ICC Issues Arrest Warrants for Two Top Taliban Leaders Over Gender-Based Persecution of Women and Girls

PNN INTERNATIONAL DESK: The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two top Taliban leaders—Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani—on charges of crimes against humanity, specifically gender-based persecution against women and girls. Agence France-Presse (AFP) confirmed this development.

ICC judges stated there are reasonable grounds to suspect that Hibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani are directly linked to the ongoing persecution of women in Afghanistan. The court added that while the Taliban has imposed various restrictions on the entire population, they have specifically targeted women and girls solely because of their gender, thereby depriving them of their fundamental rights and freedoms.

According to the judges, the Taliban has severely suppressed women's rights to education, personal privacy, family life, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, thought, conscience, and religion. Additionally, individuals whose gender identity deviates from the Taliban's views have also faced persecution.The period for the alleged crimes spans from August 15, 2021 (the day the Taliban seized power) to January 20, 2025. Noteworthy restrictions imposed by the Taliban include: banning girls from secondary school and women from university education; prohibiting women from working in NGOs and other organizations; expelling women from government jobs; closing beauty salons, parks, and gyms to women; forbidding women from traveling long distances without a male guardian; and banning women from publicly singing, reciting poetry, and expressing their voice and body.

The court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, applied for these arrest warrants in January 2025. At the time, he stated that Afghan women, girls, and the LGBTQ+ community were suffering unparalleled and cruel persecution, a direct result of the Taliban's policies. He also indicated that more arrest warrants for other Taliban officials would be issued in the future.