Credit: Wikipedia /US troops in Afghanistan.  International Criminal Court authorized investigation into alleged war crimes committed by American soldiers in Afghanistan. 

By  Gary Raynaldo         DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided unanimously Thursday to authorize its chief  Prosecutor to commence an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by U.S., Afghan, and Taliban troops in Republic of Afghanistan.  In November 2017, ICC  head prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked judges to open an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Afghan national security forces, Taliban and Haqqani network fighters, as well as U.S. forces and intelligence officials in Afghanistan since May 2003.   The ICC is seeking  to hold the U.S. accountable for alleged war crimes including torture of detainees by C.I.A. operatives at secret prisons known as “black sites.”   Then, in April 2019,  the ICC announced that it rejected the  request made by the ICC prosecutor to open a probe into possible war crimes committed during the conflict in Afghanistan.  However, in October 2019,   prosecutor Bensouda was given the green light to appeal the previous ruling that blocked her request to open a probe into possible war crimes committed during the conflict in Afghanistan.   

Thursday’s action by  ICC senior judges to overwhelmingly  give Bensouda  authority to continue the probe, drew the fury of U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.  

Secretary of State Pompeo Lashes Out at ICC Decision as “Reckless”

– Pompeo Prepares For Battle To Prevent ICC Probe of Americans 

Credit: Gary Raynaldo /  ©Diplomatic Times /  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo  briefs reporters at Department of State headquarters in Washington D.C. 

“Today, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Appeals Chamber authorized an investigation into the alleged activities of the Taliban and U.S. and Afghan personnel related to Afghanistan.  This is a truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable political institution, masquerading as a legal body. It is all the more reckless for this ruling to come just days after the United States signed a historic peace deal on Afghanistan – the best chance for peace in a generation.  Indeed, the Afghan government, itself, pleaded with the ICC to not take this course.  But the ICC politicians had other goals. The United States is not a party to the ICC, and we will take all necessary measures to protect our citizens from this renegade, so-called court.”

-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo 

The American secretary of state added that the ICC’s decision is “yet another reminder of what happens when multilateral bodies lack oversight and responsible leadership, and become instead a vehicle for political vendettas.  The ICC has today stumbled into a sorry affirmation of every denunciation made by its harshest critics over the past three decades.”

ICC Prosecutor Says “Today Is An Important Day for The Cause of International Justice”

Credit: icc.int/   International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda

 “I welcome the decision of the Appeals Chamber. Today, is an important day for the cause of justice in the situation of Afghanistan, for the Court, and for international criminal justice more broadly. The Office will now proceed to conduct a diligent and thorough investigation into this Situation.  The investigation will be independent, impartial and objective.  This is what the Office is legally mandated to do, and it is what we are committed to doing. All the decisions that I, as Prosecutor, will take will be strictly in accordance with my  mandate, as stipulated in the Rome Statute establishing the ICC.”

-International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda

ICC Seeks Unprecedented investigation of alleged U.S. War Crimes in Afghanistan

The Hague, Netherlands-based headquarters of the International Criminal Court

From the beginning of the ICC’s announcement the unprecedented  probe into possible U.S war crimes, the action has drawn the fire and fury of the Trump Administration.

In September 2018, the Trump Administration unleashed one of the most scathing public attacks on an global judicial institution in recent memory.  In an extraordinary,  vitriolic attack on the ICC, US National Security Adviser John Bolton threatened sanctions on The Hague-based war tribunal if the court dares investigate alleged American war crimes in Afghanistan. Bolton made the  remarks in a speech at the ultra-conservative Federalist Society in Washington D.C.   

In April 2019,     US authorities revoked ICC prosecutor Bensouda’s entry into the United States, as part of a sweeping policy to deny visas to ICC members investigating alleged war crimes committed by American troops in Afghanistan.  It was confirmed at the time,  that the U.S.’  persona non grata  ICC list  extended all the  way up to The Hague-based war tribunal’s head prosecutor Bensouda, who is from west African nation Gambia.  

ICC Prosecutor Allowed to Enter the U.S. For Duties At the United Nations

As part of her job has chief prosecutor of the ICC, Bensouda makes regular trips to the United Nations world headquarters in New York-USA.  As such, Besouda is a “Diplomat” and is exempt from the U.S. ban due to Diplomatic Immunity under the Rome Statute.   Many critics accused the U.S.  of overreaching on trying to punish Besnsoda for daring investigate possible American war crimes.