Hague Court Abandons Afghanistan War Crimes Inquiry

“With its decision today, the International Criminal Court sends a dangerous message: that bullying wins and that the powerful won’t be held to account,” said Katherine Gallagher, a senior staff lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York.

While Ms. Bensouda’s office said she was considering her options, including a possible appeal of the judges’ decision, it appeared to dim any hopes of accountability for abuses committed in the Afghanistan conflict, including torture of detainees by C.I.A. operatives at secret prisons known as “black sites.”

An announcement from the court said the judges had decided that the impediments to securing evidence and obtaining cooperation meant that “an investigation into the situation in Afghanistan at this stage would not serve the interests of justice.”

While the judges said that there was a “reasonable basis” to conclude crimes had been committed and that the court had jurisdiction, “the current circumstances of the situation in Afghanistan are such as to make the prospects for a successful investigation and prosecution extremely limited.”

The White House issued a statement by Mr. Trump praising the decision, coupled with a reiteration of the longstanding United States position that the International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction to prosecute any Americans, including those who served in Afghanistan or elsewhere.