The National
On May 9, Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister, Mohammed Haneef Atmar, was finalising his remarks at the tail end of a visit to The Hague, where he was meeting with the International Criminal Court’s outgoing chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, to discuss an investigation opened by the ICC into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan.
"We have made encouraging progress in charting the way forward to ensure that no crime goes unpunished," Mr Atmar said in his official statement, given after the meeting.
The statement went out just as one of the most egregious war crimes to happen in Afghanistan this year was taking place. A massive car bomb went off outside a girls’ school in the West Kabul neighbourhood of Dashte Barchi, claiming 68 young lives and maiming 165 others.
The perpetrators remain unknown; the Afghan government blames the Taliban, and the Taliban denies their claims.
The attack on the school was, on the face of things, a tragic illustration of the urgency of Mr Atmar’s words. In reality, it was a tragic illustration of their insincerity. Mr Atmar was not in The Hague to assist the ICC’s investigation. Rather, he was there to try to get the ICC to drop it. READ MORE