The Hague: In a historic move, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s Supreme Leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Chief Justice of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court, over grave allegations of crimes against humanity, specifically the systematic oppression of women and girls under the Taliban’s rule since 2021.
This marks the first time the ICC has targeted Taliban leadership and one of the rare occasions the court has acted explicitly against gender-based persecution as a core crime. The charges come after a thorough investigation into the Taliban’s policies following their return to power in August 2021, when the group swiftly dismantled decades of hard-won rights for women in Afghanistan.
The court stated that Akhundzada and Haqqani were responsible for orchestrating and enforcing a nationwide system of repression—barring women and girls from schools and universities, banning them from employment in NGOs and government institutions, restricting travel without a male guardian, and suppressing access to healthcare and public life. These acts, according to the ICC, constitute an intentional and widespread campaign of gender persecution.
The charges were authorized under Article 7 of the Rome Statute, which recognizes persecution on the grounds of gender, religion, or other identity as a crime against humanity when it forms part of a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population. The court noted that the policies in question were not isolated incidents, but part of a deliberate governance strategy aimed at erasing women from Afghan public life.
The ICC emphasized that this includes not just persecution of women and girls based on their sex, but also individuals punished for challenging the Taliban's restrictions or advocating for gender rights, as well as those who diverge from gender norms. Victims include activists, educators, journalists, and aid workers—many of whom have been detained, beaten, or disappeared in recent years.
In response, the Taliban issued a strongly worded statement rejecting the ICC’s jurisdiction over Afghanistan and describing the charges as “nonsense” and a “blatant interference in Islamic governance.” Taliban officials argued that their rule is based on Sharia law and that foreign institutions have no right to question their interpretation or its implementation.
They also accused the ICC of selectively targeting Islamic countries while ignoring alleged violations by Western powers in other regions, calling the move a political stunt designed to undermine the Taliban's authority and Afghanistan’s sovereignty.
Although the arrest warrants are unlikely to be enforced inside Afghanistan where the Taliban remain in firm control—they carry significant symbolic weight and legal implications. As members of the ICC are obligated to comply with its rulings, any travel by Akhundzada or Haqqani to a member state could potentially lead to their detention and extradition to The Hague.
The move also reinforces international recognition of the Taliban’s governance as a violator of basic human rights, complicating their attempts at gaining formal diplomatic recognition or accessing frozen Afghan assets abroad.
Human rights organizations have widely applauded the ICC’s bold step. Amnesty International called it a “milestone in global accountability for gender apartheid,” while Human Rights Watch urged governments to now back the court with enforcement measures, particularly in international forums like the UN Security Council.
Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, hailed the warrants as a “long-overdue acknowledgment” of the suffering endured by millions of Afghan women and girls. She urged the global community to translate these legal actions into tangible protections for those still trapped inside Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
This development also sends a strong message to authoritarian governments worldwide: gender-based oppression is not a domestic issue exempt from international scrutiny, but a potentially prosecutable crime under international law. As the ICC continues to broaden its scope of justice, it establishes that systematic violations of women's rights will not be tolerated with impunity.
The arrest warrants now place the Taliban’s most senior leadership under legal pressure from the international community, even as the regime continues to tighten its grip over Afghan society. For the thousands of Afghan women denied education, silenced in their homes, and stripped of dignity, this move represents a step toward global recognition of their suffering and a call for justice that transcends borders.