THE Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has ruled that the court’s prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, can finally proceed—following a preliminary examination of more than a decade—with a formal investigation into atrocities allegedly committed during the armed conflict in Afghanistan. Bensouda contends that some of those crimes were committed by U.S. armed forces and CIA personnel.
The decision has sparked a strong rebuke from U.S. officials, who denounce what they call a “renegade” court.
What did the Appeals Chamber decide?
The unanimous judgment reversed an earlier decision by the Pretrial Chamber to dismiss the prosecutor’s motion to launch an investigation into the Afghanistan situation. It was the first time the Appeals Chamber had been seized with reviewing a Pretrial Chamber decision [PDF] of this nature. The five appeals judges—from Canada, Peru, Poland, Uganda, and the United Kingdom—rejected the lower chamber’s view that an investigation of the Afghanistan
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