Introduction
Afghanistan exemplifies impunity and violence, with decades of conflict and authoritarian rule causing countless victims of human rights violations, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide. Perpetrators enjoy immunity, while survivors lack justice. The 2004 constitution failed to establish peace and democracy, allowing impunity to persist and enabling the Taliban’s return in 2021. Since then, the Taliban have suspended legal safeguards, dismantled accountability institutions, and granted general amnesty for all past crimes, allowing ongoing systemic violations with no remedies inside Afghanistan. Thus, pursuing justice outside Afghanistan is urgent.
This report offers resources for accountability beyond Afghanistan. While no mechanism offers complete justice, understanding their potential and limits helps support survivors, combat impunity, maintain international focus, and promote future reconciliation and the rule of law in Afghanistan.
This is the second edition of the Avenues for Justice for Afghan Victims of Human Rights Violations report that was published in May 2024. This updated version incorporates recent developments in accountability efforts, as well as valuable feedback from partners and peers to enhance clarity, accuracy, and usability.
Structure of the report
This report begins with a definition and an overview of the guiding principles of victim/survivor-centred justice. Readers are encouraged to keep these principles in mind when reviewing the mechanisms described below, as they provide a lens for assessing how different processes approach victims and survivors.
It then outlines two separate sections on (international) judicial and non-judicial accountability mechanisms for Afghan survivors and civil society. Each mechanism is presented in a uniform format to facilitate clarity and comparability:
- What it is: description of the institution or process.
- Triggers: legal or political conditions for activation.
- What it delivers: potential outcomes, such as prosecutions, judgments, or reparations.
- How to engage: opportunities for participation by victims, CSOs, and advocates.
- Afghanistan relevance: jurisdiction over and a brief engagement background with Afghanistan.
The broad and unique risks and limitations of each of these mechanisms are then presented at the end of each section.
Victim/Survivor-centred justice and guiding principles
Victim/survivor-centred justice places those most affected by violations and crimes at the centre of accountability efforts. It recognises both the legal identity of victims (essential for rights such as participation and reparations) and the human identity of survivors, emphasising resilience, strength, and lived experience. Unlike traditional justice models that focus primarily on perpetrators or states, this approach prioritises the safety, agency, and dignity of survivors as its central concern.
The guiding principles are understood as follows:
- Do no harm: A principle that highlights the need to protect the safety and well-being of survivors and to ensure that justice initiatives do not expose them to new risks or retraumatisation.
- Informed consent: The requirement that testimonies, stories, and evidence are used only with survivors’ voluntary, prior, and informed agreement.
- Confidentiality and protection: The duty to safeguard identities, testimonies, and evidence, including the secure storage of survivors’ data to prevent reprisals, stigma, or renewed trauma.
- Impartiality: The commitment to ensure that justice initiatives are not perceived as serving one political interest or faction, thereby reinforcing trust and credibility.
- Conflict sensitivity: The awareness that justice initiatives may affect community dynamics and the need to avoid worsening existing divisions or grievances.
- Active participation: The principle that survivors should be regarded as stakeholders whose voices and perspectives shape accountability strategies, including decisions on priorities and approaches.
- Ongoing information: The understanding that survivors have the right to be kept informed about progress in justice processes, with regular updates building transparency, inclusion, and trust.
- Complementarity of mechanisms: The recognition that no single process can deliver full justice and that judicial, non-judicial, local, and international avenues may be most effective when combined.
- Realistic expectations: The acknowledgement that justice is often gradual, with interim gains representing essential steps forward that can help sustain survivors’ engagement and hope.
Victim/survivor-centred justice ensures that Afghan victims and survivors are not only acknowledged in legal proceedings but also empowered as active agents in the fight against impunity.
