Following a report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and supported by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) calling on the Afghan government to pursue justice against war criminals, especially those involved in the elections, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Tuesday said taking action against such individuals was not its responsibility, but instead fell to the courts.
The past involvement of certain Presidential candidates in human rights abuses during the Afghan civil war has been a hot topic this election cycle. No candidates have yet been barred or disqualified from running on the basis of past criminal conduct.
The IEC Tuesday said that stopping a candidate from running on the basis of human rights violations required a court order.
"The reports regarding violation of human rights that was published by Human Rights Watch or other intuitions...is not considered relevant for the IEC because the IEC is not a competent court," IEC Commissioner Sarer Ahmad Barmak said. "The duty of the IEC is to hold and facilitate a nationwide election."
The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), which was charged with reviewing all complaints filed against candidates, including human rights related ones, said that so far no court has released an order regarding Presidential candidate's violations.
"As long as there is no order indicating his culpability, he or she cannot be considered criminal as an Afghan citizens and legally he is not guilty," ECC head Nader Mohseni said.
Representatives from HRW and the AIHRC reiterated calls earlier this week to the Afghan government to pursue legal action against individuals suspected of war crimes, particularly in cases relevant to the spring elections.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) recently issued a statement indicating human rights violations had and continue to be committed in Afghanistan.
"What happened last week is that the ICC made an announcement saying that they have determined that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been and continue to be committed in Afghanistan, so we have issued a statement discussing what are the next steps and what is the role of the Afghan government in this process," HRW representative in Afghanistan Hither Bar said.
Calls for transitional justice in Afghanistan are nothing new, and have been voiced ever since the Taliban was overthrown in 2001 and leaders who were involved in the civil war of the 1990s began to return to Afghanistan and seek positions of power once again.
Bar said that the Afghan people understand the facts about these cases, but that the Afghan government so far hasn't shown a willingness to disclose many details or investigate the cases.
The AIHRC emphasized the importance of the election organizers ensuring the credibility of the process is not compromised and human rights violations or war criminals are prevented from running.
"The ECC and IEC alongside legal organs should work on this issue," AIHRC member Rafiullah Bidar said. "This government and government institutions could prevent the entry of war criminals into the elections."
The ICC, based in the Netherlands, disclosed the names of five thousand war victims who were killed during the regimes of Noor Mohammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin.
Afghanistan joined International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2003. The court is responsible for investigating war crimes in countries all around the world.