Title: Ending of the endless in Afghanistan: gauging the responsibility of the USA in international law

Authors: Atul Alexander; Simran Upadhyaya

Addresses: The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, 12, LB Block, Sector III, Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal 700098, India ' The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, 12, LB Block, Sector III, Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal 700098, India

Abstract: The fall of Kabul triggered by the Taliban and the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan has created havoc in the international community. The legitimacy of control given to the Taliban is under the peace agreement signed by the Taliban and the USA. This has raised a pertinent question as to whether the USA (state actor) should be held responsible for the wrongful acts of the Taliban (a non-state actor) in Afghanistan for actively permitting their arrival in the country. Usually, state attributability is understood via the Articles on State Responsibility. However, due to certain limitations in its application, the authors rely on Common Article 1 of the Geneva Convention to argue the accountability of the USA for acts of non-state actors in a situation of an armed conflict, even when it has extraterritorial jurisdiction over Afghanistan.

Keywords: Afghanistan; Taliban; USA; state responsibility; Geneva Convention; armed conflict; Common Article 1; Common Article 3; extraterritorial jurisdiction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLAP.2022.122132

International Journal of Public Law and Policy, 2022 Vol.8 No.2, pp.158 - 172

Received: 19 Oct 2021
Accepted: 14 Dec 2021
Published online: 08 Apr 2022 *

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