Der Internationale Strafgerichtshof (International Criminal Court, ICC) in Den Haag wirft den US-Truppen und dem US-Geheimdienst CIA über Jahre systematische Folter im Afghanistan-Einsatz  vor.

T.Wiegold 15. November 2016 | Aus „Augen geradeaus!“ vom 15.11.2016

Ob das zu formalen Ermittlungen des Gerichts gegen US-Bürger führt, ist noch ziemlich offen – und deswegen problematisch, weil die USA die Jurisdiktion dieses internationalen Gerichts über ihre Soldaten eben nicht anerkennen.

Aus dem jüngsten Zwischenbericht der Chefanklägerin  Fatou Bensouda hier  die entscheidenden Passagen:

The information available provides a reasonable basis to believe that, in the course of interrogating these detainees, and in conduct supporting those interrogations, members of the US armed forces and the US Central Intelligence Agency (“CIA”) resorted to techniques amounting to the commission of the war crimes of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, and rape.
These acts are punishable under articles 8(2)(c)(i) and (ii) and 8(2)(e)(vi) of the Statute.
Specifically:
Members of US armed forces appear to have subjected at least 61 detained persons to torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity on the territory of Afghanistan between 1 May 2003 and 31 December 2014. The majority of the abuses are alleged to have occurred in 2003 – 2004. Members of the CIA appear to have subjected at least 27 detained persons to torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity and/or rape on the territory of Afghanistan and other States Parties to the Statute (namely Poland, Romania and Lithuania) between December 2002 and March 2008. The majority of the abuses are alleged to have occurred in 2003 – 2004.
These alleged crimes were not the abuses of a few isolated individuals. Rather, they appear to have been committed as part of approved interrogation techniques in an attempt to extract ‘actionable intelligence’ from detainees. According to information available, the resort to such interrogation techniques was ultimately put to an end by the authorities concerned, hence the limited time-period during which the crimes allegedly occurred.
The Office considers that there is a reasonable basis to believe these alleged crimes were committed in furtherance of a policy or policies aimed at eliciting information through the use of interrogation techniques involving cruel or violent methods which would support US objectives in the conflict in Afghanistan. Likewise, there is a reasonable basis to believe that all the crimes identified herein have a nexus to the Afghanistan conflict. (…) There is specific information indicating that at least 88 persons in US custody were allegedly tortured. The information available suggests that victims were deliberately subjected to physical and psychologicalviolence, and that crimes were allegedly committed with particular cruelty and in a manner that debased the basic human dignity of the victims. The infliction of “enhanced interrogation techniques,” applied cumulatively and in combination with each other over a prolonged period of time, would have caused serious physical and psychological injury to the victims. Some victims reportedly exhibited psychological and behavioural issues, including hallucinations, paranoia, insomnia, and attempts at self-harm and self-mutilation.
The gravity of the alleged crimes isincreasedby the fact that they were reportedly committed pursuant to plans or policies approved at senior levels of the US government, following careful and extensive deliberations.

(Anm.: Zwar haben die USA das Rom-Statut nicht ratifiziert; der ICC ist jedoch trotzdem zuständig, weil Afghanistan das Rom-Statut ratifiziert hat und die fraglichen Verbrechen auf afghanischem Gebiet stattgefunden haben sollen.)