Karzai signs war crime immunity law

Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a controversial bill on Mar. 10, which provides sweeping amnesty for war crimes committed over more than two decades of conflict in Afghanistan. Afghan legislators who have been opposing the bill criticized the move. "We are deeply concerned over the contents of this undemocratic document," said Shukria Barakzai, a member of Parliament (MP) and democracy activist whose parliamentary group opposes the amnesty law. Mir Ahmad Joyenda, another lawmaker, said that those "MPs opposing the immunity law were explicitly threatened by powerful warlords in the national assembly." Noor Akbari, a former Afghan diplomat, said the enacted law is not likely to be in accordance with the country's constitution and will violate some of the international human rights treaties to which Afghanistan is a signatory. The lower house of the Afghan parliament–dominated by scores of former militia leaders– initiated the war crime immunity bill. The document was then approved by the upper house of the legislature and was sent to the president for approval. Karzai had initially vowed that he would not grant blanket immunity to war criminals. However, the president was pressured by many former Mujahideen leaders–who have strong influence in Afghanistan's post-Taliban government–to meet their demands. Human Rights Watch has called for some officials, including Vice President Karim Khalili and army Chief of Staff Abdul Rashid Dostum, to face trial before a special court for alleged war crimes. In a report published last year, it listed Energy Minister Ismail Khan, Karzai's security adviser Mohammed Qasim Fahim, and lawmaker Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and former President Burhanuddin Rabbani as among the "worst perpetrators." Karzai returned his amended version of the proposed bill which was swiftly adopted by the lower house–turning it into law. "All parties involved in the pre-2002 conflicts are granted legal and judicial immunity," the bill reads. The revised resolution places the burden of proof on those who suffered rather than the state. The Taliban as well as warlords who have been accused of grave human rights violations are exempt from prosecution for crimes committed before the establishment of the December 2001 Interim Administration in Afghanistan. The law could even provide legal privileges for post-2002 insurgents as well. "Individuals and groups that still oppose the government militarily could also avail themselves to the privileges of this resolution, provided they give over enmity and respect the constitution of Afghanistan," the law stipulates. The decision came a few days after Afghanistan's highest body of Islamic clerics ruled that parliament cannot issue a blanket amnesty from war crimes because only the victims of those crimes can forgive the perpetrators.