The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders.
On Tuesday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban officials on charges of crimes against humanity. These warrants have been issued against Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the head of the judiciary of this group.
The court judges stated that there are reasonable grounds to believe that these two individuals have engaged in the systematic persecution and oppression of women and girls due to the Taliban’s gender policies.
In an official statement, the court emphasized that the Taliban, by imposing restrictions specifically against women and girls, have deprived them of fundamental rights such as education, privacy, family life, and freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience, and religion.
It is also stated that some other individuals have been targeted due to expressing sexual orientations or gender identities that conflict with Taliban policies.
These alleged crimes began when the Taliban came to power on August 15, 2021, and have continued at least until January 20, 2025.