US forces could be investigated for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court for the first time.

Appeals judges gave prosecutors the green light on Thursday to open an investigation targeting the Taliban, Afghan forces and US military and CIA personnel against such atrocities.

It marks the first time the court's prosecutor has been authorised to investigate US forces.

Washington has so far rejected the court's jurisdiction and has refused to cooperate.

Image: Former UN national security adviser John Bolton (R) and President Donald Trump

Former UN national security adviser John Bolton said in 2018 that the court established in 2002 to prosecute atrocities throughout the world "unacceptably threatens American sovereignty and US national security interests."


A request by Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to open a probe in Afghanistan had previously been rejected by the pretrial chamber.

While pretrial judges acknowledged that widespread crimes have been committed in Afghanistan, they rejected the investigation, claiming it would not be in the interests of justice due to lack of cooperation.

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Human rights organisations strongly criticised the decision and said it neglected the desire of victims to see justice in Afghanistan.

Despite an investigation now being authorised, it is not known whether any suspects eventually indicted by prosecutors will appear in court in The Hague.

Both the US and Afghanistan have strongly opposed the investigation and the US government refuses to cooperate with the global court.

Rights groups have applauded the court's decision.

"The ICC Appeals Chamber's decision to green light an investigation of brutal crimes in Afghanistan despite extreme pressure on the court's independence reaffirms the court's essential role for victims when all other doors to justice are closed," said Param-Preet Singh, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

In November 2017, Ms Bensouda asked judges to authorise a far-reaching investigation following a preliminary probe in Afghanistan that lasted more than a decade.

In her request, she said there is information that members of the US military and intelligence agencies "committed acts of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and sexual violence against conflict-related detainees in Afghanistan and other locations, principally in the 2003-2004 period."

Ms Bensouda also claimed that the Taliban and other insurgent groups have killed more than 17,000 Afghan civilians since 2009, including some 7,000 targeted killings and that Afghan security forces are suspected of torturing prisoners at government detention.

The global court's ruling comes days after an ambitious peace deal was signed by the US and Taliban.

US and Taliban sign historic peace deal

At a December hearing, the US and Afghanistan both objected to the investigation and reiterated they would not cooperate.

President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, told judges that the US position would not change.

He told appeals judges that "it is not in the interests of justice to waste the court's resources while ignoring the reality of principled non-cooperation."