Photojournalist Danish Siddiqui’s family file complaint against Taliban in International Criminal Court

Danish’s parents, Prof Akhtar Siddiqui and Shahida Siddiqui, approached the ICC prosecutor to investigate the killing of their son and take action against leaders and high-level commanders of the Taliban.

On July 16 last year, Danish was attacked in Afghanistan’s Spin Boldak while he was on an assignment for Reuters. He and other Afghan commandoes were taken to a nearby mosque for treatment but he was then illegally detained, tortured and killed by the Taliban, said his family. His body was found mutilated with multiple bullet injuries.

Shahida said, “Danish, our loving son, was murdered by the Taliban for simply carrying out his journalistic duties… He was subjected to barbaric levels of torture and mutilation while in their custody.”

In a statement released by the family on social media, they said they have named six officials in their complaint – supreme commander of the Taliban, head of the Taliban leadership council, chief spokesperson, minister of defence in Taliban, Governor of Kandahar province and Taliban spokesperson.

Avi Singh, the lawyer representing Siddiqui’s family, said in the statement: “The Taliban targeted and killed Danish because he was a journalist and an Indian. This is an international crime. In the absence of rule of law in Afghanistan, the ICC has jurisdiction to investigate and try the perpetrators of Danish’s murder. As the Taliban strives for international legitimacy, it must face accountability for its past actions.”

Danish, 38, was the first Indian to win the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for covering the Rohingya refugee crisis. He studied at Jamia Millia Islamia where his father was a professor.