Attack breached special protection of medical facilities
No evidence of Pakistan’s claims site was a military target
Lack of investigation and accountability risks ‘entrenching impunity’ in ongoing conflict
Four months after
calling on Pakistan’s authorities
to explain how and why they targeted a Kabul drug rehabilitation centre on 16 March, killing at least 269 civilians, Amnesty International has published a new investigation calling for the attack to be investigated as a possible war crime.
The organization found no evidence to support the Pakistan military’s claims that Omid Rehabilitation and Treatment Centre was being used to store weapons and ammunition or for other military purposes at the time of the attack. The air strikes violated the special protection afforded to healthcare facilities under international humanitarian law (IHL), as well the principles of distinction, precaution and proportionality designed to protect civilians.
“The attack on the Omid Centre constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law – possibly amounting to a war crime. Given the widely available information that the site had been used as a medical facility for more than a decade, this reflects a major failure in military planning by Pakistan that led to a significant loss of civilian life,” said Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty International’s Acting Regional Director for South Asia.
The attack on the Omid Centre constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law – possibly amounting to a war crime
Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty International’s Acting Regional Director for South Asia
“This was a lethal failure by Pakistan to comply with its obligation to do everything feasible to verify whether the target was a military objective. Pakistan must urgently conduct a transparent, thorough, independent, and impartial investigation into the attack – especially the decision-making process that led to the targeting of the facility – and make the res
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