The ICC and Alleged US Crimes Committed During the War in Afghanistan
In November of 2017, the International Criminal Court in the Hague began formally requesting an investigation of individual US citizens, including CIA employees and military personnel, over alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan after the launch of the Iraq invasion in 2003.
The Office of the Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, had been conducting a preliminary investigation into what is being called the Situation in Afghanistan since 2006, and by 2017, the office found reasonable basis for the belief that war crimes and/or crimes against humanity had been committed by:
The Taliban and their affiliated Haqqani network
The Afghan National Security Forces, specifically, members of the National Directorate for Security and the Afghan National Police, and
Members of the United States Armed Forces within the Afghanistan territory and Members of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in secret detention facilities located in states that are party to the Rome Statute, principally during 2003 and 2004.
In light of the gravity of the acts committed and the lack of national proceedings (accountability from the justice system within the United States), the Prosecutor has determined that the case will be permissible by the ICC pursuant to the Rome Statute.
Based on the evidence collected during the preliminary investigation, the Prosecutor can ask ICC Judges to issue either summons to appear or arrest warrants or those believed to be most responsible for international crimes committed in Afghanistan.
Response from the US in 2018
As of Monday, September 10, the US has announced plans to “adopt an aggressive posture” against the ICC, including threats to the sanction ICC judges if they proceed with the investigation into these war crimes.
A speech by John Bolton will occur on Monday in Washington, according to Reuters, in which he is expected to declare the ICC an “illegitimate court” and announce to plans to shield US citizens from prosecution.
Read more on this development here and also here. We’ll be following this story closely, so check back in for future updates.