Afghan war crimes probe must go ahead, ICC judges say

THE HAGUE: International war crimes judges ruled on Thursday that a probe into wartime abuses in Afghanistan must go ahead, including looking into possible atrocities committed by US forces, as they overturned a previous court ruling.

The move was immediately hailed by human rights organisations as a "pivotal moment" for victims of the central Asian country’s 18-year-war since the 2001 US invasion. The US government, which bitterly opposes the probe, did not immediately comment.

"Today’s decision is a pivotal moment for victims in Afghanistan and beyond," said Guissou Jahangiri, deputy president of the International Federation for Human Rights. "The decision also sends a much-needed signal to current and would-be perpetrators of atrocities that justice may one day catch up to them," Human Rights Watch’s Param-Preet Singh added.

Pre-trial judges at the International Criminal Court last year rejected a demand by its chief prosecutor to open a full-blown probe into crimes committed in the war-torn nation. Prosecutors at The Hague appealed the move, saying that the judges made an error when they slapped down Fatou Bensouda’s request by saying although it met all the right criteria and a reasonable basis, it was "not in the interest of justice".

The appeals judges agreed with the prosecution. "The prosecutor is authorised to commence an investigation into alleged crimes committed on the territory of Afghanistan since May 1, 2003," ICC judge Piotr Hofmanski said.

Pre-trial judges are only called upon to see if there is a reasonable basis for an investigation and not to "review the prosecutor’s analysis", he said. In fact, the appeals judges said, prosecutors could even look into possible atrocities outside of Afghanistan if they were clearly linked to its armed conflict.

ICC prosecutors previously said their investigation would include alleged war crimes by US Central Intelligence Agency operatives at detention facilities, referred to as "black sites" in ICC member countries like Lithuania, Poland and Romania.