JURIST - Paper Chase Backup: Afghan parliament approves war crimes amnesty resolution

[JURIST] The lower house of the Afghanistan parliament Wednesday approved a resolution calling for amnesty from war crimes prosecution for leaders of the Afghan mujahedeen resistance who fought against Soviet forces in the 1980s and later engaged in a bloody civil war which eventually led to the rise the Taliban. The resolution urged "respect and honoring those who have participated in the holy war and resistance." It was adopted in the face of continuing pressure from international rights groups to call to account Afghan warlords [JURIST news archive] who had allegedly participated in massacres and torture over the past 25 years of conflict in the Central Asian state. In December, in the immediate wake of the Saddam Hussein execution in Iraq, an official of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) [official website] suggested that war crimes trials in Afghanistan could deter tribal warlords [JURIST report] from committing future atrocities.

It is as yet unclear how Wednesday's action will be reconciled with a plan adopted by the Afghan government [JURIST report] in late 2005 to investigate war crimes and human rights violations committed from 1978 until the end of the Taliban rule. In a July of that year a report [text] by Human Rights Watch called for President Hamid Karzai [official website] to establish a special court to try people accused of committing atrocities in the civil war. The plan did not specifically provide for a tribunal, but it allowed for the possibility of either a truth and reconciliation commission or a criminal court. One concern in the ongoing war crimes debate is that vigorous pursuit of alleged war criminals in Afghanistan would likely implicate warlords who are involved in the present political process in the country or who are active supporters of the Karzai government. AP has more.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...