The conflict lasted two brutal decades. Now a people’s tribunal – of actors, human rights experts, witnesses and citizen judges – is staging a trial of the invasion. Tony Blair has been invited
Twenty years after the start of the coalition invasion of Afghanistan, the chaos of the withdrawal has prompted calls from cross-party politicians for an independent inquiry to take a cold, strategic look at what went wrong. The government has so far shown no enthusiasm, but even if a formal investigation were to be launched, the experience of the much-delayed Chilcot Iraq inquiry suggests it would be years before any conclusions were published.
For those who would like a swifter response, a British-Romanian theatre company in London will attempt this week to complete the task itself. The People’s Tribunal on Crimes of Aggression: Afghanistan Sessions is a hybrid artistic and legal experiment by the Béznă troupe that will call 26 witnesses over three days to give evidence on Britain’s involvement in the invasion. At the end of the hearings, a panel of citizen judges will make a ruling on whether Britain is guilty of crimes of aggression.