Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
On 31 October 2022, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) authorized the prosecution to resume its investigation into the situation in Afghanistan. The judges considered that Afghanistan is not currently conducting substantive investigations in a manner that justifies postponing the ICC investigations and that the Afghan authorities are not interested in pursuing their adjournment request submitted on March 26, 2020.
A statement issued by the seat of the court in The Hague, the Netherlands, and a copy of which we have received, said that on 15 April 2020, the Prosecution notified the Government of Afghanistan Request Chamber of 26 March 2020 of its request for a postponement, pursuant to Article 18(2) of the Rome Statute of the Prosecution's investigation into The situation in Afghanistan. On 27 September 2021, the Prosecution requested leave to resume its investigation under Article 18(2) of the Rome Statute. The Chamber requested the assistance of the United Nations and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan to transmit the invitation to the authorities currently representing Afghanistan for observations on the prosecution's request. When no feedback was received, the Prosecution on August 29, 2022 referred to the Chamber the material it had previously received from Afghanistan in support of the adjournment request and provided additional feedback. Victims also provided views and concerns.

According to Article 18(2) of the Rome Statute, “[...] a State may inform the Court that it is investigating or has investigated its own nationals or others within its jurisdiction in relation to criminal acts [...]. At the request of that State, The Prosecutor shall defer the State's investigation of these persons unless the Pre-Trial Chamber, upon the Prosecutor's request, decides to authorize the investigation."

Pre-Trial Chamber II, in its decision issued today, considered that the material transmitted by Afghanistan does not show that Afghanistan has conducted, or was investigating, investigations in a manner that covers the full scope of the investigations the Prosecutor intends to undertake, and that this would even partially justify. Court investigations postponed. It also considered that the Afghan authorities had not acted in a manner that showed an interest in pursuing the adjournment request dated March 26, 2020.

The Chamber confirmed that the current authorization relates to all of the alleged offenses in the case and the dispute, as it existed at the time of the Appeals Chamber's decision, which, on 5 March 2020, authorized the investigation and at the Prosecutor's request, to open it.