The Mezan Center for Human Rights has submitted an official complaint to the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing Afghan fighters, supported by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah Militia, of committing extensive war crimes in Syria.
The organization described these violations as “grave international crimes,” encompassing widespread and systematic practices amounting to crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.
The complaint relies on Article 15(2) and Article 13(C) of the Rome Statute, asserting that the criteria for initiating an investigation have been met.
The organization highlighted Afghanistan’s ratification of the Rome Statute since 2003, granting the ICC jurisdiction to investigate the conduct of its nationals.
The complaint focused on the role of the Fatemiyoun Brigade, a militia implicated in supporting Assad regime forces by brutally targeting civilians and opposition members, committing systematic crimes against the civilian population.
The organization collected testimonies from residents of rural Deir Ezzor, Aleppo, Damascus, and Daraa, documenting Afghan fighters’ involvement in arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture, executions, looting of properties, and seizure of homes and lands.
The complaint also emphasized Afghan militias’ role in besieging towns, destroying vital infrastructure, forcibly displacing families, and conducting hostile military actions using internationally banned weapons. These actions violated international humanitarian law principles, including precaution, distinction, and proportionality.
The Mezan Center complaint asserted that the acts committed between 2012 and 2024 fulfill both the material and mental elements of international crimes.
The organization argued that these actions were part of a systematic policy targeting civilians, placing them under ICC jurisdiction per Article 7 on crimes against humanity and Article 8 on war crimes.
Mezan called on the ICC Prosecutor to examine the legal arguments and information presented in the complaint, initiate a preliminary investigation into the reported incidents, and seek additional information from the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) on Syria, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, states, UN agencies, and international and Syrian human rights organizations.
The organization urged the ICC to hear from witnesses and victims, ensure their privacy, protection, and justice, collect and analyze evidence to identify those most responsible for the crimes, and guarantee accountability while preventing impunity. It also requested that the Pre-Trial Chamber authorize the initiation of a full investigation according to the ICC’s procedural and evidentiary rules.
Mezan invited experts and specialists from Syrian and international organizations to form a joint team to monitor the cases raised with the ICC Prosecutor, support the complaint with additional evidence, and launch a public advocacy campaign.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
