ICC issues arrest warrants for Taliban leaders over gender-based persecution

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, accusing them of crimes against humanity and systematic gender-based persecution in Afghanistan following the group’s return to power in August 2021.

In a statement, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber II announced that there are "reasonable grounds to believe that Akhundzada and Haqqani committed the crime against humanity of persecution by ordering, inducing, or soliciting discriminatory policies targeting women, girls, and others who do not conform with the Taliban’s views on gender identity or expression," Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The chamber said the acts were carried out from August 15, 2021 — the day the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan — until at least January 20, 2025, and constituted "widespread and systematic violations of fundamental rights and freedoms."

According to the ICC, the Taliban leadership implemented policies that severely restricted basic rights for women and girls, including access to education, freedom of movement, expression, privacy, family life, thought, conscience, and religion.

The court also noted that individuals identified as "allies of girls and women" were persecuted on political grounds. The chamber concluded that the Taliban’s actions amounted to more than just direct violence, extending to institutionalised harm and discriminatory societal norms.

“Gender persecution encompasses not only direct acts of violence, but also systemic and institutionalized forms of harm,” the ICC stated.

It added that even individuals passively opposing Taliban policies were targeted, emphasising that these crimes were part of an "official governmental policy."

Although the arrest warrants were originally issued under seal on January 31, 2024, the chamber opted to unseal them in the interest of justice and to help prevent further crimes.

By Sabina Mammadli