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)تیعوشم نادقف و قوقح نارحب اب هلباقم، هطوشم و هعوشم خیرات لدج رد ( نوناق تیمکاح و سیاسا نوناق ثحب

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Alex Neve

At the Heart of the Struggle for Human Rights: Accountability and Justice

In 2003 the government of Afghanistan acceded to the Rome Statute. In
concrete terms that meant the country was submitting itself to the jurisdiction
of the still new established International Criminal Court. But perhaps more
significantly it set a strong precedent that supposedly, impunity for human rights

violations would no longer be the norm for the Afghan people. It was, to say the
least, a truly historic moment as it was and remains truly significant. And here is
why. I expect, I hope that this is obvious. But impunity is one of the most
formidable barriers we face to human rights protection, anywhere and
everywhere.
That has been the case not just for years and decades, but for centuries. And it
is as true in Afghanistan as it is in Myanmar, Colombia, China, Russia, the United
States, Israel, Saudi Arabia or South Sudan; and as it is for Indigenous peoples
here in Canada. In fact, name any of the world’s most wrenching human rights

crises over the years and an odious, impenetrable cloak of impunity that protects
the wrongdoers will be apparent.
That is because we have lived in a world in which those individuals who are
almost certainly the planet’s most heinous criminals have consistently been the
ones least likely to face repercussions and be held accountable for the horrific
crimes they have orchestrated, facilitated, authorized, commanded, assisted or,

directly carried out.
I am not talking about those who are responsible for beating up one person in a
back-alley brawl, but for overseeing the unrelenting brutal torture of hundreds
of people.

15 -Alex Neve is an adjunct professor of international human rights law at the University of Ottawa and
Dalhousie University, and a Senior Fellow with the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and
International Affairs. He was the Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada between 2000 – 2020.
This article is based on remarks delivered at an online forum Confronting Impunity in Afghanistan: The role of
the ICC, hosted by the Afghan Diaspora Policy Forum, October 25, 2021.
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