KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban has condemned the arrest warrant sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its leaders, calling the move “unfair, lacking legal basis, and politically motivated.”
In a statement shared on X on Friday, the Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the ICC of double standards, claiming the court had “turned a blind eye to crimes committed by foreign forces and their domestic allies during their twenty years of occupation in Afghanistan.”
“Like many other decisions of the (ICC), it is devoid of a fair legal basis, is a matter of double standards, and is politically motivated,” the Taliban statement reads.
The ministry also argued that the ICC’s actions “further erode the already non-existent credibility of the said institution, rendering its status and decisions completely meaningless on the international level.”
The Taliban statement comes a day after ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan announced that his office had filed a request for arrest warrants against Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and the regime’s Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani. Prosecutor Khan said that the Taliban leaders are involved in gender-based persecution in Afghanistan, which amounts to a crime against humanity.
“These are the first applications for arrest warrants in the Situation in Afghanistan,” Khan said, adding his office will “file further applications for other senior members of the Taliban soon.”
The request is currently under examination by ICC judges. If approved, member states will be obligated to cooperate and take action to arrest the accused if they enter these countries.
However, rights groups, the UN Rapporteur, and Afghan women have welcomed the ICC’s move, viewing it as a crucial step toward holding the Taliban accountable for their human rights abuses.
Amnesty International called it an important development, giving hope to Afghan women and girls, both inside and outside Afghanistan, as well as those persecuted based on gender identity, including members of the LGBTQI community.
Amnesty International urged the ICC prosecutor to expand investigations in Afghanistan to include all serious violations from May 2003 onward that amount to crimes under international law.
The rights group further called on the international community to recognize gender apartheid as a crime under international law to strengthen efforts against institutionalized systems of oppression based on gender.
Earlier, human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Rawadari, along with UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett, several women’s rights movements in Afghanistan, and groups opposing the Taliban, have welcomed the ICC’s actions.