The Prosecutor of the International criminal court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, has published an annual report stating that the U.S. armed forces and the Central intelligence Agency (CIA) committed war crimes in Afghanistan, including torture, ill-treatment, abuse of human dignity and violence.
In a report published on the website of the ICC, noted that the alleged war crimes U.S. forces have committed during the period 1 may 2003 to 31 December 2014 and their victims were at least 61 people.
In turn, “the CIA improperly treated 27 prisoners in Afghanistan and on the territory of other States parties of the ICC (namely, Poland, Romania and Lithuania) in the period from December 2002 to March 2008″ (quoted by TASS). Most of these incidents also occurred in 2003-2004, indicated in the document.
According to the Prosecutor, these alleged crimes “was not improper handling, against several individuals,” but rather was done “with the approval of interrogation techniques in an attempt to obtain “actionable intelligence” from prisoners.”
According to the obtained information of the ICC, “the use of such interrogation techniques was quickly brought to an end by the authorities”, and this explains the fact that most of the crimes were committed in 2003-2004.
The report notes that the Taliban and affiliated with the group, as well as government forces, particularly the intelligence and police forces are also responsible for the crimes in Afghanistan, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It is noted that while the ICC only deals with the preliminary study of the situation, which is a process of gathering information. This step involves bringing charges against individuals.
Earlier media reported that the Prosecutor of the ICC is ready to start a comprehensive investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, including those committed by the armed forces of the United States.
