The ICC prosecutor hopes to announce “soon” “concrete” results of his investigation into Afghanistan

MADRID 29 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, has confirmed that he has already made “considerable progress” in his investigations into Afghanistan, so he hopes that “soon” he will be able to announce “concrete results” regarding, for example, a possible crime of persecution for gender reasons against women – considered a crime against humanity -.

Khan responds to a petition sent on Thursday by six countries – Chile, Costa Rica, Spain, France, Luxembourg and Mexico – that warned of the “serious deterioration of the Human Rights situation in Afghanistan” and expressly demanded the examination of the repression suffered by women and children since the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021.

The prosecutor, who resumed his investigation after the return of said regime, has stressed in a statement that the work of his office is “confidential”, but he has hinted that he has made progress. Likewise, he applauded “the courage and determination” of those who have collaborated during this time, although he recalled that they are still collecting evidence.

The prosecutor has authorization to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan during the armed conflict experienced by the country beginning on May 1, 2003. The date chosen is due to Afghanistan acceding to the Rome Statute in February of that year.

The work of Khan’s office involves determining whether there are indications of violations of International Law and whether a specific person can be identified, for example by requesting an arrest warrant that the ICC judges should endorse, as has happened in the case. from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, or from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.