Court tells 47 European countries: investigate your soldiers alleged war crimes in Afghanistan
16th February 2021
Europes top human rights court has ruled that countries such as Germany must investigate allegations of war crimes committed in Afghanistan against their soldiers. The case has far-reaching implications for how European countries – including the United Kingdom – treat claims of unlawful killings by their militaries, Rights and Security International (RSI) said today.
The case of Hanan v. Germany was brought before the European Court of Human Rights by the father of two young sons, aged eight and twelve, who died in a German-ordered airstrike in Afghanistan in 2009. Though the court ultimately found that Germany had effectively complied with its obligation to investigate the airstrike, it issued a ground-breaking finding that people in war zones have a human right to an effective investigation of alleged violations of the right to life by European soldiers.
The Court rejected claims by the German, British, French, Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish governments that they are not bound by the European Convention on Human Rights to carry out investigations in such cases.
u201cThe Court has clearly stated that European governments have to investigate credible allegations of war crimes by their soldiers in Afghanistan