ICC issues arrest warrants for top Taliban leaders over persecution of women and girls

# ICC issues arrest warrants for top Taliban leaders over persecution of women and girls

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for two top Taliban leaders, marking a major legal step against Afghanistan’s rulers over their treatment of women, girls and others targeted by the group’s rules.

The warrants were issued against Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhunzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the head of the Supreme Court, on charges tied to the persecution of women and girls since the Taliban seized power nearly four years ago, according to the Associated Press. The court also said the alleged persecution extended to some people who did not conform to Taliban gender ideology, including members of the LGBTQI+ community, and to those perceived as allies of girls and women.

In practical terms, the warrants add formal judicial weight to years of reporting and international criticism over the Taliban’s restrictions on education, movement, expression, privacy and family life for women and girls. The court said the measures had severely deprived women and girls of those rights through decrees and edicts.

The Taliban rejected the court’s authority. Zabihullah Mujahid, the group’s chief spokesman, said the decision reflected hostility toward Islam and Shariah law and called it an insult to Muslims. That response is consistent with the Taliban’s broader refusal to accept outside legal pressure over internal governance.

The ICC’s move comes after the court’s prosecution office sought the warrants in January, saying Afghan women and girls and the LGBTQI+ community were facing an unprecedented and ongoing persecution. Human Rights Watch welcomed the warrants and urged international action to help enforce them.

The broader context matters. Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have barred women from public places and girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade, while tightening social controls that have left little room for outside oversight. The court’s action does not change those policies immediately, but it does place two of the movement’s most senior figures in the crosshairs of international justice.

The ICC has long faced criticism for difficulty enforcing its warrants, and this case will be no exception. Still, the decision signals that the court is prepared to treat the Taliban’s gender policies not simply as human-rights abuses, but as conduct serious enough to support criminal process.

The warrants were issued on the same day as a United Nations resolution condemning the Taliban’s worsening repression, underscoring how isolated the group remains on the international stage. For the court, the action is also a statement that the suffering of Afghan women and girls remains a live legal question, not just a political one.