KABUL (Pajhwok): Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that 25 years after the start of the war in Afghanistan, the United States and its allies have still failed to provide meaningful justice and adequate remedies to victims of war crimes and other serious violations in the country.
On Sunday, HRW said, while issuing a timeline of its reporting on the conflict, that the United States and coalition countries had yet to provide genuine justice or redress for war crimes and other grave abuses in Afghanistan in the 25 years since the war began on October 7, 2001.
In a report titled “Afghans Still Await Justice 25 Years After the War Began,” HRW said the war in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001. Two and a half decades later, many victims still have no clear avenue to seek justice, file complaints or obtain reparations.
The rights group said that following the September 11 attacks in the United States, the US government authorised the use of certain interrogation techniques against suspects that, in some cases, amounted to torture.
HRW and other organisations have documented torture and other ill-treatment by US forces in Afghanistan, including beatings, humiliation, waterboarding, prolonged sleep deprivation and mock executions.
Many civilian detainees were released only after months or years without ever being charged with a crime. The US government has never provided full accountability or compensation for these abuses, the report said.
Patricia Gossman, senior associate Asia director at HRW, said: “Twenty-five years on, Afghans tortured in US custody and families of those wrongfully killed still have no clear path for filing a claim or receiving redress from the US government.”
“Successive US administrations have swept grave abuses under the rug, leaving those most affected with neither compensation nor justice.”
She said successive US administrations had failed to adequately address serious abuses, leaving many of those most affected without compensation or justice.
Afghan farmer’s account
HRW cited the account of an Afghan farmer who said US forces detained him in Ghazni in 2019 while he was recovering from eye surgery.
He said he permanently lost his eyesight after US soldiers beat him during questioning and failed to provide medical care.
“Whenever one didn’t like my answers, the other American would hit me with his rifle butt,” he said. “They told me I was lying and beat me with fists, kicks and rifle butts.”
He was never charged and was released in August 2021.
US troops tried, convicted and pardoned
The United States prosecuted some US soldiers for unlawful killings. Sgt. Robert Bales was convicted in 2012 of killing 16 Afghan civilians in Kandahar.
In the “Kill Team” murders of 15 Afghan civilians in Kandahar in 2010, Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, while Specialist Jeremy Morlock received 24 years. Two other unit members were sentenced to three and seven years for failing to prevent the killings.
However, HRW said several other significant cases never reached trial.
Many other prominent cases were never prosecuted, including the deaths of at least 18 civilians in Wardak province’s Nerkh district in 2014.
US President Donald Trump pardoned several US soldiers convicted of unlawful killings. Lt. Clint Lorance was convicted of murder based on testimony from fellow soldiers but was pardoned after serving six years of a 19-year sentence.
The US Army dropped charges against Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, who admitted to killing an Afghan man and then attempting to cover it up, after Trump pardoned him in 2019.
Criticism of accountability efforts by Britain, Australia
HRW said other coalition members had also taken limited action to address serious violations allegedly committed by their forces.
Australia and Britain launched investigations into allegations of unlawful killings and mistreatment of civilians by their troops, but the processes have been slow, according to the report.
Nearly six years after the publication of Australia’s independent Afghanistan inquiry, known as the Brereton Report, only two people have been arrested, trials have yet to begin and it remains unclear whether victims or their families have received compensation, HRW said.
The Brereton Report examined allegations of war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
Regarding Britain, HRW said an independent investigation was launched in December 2022 following media reports of alleged extrajudicial killings and other war crimes by British special forces in Afghanistan. However, its scope covers only the years 2010 to 2013.
HRW also referred to abuses allegedly committed by other parties to the Afghan war and called for accountability for serious crimes regardless of who was responsible.
International Criminal Court investigation
HRW said the International Criminal Court (ICC) initially opened an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan by various parties to the conflict since May 1, 2003.
The group said the Trump administration opposed the investigation into allegations against US forces and imposed sanctions on several ICC judges and prosecutors.
According to HRW, in 2021, then-ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan prioritised the investigation of some alleged crimes in Afghanistan, while the public investigation into possible crimes by other parties made little significant progress.
Independent UN mechanism for Afghanistan
HRW also referred to an October 2025 decision by the UN Human Rights Council to establish an independent investigative mechanism for Afghanistan.
The mechanism is tasked with collecting, consolidating, preserving and analysing evidence of past and ongoing international crimes committed by all parties and preparing case files to assist possible future prosecutions.
HRW called on UN leadership to provide the mechanism with sufficient resources so that its investigations can begin and continue without delay.
The organisation also urged judicial authorities in other countries to cooperate with the mechanism and said Afghan victims and survivors, including women and girls, should be consulted during the investigations.
Gossman said the United States and other countries involved in the Afghanistan war should properly investigate allegations of war crimes by their forces, prosecute those responsible and provide adequate remedies to victims and their families.
“Government inaction and the passage of time should not deprive people of justice, reparations and recognition of their rights,” she added.
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