Monitoring Desk: The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has welcomed the decision of Pre-Trial Chamber II to unseal four arrest warrants issued against senior Afghan Taliban leaders, reaffirming that the Court’s action against Taliban Amir Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada and other senior officials remains an active judicial process.
In its latest statement issued on October 6, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor said Pre-Trial Chamber II had unsealed four warrants of arrest issued in the Situation in Afghanistan on July 8, 2025 and September 9, 2025, concerning the crime against humanity of persecution on gender and political grounds.
The development follows the ICC Prosecutor’s applications for arrest warrants against senior Taliban leadership over alleged persecution of Afghan women, girls and other persons who do not conform to the Taliban’s policies concerning gender, gender identity or expression.
On January 23, 2025, the Office of the Prosecutor submitted its first two applications for warrants of arrest against the Supreme Leader of the Taliban, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Chief Justice of the so-called “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”.
According to the ICC, both men have exercised de facto authority in Afghanistan since at least August 15, 2021.
The applications were made for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds under Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute.
On July 8, 2025, ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II issued arrest warrants against Akhundzada and Haqqani.
The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for ordering, inducing or soliciting the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds against girls, women and other persons perceived as not conforming with the Taliban’s policies on gender, gender identity or expression.
The Chamber also found grounds concerning persecution on political grounds against persons perceived by the Taliban as “allies of girls and women”.
The ICC Prosecutor’s Office subsequently submitted two additional applications for arrest warrants on March 6, 2025 against Habibullah Agha, Acting Minister of Education, and Neda Mohammad Nadim, Acting Minister of Higher Education.
Welcoming the issuance of the additional warrants, ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said the development represented further vindication of the rights of Afghan women and girls, particularly their right to education.
“The issuance of the two additional arrest warrants in the Situation of Afghanistan is a further vindication of the rights of Afghan women and girls, particularly their right to education. Education is a fundamental human right that must be enjoyed by all. Afghan women and girls deserve accountability for the severe deprivation of their rights and freedoms,” she said.
The ICC said the warrants also recognise the rights and lived experiences of people whom the Taliban perceive as failing to conform with their ideological expectations concerning gender identity or expression, including members of the LGBTQI+ community, as well as people whom the Taliban perceive as allies of girls and women.
The Office of the Prosecutor further welcomed the judges’ finding that gender persecution encompasses systematic and institutionalised forms of harm.
According to the ICC, the arrest warrants collectively demonstrate its continuing commitment to pursuing accountability for gender-based crimes, including gender persecution in Afghanistan.
The ICC Prosecutor’s Office noted that its Policy on the Crime of Gender Persecution recognises the complex nature of victimisation and that acts of gender persecution may involve different forms of harm and are not necessarily manifested through sexual or physical violence.
“These warrants highlight the profound harm caused by the imposition of institutional systems of discrimination,” the ICC said.
Deputy Prosecutor Khan described the situation of Afghan women and girls as one of the gravest examples of gender persecution.
“The plight of Afghan women and girls is one of the gravest examples of gender persecution. Afghan women and girls are systematically discriminated against, on the basis of their gender. They deserve justice,” she said.
The ICC Office of the Prosecutor said it would continue investigating allegations of gender persecution by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan.
It added that investigations also cover allegations of persecution of the Afghan civilian population on other grounds, including political, ethnic and religious grounds.
The latest ICC statement therefore underlines that the arrest warrants issued against Akhundzada and other senior Taliban officials form part of an ongoing judicial process concerning alleged crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, particularly the systematic deprivation of the rights and freedoms of women and girls.
The Court’s proceedings against the Taliban leadership are being pursued under the ICC’s investigation into the Situation in Afghanistan, with the Prosecutor’s Office continuing to examine alleged crimes falling within the Court’s jurisdiction.
