MONITORING (SW) – The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision not to authorize an investigation into crimes committed in Afghanistan under international law marks a shocking abandonment of victims and will further weaken the court’s credibility, Amnesty International has said.
The ICC’s decision comes days after the United States, which had already issued threats to the court, revoked the chief prosecutor’s visa because the investigation involved crimes committed by US forces, it added.
The ICC judges claimed that their decision was influenced by the prospect of investigators having to deal with challenging investigations, a lack of ready state cooperation and budgetary constraints.
Biraj Patnaik, South Asia Director at Amnesty International, said: “Afghanistan has been witness to heinous crimes committed with near-absolute impunity, across the country, for more than a decade-and-a-half. The ICC’s decision today is a shocking abandonment of the victims which will weaken the court’s already-questionable credibility.
“None of the reasons given by the ICC judges justifies this decision. The gravest crimes can only ever be investigated in trying circumstances. If anything, the court’s reluctance to proceed with investigations in the face of such constraints only reveals its overreach and signals its weak resolve…The court has a moral and legal duty to reach out to the victims of crimes in Afghanistan and explain this decision.”
The Amnesty International concluded that the fear that the ICC has acted on political considerations – rather than legal ones – inspires little hope.
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