A preliminary investigation by the International Criminal Court has found that members of the U.S. Armed Forces and the CIA may have committed war crimes in Afghanistan through the "cruel or violent" interrogation of detainees, mostly between 2003-‘04.
In a report released late Monday, prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the Taliban militia, Afghan government forces and U.S. troops, as well as the CIA, all appear to have committed war crimes.
The report said U.S. armed forces personnel "appear to have subjected at least 61 detained persons to torture'' in Afghanistan, mainly in 2003-‘04. It also found the CIA "subjected at least 27 detained persons to torture" in Afghanistan and in secret detention facilities in Poland, Romania and Lithuania during the same period.
Bensouda said she will decide "imminently'' whether to seek authorization to open a full-scale investigation into the matter.
Even though the United States is not a member of the international court, its citizens can be brought to trial for crimes committed in member countries, such as Afghanistan.