Karzai Calls for War Crimes Tribunal for US

Submitted by Kadir Mohmand

Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan, has accused the US of working with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in his country.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera’s UpFrontaired on Friday, Karzai said the US government had allowed ISIL, also known as ISIS, to flourish inside Afghanistan.

“In my view under the full presence, surveillance, military, political, intelligence, Daesh [ISIL] has emerged,” he said.

“And for two years the Afghan people came, cried loud about their suffering, of violations. Nothing was done.”

Karzai said the US administration of President Donald Trump used ISIL as an excuse to drop a massive bomb on Afghanistan in April 2017.

“And the next day, Daesh takes the next district in Afghanistan,” he said referring to the Arabic name of the armed group.

“That proves to us that there is a hand in it and that hand can be no one else but them [the US] in Afghanistan.”

GBU-43, the largest non-nuclear bomb, the US used in combat was dropped in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, close to the border with Pakistan, reportedly killing at least 36 ISIL fighters and destroying tunnel complex of the armed group.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the attack was designed to minimise the risk to Afghan and US forces conducting clearing operations in the area.

The explosive, also known as the “mother of all bombs” (MOAB), was equal to 11 tonnes of TNT with a blast radius of 1.6km.

Witnesses said they felt the ground shake after the explosion, while others described towering flames in the aftermath.

At that time, Karzai also condemned the attack as “inhuman and most brutal misuse” of Afghanistan as “testing ground for new and dangerous weapons”.

‘Potential war crimes’

Karzai also said he welcomed a recent call by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to investigate war crimes in Afghanistan, including those committed during his tenure in office.

“She’s right to launch such an investigation,” Karzai told UpFront host Mehdi Hasan, referring to ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s request to launch an investigation in Afghanistan.

Karzai also acknowledged that there were human rights violations during his government, and possibly on his watch.

“Definitely, there were violations by the Afghan security forces, by the US, and by others.”

Karzai said he would help with any investigation, even into his own potential complicity.

“I have been asking for this so that they come to Afghanistan and investigate as to what has happened in this country.”

During the interview, Karzai was also asked to respond to claims by human rights groups that he was warned while in office that human-rights abuses were taking place.

“They are wrong,” he said. “They didn’t tell me. I told them.”

“I told the Western human rights bodies as to what was going on in Afghanistan. They were hiding it. The Western press was hiding it. I told them. I raised it.”

Kadir A. Mohmand

Abdul Kadir Mohmand was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. He currently resides at Kalamazoo, Michigan. He graduated from Kabul High School. On an UNESCO scholarship, Mr. Mohmand studied at Sofia University, Bulgaria from 1976 until 1978 when his studies were interrupted by the Communist seizure of power in Afghanistan. The new Afghan Communist government ordered the Bulgarian government to return him to Afghanistan because he was anti-communist. Mr. Mohmand requested political asylum. With the help of the United Nations and the U.S. Embassy, he arrived to Italy and then the United States in 1979.

Mr. Mohmand returned to his studies and earned his B.S. in 1983 from Western Michigan University. He found employment in various positions in the engineering business. For many years, he worked for BFI and was country operations manager for BFI Italia. Currently, Mr. Mohmand owns a shopping center and develops commercial properties.

During the 1980s, Mr. Mohmand was the Representative of the Afghan Mujahideen for North America. During the 1980s, Mr. Mohmand returned to Afghanistan to fight as a freedom fighter against the Soviets and Afghan communists. Through an arrangement with Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Mr. Mohmand would bring back wounded Afghan children and Mujahideen for medical treatment at Borgess and recuperation in his home in Kalamazoo. He formed and was president of a nonprofit, Aid for Afghanistan.

In the 1980s, Mr. Mohmand also worked with the Committee for a Free Afghanistan in Washington D.C to bring wounded Afghans to the United States for medical treatment.

For the past four decades Mr. Mohmand has dedicated his life to working to achieve true peace and stability in Afghanistan.

A few years ago, Mr. Mohmand organized educated Afghans intellectuals across the world who drafted a comprehensive plan for peace. Presently, he has united many different Afghan peace organizations under one umbrella. The goal of this network is to unite Afghans to bring true peace in and the independence of Afghanistan. This network wants to be the bridge between the Afghan freedom fighters and the silent Afghan majority, and the Western World in any peace negotiations.

Mr. Mohmand wants true peace and stability in Afghanistan. As a veteran of war, Mr. Mohmand hates war.