"The judges decided that an investigation into the situation in Afghanistan at this stage would not serve the interests of justice," the Hague-based court said in a statement on Friday.
The ICC’s decision comes just days after the United States, which had already issued threats to the court, revoked the chief prosecutor’s visa because the investigation involved crimes committed by USA forces.
While the judges said that it was reasonable to consider crimes had been committed in Afghanistan and would be admissible before the ICC, there were a number of conditions that led them to rule against opening an investigation.
In 2016, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda issued a report that found that US armed forces and the CIA may have committed war crimes by torturing detainees in Afghanistan between May 1, 2003, and December 31, 2014.
Bensouda requested authorization from the court to open a formal investigation in November 2017.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton has previously called the court "illegitimate" and any prosecution unjust. "We will not cooperate with the ICC. We will provide no assistance to the ICC, " Bolton said in September 2018.
"We will let the ICC die on its own. After all, for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us."
In March, the US secretary of state said his country would revoke or deny visas to any ICC personnel seeking to investigate possible war crimes by US forces or allies in Afghanistan.
ICC’s decision was widely condemned by rights groups.
“The International Criminal Court’s decision not to authorize an investigation into crimes committed in Afghanistan under international law marks a shocking abandonment of victims and will further weaken the court’s credibility”, Amnesty International said in a statement.
“None of the reasons given by the ICC judges justifies this decision. The gravest crimes can only ever be investigated in trying circumstances. If anything, the court’s reluctance to proceed with investigations in the face of such constraints only reveals its overreach and signals its weak resolve,” said Biraj Patnaik, South Asia Director at Amnesty International.
“The court has a moral and legal duty to reach out to the victims of crimes in Afghanistan and explain this decision.”
“The International Criminal Court’s judges’ rejection of an Afghanistan investigation is a devastating blow for victims who have suffered grievous crimes without redress,” said Param-Preet Singh, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch.
“The judges’ logic effectively allows member countries to opt out of cooperating with the court and sends a dangerous message to all governments that obstructionist tactics can put them beyond the court’s reach.”
“By closing the door on this investigation, the ICC judges have let political considerations outweigh the rights of victims to see their abusers held to account,” Singh said.