ICC prosecutor defends war crimes probe of Afghanistan’s Taliban

(THE HAGUE Reuters) - The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Thursday denied bowing to political pressure when he decided to focus an Afghan war crimes investigation on alleged crimes by the Taliban and Islamic State Khorasan rather than by U.S. or former Afghan government troops.

Prosecutor Karim Khan, who took office in June, said he had to consider his budget as well as whether prosecutions could lead to a conviction and the gravity of the crimes alleged.

“I am not making a decision based on any timidity,” Khan told journalists during the court’s annual gathering of member states.

In September Khan announced he would ask judges to push ahead with the Afghanistan investigation begun under his predecessor. But he said he would focus on crimes by the Taliban and ISIS-K and “deprioritize” looking into suspected crimes by U.S. forces and Afghan government troops.

That decision was criticized by victims’ groups and some international law experts.

“Looking at the scale and the gravity I am not apologetic that the more serious crimes and continuing violations were Taliban and ISIS K,” he said.