DUBAI, February 20. /TASS/. Afghanistan has refused participation in the Rome Statute and does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), said the radical Taliban movement (banned in Russia), which is currently in power in Afghanistan.
"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as an entity that defends the religious and national values of the Afghan people under Islamic sharia, does not recognize any obligations to the Rome Statute or the institution established based on it called the International Criminal Court," Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy official representative of the Taliban, said in a statement posted on the social network X.
"The previous administration's accession to this statute has no legal standing."
The statement added that the ICC "instead of adhering to the principles of justice and impartiality, consistently acts based on political considerations." This organization "has not taken any significant measures against the war crimes committed in Afghanistan by the occupying forces and their allies," the Taliban argued. The statement also criticized the ICC's inaction as villages, schools, mosques, and hospitals were destroyed across Afghanistan, and civilians, including women and children, were killed.
The ICC is a permanent international body for the prosecution of individuals who have committed serious crimes. It is not part of the UN, although it can initiate cases upon recommendations from the UN Security Council. It is accountable to the countries that have ratified the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding document, which came into effect in 2002. Afghanistan ratified the Rome Statute in 2003.
Currently, 125 states are members of the ICC. Countries that have not joined include the United States, which initially signed the Rome Statute but later withdrew its signature; Russia, which signed but did not ratify it; Israel, which signed but did not ratify it; and China, which did not sign the document.
In 2017, the Republic of Burundi terminated its membership in the ICC. The same year, the African Union summit approved the "collective withdrawal strategy" from the ICC, considering its attitude towards the continent biased. This strategy is not binding, and each country must decide independently. The Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2019.