The Hague - New York: Europe and the Arabs
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, said that he received a referral from six States Parties to the Court expressing their concern about the severe deterioration in the human rights situation in Afghanistan, especially for women and girls, and requesting his office to consider crimes committed against women and girls after the Taliban took power in 2021 as part of its ongoing investigations into the situation in Afghanistan.
In a statement issued yesterday, Friday, a copy of which we received, Khan explained that the countries that submitted the referral are Chile, Costa Rica, Spain, France, Luxembourg and Mexico.
He indicated that by receiving the referral, his office confirms that it has been and continues to conduct an active investigation into the situation in Afghanistan, which already includes the alleged crimes described in this referral.
According to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, a State Party may refer to the Prosecutor a situation in which one or more crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court appear to have been committed, and request the Prosecutor to investigate the situation for the purpose of determining whether one or more persons should be charged with committing such crimes.
Concrete results
The Prosecutor of the Court noted that on 20 November 2017, the Office requested judicial authorization to initiate an investigation into alleged crimes committed on the territory of Afghanistan since 1 May 2003, and that on 5 March 2020 the Court’s Appeals Chamber unanimously decided to authorize his Office to initiate the investigation. According to the UN Daily News Bulletin, he added that on 31 October 2022, Pre-Trial Chamber II authorized his Office to resume the investigation in Afghanistan, and that his Office has since then been conducting an independent, impartial and robust investigation into the situation in Afghanistan, which includes allegations of systematic discrimination and persecution against women and girls.
He stressed that significant progress has already been made in investigating allegations of gender-based persecution in the situation in Afghanistan, adding that he is confident that he will soon be in a position to announce concrete results.