ICC arrest warrant for Taliban supreme leader

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants Tuesday for the Taliban’s supreme leader and the head of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court on charges of persecuting women and girls since seizing power nearly four years ago.

The warrants also accuse the leaders of persecuting “other persons non-conforming with the Taliban’s policy on gender, gender identity or expression; and on political grounds against persons perceived as allies of girls and women”.

The warrants were issued against Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhunzada and the head of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court, Abdul Hakim Haqqani.

In a statement, the court said the Taliban had “severely deprived, through decrees and edicts, girls and women of the rights to education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion. In addition, other persons were targeted because certain expressions of sexuality and/or gender identity were regarded as inconsistent with the Taliban’s policy on gender”.

The court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, sought the warrants in January, saying they recognised that “Afghan women and girls as well as the LGBTQI+ community are facing an unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution by the Taliban”.

Global advocacy group Human Rights Watch welcomed the decision.