H.E. President Ashraf Ghani
The President of the
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Excellency,
We are writing to you today on behalf of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) a network of 1300 Members of Parliament from over 143 countries around the world, working together for a more equitable, safe and democratic world for all.
We are honoured to congratulate you on the progress Afghanistan has made under your leadership towards a more democratic nation under the Rule of Law, fighting impunity for international crimes. Afghanistan has demonstrated its commitment to an international rule of law by joining the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) already on 10 February 2003. With respect for the ICC Statute and Article 7 of Afghanistan’s Constitution, the Government of Afghanistan has thereby committed to fulfilling its obligations by implementing the provisions of the Rome Statute. This includes prosecuting perpetrators of alleged crimes – over which Afghanistan has personal or territorial jurisdiction – either by itself or by accepting the ICC preliminary examinations and the potential commencement of an investigation, which would complement the efforts of the Afghani judicial institutions.
In this respect, the global membership of PGA sincerely appreciate Afghanistan’s establishment of a ministerial committee to cooperate with the ICC in the fulfillment of its duties. We were glad to hear that the Afghani Government is cooperating with the ICC, making its work possible by issuing the necessary visas to ICC officials in order for preliminary examinations and possible investigations to be conducted on Afghani territory.
Allow us to use this opportunity to highlight an aspect of the fight against impunity that may be of great importance in your country: Under general principles of international criminal law that are not only embedded in the Rome Statute but form part of customary international law of general application, national amnesties cannot be utilized to impede the prosecution of international crimes, namely genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. In the past, the Afghan Parliament appears to have adopted an Amnesty Law that may be in contradiction with the Rome Statute, the Geneva Conventions and, above all, customary international law. PGA therefore appeals to Your High Office for a repeal of such past legislation or an interpretation that would impede its application to the alleged perpetrators of the above-mentioned international crimeDuring the Kampala Review Conference of 2010, amendments were made to the Rome Statute on War Crimes and the Crime of Aggression. Afghanistan has not yet taken action regarding these amendments. To protect the populations of Afghanistan from foreign aggression and augment the standard of war crimes in non-international armed conflicts, PGA strongly encourages the Government of Afghanistan to transmit a Bill for the ratification of the Kampala Amendments to Parliament for its prompt consideration. PGA will be delighted to continue to work with its Afghani Member-Parliamentarians in support of the swift and positive completion of this ratification process, as well as the one that regards the full implementation of the Statute into National law.
Our Organization has been informed that the ICC may soon request to send a delegation to begin investigations in Afghanistan. We believe that this would represent an excellent opportunity for Afghanistan to cooperate with the Court and its officials. PGA encourages this valuable cooperation between Afghanistan and the ICC, and looks forward to the Afghani Government’s welcoming of the delegation.
We are grateful for your time, Honorable President, and we are looking forward to the cooperation between all our nations towards a better world for all.
Yours sincerely,
Dip. Minou Tavárez Mirabal (Dominican Republic), President of PGA
Ms. Petra Bayr, MP (Austria), Treasurer of PGA
Ms. Barbara Lochbihler, MEP (Germany), Co-Convenor of PGA’s International Law and Human Rights Program
Sen. Alain Destexhe (Belgium), Co-Convenor of PGA’s International Law and Human Rights Program
Dep. Mohamed Benabdessadeq (Morocco), Deputy-Convenor of PGA’s International Law and Human Rights Program
Hon. Kula Segaran, MP (Malaysia), Deputy-Convenor of PGA’s International Law and Human Rights Program