The International Criminal Court has issued arrest orders for several Taliban leaders.
In a groundbreaking move, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued sealed arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, Haibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Hakkani, on charges of crimes against humanity. The warrants, issued on July 8, 2025, accuse the Taliban supreme leader and the Supreme Court head of persecuting women, girls, and individuals who do not conform to the Taliban's strict gender policies since the group regained control of Afghanistan nearly four years ago.
The ICC's statement detailed that the Taliban leadership has systematically deprived women and girls of fundamental rights and freedoms, including education, privacy, family life, freedom of movement, expression, thought, conscience, and religion. The warrants further specify that those who defy the Taliban's policies on gender, gender identity, or political beliefs have also been targeted.
The ICC Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan, requested the arrest warrants in January. Once the suspects are on a member state's territory, they must be arrested and handed over to the court. However, enforcement of the warrants is challenging, as both leaders remain in Afghanistan, where the Taliban are the de facto governing authority and generally not susceptible to ICC jurisdiction without international cooperation or pressure.
The Taliban spokesperson, Hamdullah Fitrat, has described the charges as "baseless rhetoric" and does not recognize the International Criminal Court or any obligation towards it. The Taliban's policies have been condemned by the judges in The Hague for severe violations of fundamental rights and freedoms.
The ICC and international advocates have called for the global community to support the enforcement of these warrants and to back ongoing investigations into all alleged perpetrators of abuses in Afghanistan. The prosecution considers the denial of basic rights to education, privacy, and family life as a means by which the Taliban has increasingly removed Afghan women and girls from public life.
The Taliban's policies deny women and girls the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies, the right to freedom of movement, expression, and religion. The prosecutor's evidence includes witness statements, official decrees, videos, and statements from the Taliban. The Taliban's policies result in severe violations of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the civilian population, including murder, imprisonment, torture, and rape.
The arrest warrants for Akhundzada and Hakkani are the first issued as part of the investigation against the Taliban. The prosecutor's investigations into crimes in Afghanistan resumed in 2022, following a pause due to the Taliban taking power on August 15, 2021. Other people are also victims of the Taliban's policies, as they do not accept expressions of sexuality or gender identity. The Taliban's policies deny women and girls the right to education, privacy, family life, freedom of movement, expression, and religion.
The ICC does not have its own police force and relies on the help of its member states for the execution of arrest warrants. The prosecutor's statement reiterated the ICC's commitment to holding those responsible for crimes against humanity accountable, regardless of their position or power. The ICC's actions are a significant step towards ensuring justice for the victims of the Taliban's policies in Afghanistan.
- The ICC's investigations into crimes in Afghanistan resumed in 2022 and have targeted the Taliban for their violations of health-and-wellness, specifically women's health, by denying women and girls the right to education and privacy.
- The ICC has accused the Taliban supreme leader and the Supreme Court head of war-and-conflicts crimes against humanity, including persecuting individuals who do not conform to their strict gender policies, thereby infringing upon general-news matters such as freedom of expression, thought, conscience, and religion.
- The ICC has issued arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders on charges of crimes against humanity related to their policies that result in severe violations of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the civilian population, including murder, imprisonment, torture, and rape, which fall under crime-and-justice category.
- The ICC's actions, such as the issuance of arrest warrants for Taliban leaders, are part of the broader politics landscape, as the international community seeks to hold those responsible for such abuses accountable and ensure justice for the victims of the Taliban's policies in Afghanistan.
