ICC Issues Arrest Warrants for Taliban Leaders over Gender-Based Persecution in Afghanistan

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders on charges of crimes against humanity, including gender-based persecution against women, girls, and others who do not conform to the group’s strict gender policies.

In a major development on Tuesday (July 8), the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber II confirmed there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s Supreme Leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the Chief Justice of the Taliban’s judiciary, were responsible—either by ordering, inducing, or soliciting—the persecution of civilians based on gender and political grounds.