International Criminal Court must focus on Taliban, ISKP crimes

On Oct. 31, judges from the International Criminal Court announced they would resume investigations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan. The ICC’s initial investigations in Afghanistan focused on misconduct by all actors, including U.S. personnel and Afghan government forces, going back to 2003. Despite the ending of nearly two decades of war in August 2021, war crimes are ongoing in Afghanistan, committed by the Taliban and by ISIS-associated Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). The ICC’s immediate efforts should involve an investigation of these atrocities in hopes that they will curtail the further loss of life.

Since taking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban have been implicated in killing former Afghan government personnel, killing members of ethnic minorities, raping women and forcing them into marriage, kidnapping boys for sexual exploitation and child soldiering, and stripping women of their basic civil rights. Pressure from the international community has not led the Taliban to change their behavior.

Women continue to be targets of terrifying Taliban misogyny. On Oct. 30, the Taliban brutally beat women for trying to enter their university in Badakhshan province without wearing burqas. Rape has become another regular tool of Taliban violence against women. After dealing with several rape cases involving Taliban fighters, volunteer Leslie Merriman has created a non-governmental organization to assist rape victims. She told me she…