Yesterday, the UN Human Rights Council adopted resolution A/HRC/60/L.9 on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan. In the resolution, the Council decided “to establish an ongoing independent investigative mechanism to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of international crimes and the most serious violations of international law […] committed in Afghanistan, including against women and girls, and to prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings, in accordance with international law standards, in national, regional or international courts or tribunals that have or may in the future have jurisdiction over these crimes.”

The Council also decided that the mechanism shall cooperate closely with ongoing and future investigations by national, regional or international courts or tribunals, including those conducted by the International Criminal Court. The Council requested the UN Secretary-General to appoint the staff of the mechanism as expeditiously as possible and to update it on the establishment at its next session, with the understanding that the mechanism could be established with a start-up team allowing it to begin operationalizing the mandate immediately.

For the resolution: https://lnkd.in/e4DbwmVM.