NY judge makes crucial call in Taliban commander case that changes everything
Federal court denied war-related protections to Taliban leader charged with killing US troops and kidnapping journalist. Judgeʼs decision marks key shift in handling armed-conflict cases
In NY last friday‚ federal judge Katherine Polk Failla made a key decision about Haji Najibullah - a Taliban commander facing serious charges. The ruling dealt with some complex war-time rules that could affect his whole case
The case goes back to events from 16 years ago when Najibullah was said to be behind the deaths of three american soldiers; and taking a US journalist against their will (which shows how serious these charges are). The judge looked at all the facts and decided that the fighting in Afghanistan wasnt an international war - this means the defendant cant get special prisoner-of-war rights
The prosecutors got what they wanted: the court agreed that the Geneva rules dont apply here. This matters because it sets up how Najibullah will be treated during the trial; which is different from regular war prisoners. The ruling shows how courts deal with these hard-to-figure-out cases where local conflicts and international laws mix together
