ICC Issues Warrant On Taliban Regime

Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada

ICC Issues Arrest Warrants for Taliban Leaders Over Persecution of Women and Girls

By Ximena Rodríguez-López

THE HAGUE, Netherlands  -The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for two senior leaders of the Taliban—Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani—accusing them of crimes against humanity for the systematic persecution of women and girls in Afghanistan. The announcement was made on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, following a months-long investigation into widespread human rights abuses committed under Taliban rule since their return to power in 2021.

According to court documents, the charges are based on a coordinated effort by the Taliban to erase female people from public life through state-sanctioned policies of exclusion, restriction, and intimidation. The ICC states that these actions constitute a deliberate and institutional campaign against a specific sex—female—which meets the legal threshold for crimes against humanity.

Since regaining control of Afghanistan, the Taliban has barred girls from receiving secondary or higher education, shut down beauty salons and women’s employment spaces, and prohibited women from traveling without a male guardian. Female people have also been banned from parks, gyms, and most public spaces. Those who defy the regime’s edicts have faced beatings, imprisonment, or worse. Many women have been forced into house arrest under the guise of modesty laws, enforced through physical punishments and threats.

The ICC’s investigation reportedly included testimony from Afghan women, legal experts, and international human rights observers. The evidence suggests that the Taliban leadership knowingly created and enforced laws intended to suppress the movement, education, autonomy, and visibility of women and girls. These policies, the court argues, were not incidental but intentional—part of a broader ideological framework that views female people as subordinate.

The issuance of arrest warrants is largely symbolic for now, as the Taliban leaders are unlikely to surrender or be handed over to the ICC by Afghan authorities. However, the move marks a significant development in the global recognition of sex-based persecution as a prosecutable offense under international law. It also reinforces the principle that no governing body is above scrutiny when it comes to crimes against humanity.

The ICC’s decision has drawn attention from women’s rights groups around the world who have long called for accountability for the Taliban’s violations. The warrants serve as both an official condemnation and a potential path to justice for the millions of Afghan women and girls who have endured systemic oppression under Taliban rule.

As of Tuesday evening, there has been no public response from Taliban officials. The ICC’s warrants remain active and enforceable in the over 120 countries that are party to the Rome Statute.