ISTANBUL

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, accusing them of crimes against humanity and systemic gender-based persecution in Afghanistan since the group’s return to power.

In a statement, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber II said 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.

The chamber said these acts, carried out from Aug. 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan, to at least Jan. 20, 2025, amount to widespread and systematic violations of fundamental rights and freedoms.

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

Others, including individuals identified as "allies of girls and women," were also targeted on political grounds, the court said.

The chamber found that the persecution extended beyond direct violence to include institutionalized harm and discriminatory social norms.

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

It further noted that individuals perceived as opposing the Taliban policies, even passively, were also targeted, adding that the crimes formed part of an official governmental policy.

While the arrest warrants were initially issued under seal on Jan. 31, 2024, the chamber decided to publicly disclose their existence to prevent the further commission of these crimes and to serve the interests of justice.