ICC-02/17-7-Red 20-11-2017 1/181 NM PT ras Original: English No.: ICC-02/17 Date: 20 November 2017 PRE-TRIAL CHAMBER III Before: Judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua, Presiding Judge Judge Chang-ho Chung Judge Raul C. Pangalangan SITUATION IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF AFGHANISTAN PUBLIC with confidential, EX PARTE, Annexes 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 3B, 3C, 4A, 4B, 4C, 6, public Annexes 4, 5 and 7, and public redacted version of Annex 1-Conf-Exp Public redacted version of “Request for authorisation of an investigation pursuant to article 15”, 20 November 2017, ICC-02/17-7-Conf-Exp Source: Office of the Prosecutor ICC-02/17-7-Red 20-11-2017 2/181 NM PT Document to be notified in accordance with regulation 31 of the Regulations of the Court to: The Office of the Prosecutor Counsel for the Defence Mrs Fatou Bensouda Mr James Stewart Mr Benjamin Gumpert Legal Representatives of the Victims Legal Representatives of the Applicants Unrepresented Victims Unrepresented Applicants (Participation/Reparation) The Office of Public Counsel for The Office of Public Counsel for the Victims Defence States’ Representatives Amicus Curiae REGISTRY Registrar Defence Support Section Mr Herman von Hebel Victims and Witnesses Unit Detention Section Mr Nigel Verrill No. ICC- 02/17 2/181 20 November 2017 ICC-02/17-7-Red 20-11-2017 3/181 NM PT I. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 6 II. Confidentiality .................................................................................................. 9 III. Procedural History ........................................................................................... 9 IV. Background ..................................................................................................... 10 A. Historical context ............................................................................................ 10 B. Activities of the Office of the Prosecutor ...................................................... 15 V. Examination of the information available ..................................................... 18 VI. Jurisdiction ...................................................................................................... 22 A. Alleged crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court ..................................... 23 B. Places of alleged commission of the crimes .................................................. 24 C. Time period of alleged commission of the crimes ........................................ 29 D. Persons or groups involved ........................................................................... 30 1. Taliban and affiliated armed groups ............................................................. 30 2. Afghan National Security Forces ................................................................... 37 3. US armed forces and Central Intelligence Agency ....................................... 39 VII. Acts allegedly committed ............................................................................... 41 A. Acts allegedly committed by members of the Taliban and affiliated armed groups ........................................................................................................................ 41 1. Crimes against humanity ............................................................................... 41 a. An attack directed against any civilian population amounting to a course of conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in article 7(1) of the Statute ................................................................................ 42 b. Pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organisational policy ... 43 c. Widespread or systematic nature of the attack ............................... 51 d. Underlying acts constituting crimes against humanity .................. 52 i. Murder............................................................................................... 52 ii. Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty ....... 57 iii. Persecution ........................................................................................ 58 e. Nexus between individual acts and the attack ................................ 63 2. War Crimes ..................................................................................................... 63 a. Classification of the armed conflict .................................................. 64 i. Degree of organisation of the parties to the armed conflict ............ 66 ii. Level of intensity of the armed conflict ........................................... 68 b. Underlying acts constituting war crimes ......................................... 70 i. Murder............................................................................................... 70 ii. Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities ........................................................................................... 71 No. ICC- 02/17 3/181 20 November 2017 ICC-02/17-7-Red 20-11-2017 4/181 NM PT iii. Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance mission .............................................................................................. 71 iv. Intentionally directing attacks against protected objects ................ 72 v. Conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years or using them to participate actively in hostilities .............................. 74 vi. Killing or wounding treacherously a combatant adversary ........... 75 c. Existence of a plan or policy or large scale occurrence ................... 76 d. Nexus between the individual acts and the armed conflict ............ 77 B. Acts allegedly committed by members of the ANSF .................................... 78 1. War Crimes ..................................................................................................... 78 a. Classification of the armed conflict .................................................. 78 b. Underlying acts constituting war crimes ......................................... 78 i. Torture and cruel treatment ............................................................. 78 ii. Outrages upon personal dignity ...................................................... 84 iii. Sexual violence .................................................................................. 85 c. Existence of a plan or policy or large scale occurrence ................... 87 d. Nexus between the individual acts and the armed conflict ............ 87 C. Acts allegedly committed by members of the US armed forces and members of the CIA .................................................................................................................. 88 1. War Crimes ..................................................................................................... 90 a. Classification of the armed conflict .................................................. 90 b. Underlying acts constituting war crimes ......................................... 90 i. Torture and cruel treatment ............................................................. 90 ii. Outrages upon personal dignity .................................................... 100 iii. Rape and other forms of sexual violence ....................................... 101 c. Existence of a plan or policy or large scale occurrence ................. 106 i. Interrogation policies of the US armed forces ............................... 107 ii. Interrogation policies of the CIA.................................................... 111 d. Nexus between the individual acts and the armed conflict .......... 121 D. Other acts allegedly committed by members of international armed forces ………………………………………………………………………………………125 VIII. Admissibility ................................................................................................ 130 A. Complementarity .......................................................................................... 132 1. National proceedings in Afghanistan .......................................................... 133 a. Proceedings concerning the alleged crimes committed by members of the Taliban and affiliated armed groups ................................................. 133 No. ICC- 02/17 4/181 20 November 2017 ICC-02/17-7-Red 20-11-2017 5/181 NM PT b. Proceedings concerning the alleged crimes committed by members of the ANSF................................................................................................... 136 2. National proceedings in the US ................................................................... 142 a. Proceedings concerning the alleged crimes committed by members of the US armed forces ................................................................................. 144 b. Proceedings concerning the alleged crimes committed by members of the CIA ...................................................................................................... 151 3. National proceedings in Poland, Romania, Lithuania ................................ 161 4. Conclusion on complementarity .................................................................. 163 B. Gravity .......................................................................................................... 164 1. Crimes allegedly committed by members of the Taliban and affiliated armed groups ......................................................................................................