KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The International Criminal Court’s announcement today of arrest warrants for Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani has drawn strong reactions from global human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, who called the move a significant but overdue step toward justice for victims of gender-based persecution in Afghanistan.
The warrants, issued by the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber II, allege that the two senior Taliban leaders committed crimes against humanity, including systemic gender-based persecution of women, girls, and individuals who do not conform to the Taliban’s rigid gender norms, from August 15, 2021, to at least January 20, 2025.
Human Rights Watch welcomed the decision, calling it a long-awaited acknowledgment of the suffering inflicted under the Taliban’s rule.
Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said the move signals to victims that the international community is listening.
“The ICC prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants … should put the Taliban’s oppression of women, girls, and gender nonconforming people back on the international community’s radar.” Said Evenson.
She emphasized that the warrants represent not only legal accountability but also moral recognition of the harm caused by discriminatory policies that stripped Afghan women and girls of their basic rights. Evenson called on ICC member states to actively cooperate in enforcing the warrants and to ensure that justice does not remain symbolic.
Amnesty International echoed these sentiments, describing the ICC’s action as a “significant step,” but warned that it must be followed by concrete international efforts.
In earlier statements, Amnesty had noted that the targeting of women, girls, and LGBTQI individuals under the Taliban amounted to systemic persecution. Today, the organization reiterated that these warrants reflect only a fraction of the broader violations committed in Afghanistan and urged the ICC to expand its investigations to include other Taliban figures.
Amnesty also stressed the need for the international community to provide meaningful support to Afghan victims and to hold the Taliban accountable through diplomatic and legal mechanisms.
Both organizations underscored that enforcement remains the greatest challenge, as neither Akhundzada nor Haqqani is likely to face arrest inside Afghanistan.
The Taliban leadership has not responded to the ICC announcement, and Afghanistan is not a state party to the Rome Statute
The ICC’s move has been seen as a rare international attempt to address the widespread human rights violations occurring under Taliban rule. Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban have issued a series of edicts that have effectively erased women from public life, banned girls from education, and punished those perceived as opposing their gender policies.
Human rights groups have long warned that these actions amount to crimes under international law.
While the issuance of arrest warrants may not immediately change the situation on the ground, rights groups say it offers a measure of justice for those who have endured years of repression. It also puts renewed pressure on governments and international institutions to act decisively in support of Afghan women and marginalized communities.
