accoutrements transferred by the former Kabul government to the judges, the ICC said.
The judges still on Monday decided that “the material transmitted by Afghanistan doesn’t show that Afghanistan has delved , or was probing, in any manner. that would justify indeed a partial postponement of the court’s examinations.” It thus “ authorised the execution to renew disquisition.” The ICC in 2006 launched an original inquiry into war crimes in Afghanistan.
In 2020 it authorised a full-bloated disquisition with former ICC principal prosecutor Fatou Bensouda saying there was rea- sonable dubitation of war crimes by the Taliban, as well as by US forces in the country, and the CIA in secret detention centres abroad.
Still, current principal prosecutor Karim Khan last time said he was forgetting the United States from the inquiry as the “worst crimes” were committed by the Taliban and the Islamic State group.
