THE HAGUE — The International Criminal Court's (ICC)
prosecutor Monday defended omitting the US from a probe in Afghanistan, saying
the "worst crimes" were committed by the Taliban and Daesh.
اضافة اعلان
Rights groups criticized Karim Khan's decision in September
to "deprioritize" the investigation into US forces, and focus instead
on Afghanistan's new rulers and the rival Daesh-Khorasan outfit.
"I made a decision, based upon the evidence, that the
worst crimes in terms of gravity and scale and extent seem to be committed by
the so-called (Daesh) Khorasan and also the Taliban," Khan told a meeting
of ICC countries in The Hague.
"And I said I would priorities these and I have asked
the judges for authorization to carry out those investigations," added the
British prosecutor.
The ICC's Afghan probe into US crimes had long enraged
Washington, and prompted the administration of president Donald Trump to impose
sanctions on Khan's predecessor Fatou Bensouda.
The world's only permanent war crimes court launched a
preliminary investigation in Afghanistan in 2006, and Bensouda asked judges to
authorize a full probe in 2017.
Bensouda said there was "reasonable" suspicion of
war crimes by both the Taliban, and by US forces in Afghanistan and the CIA in
secret detention centers abroad.
The now-deposed government in Kabul then asked the court
early 2020 to pause its inquiry while it probed war crimes domestically.
But Khan in September asked judges to relaunch the probe, saying
the Taliban's takeover in August meant war crimes would no longer be
investigated properly.
Judges have asked for more clarity over who is officially in
charge in Afghanistan before deciding.
The British prosecutor meanwhile said that while the recent
coup in Sudan had "caused a bit of a hiatus", he expected his team to
be able to return soon to continue its war crimes probe there.
Khan visited Khartoum in August to sign a cooperation deal
to push through a genocide trial for ex-dictator Omar Al-Bashir over the Darfur
conflict.
He added that the "time for change is ripe" at the
ICC in general, reiterating earlier promises to focus on cases with a likely
chance of conviction and drop those where successful prosecution is unlikely.
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