The International Criminal Court (ICC) has unsealed four arrest warrants against senior Taliban figures over the alleged persecution of women and girls in Afghanistan. The ICC judges made public warrants for Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, along with two other suspects, Habibullah Agha and Neda Mohammad Nadim. The court said there were reasonable grounds to believe that all four were criminally responsible for ordering, inducing or soliciting persecution, which constitutes a crime against humanity under Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty. According to the judges, the Taliban had implemented a policy that resulted in serious violations of the fundamental rights and freedoms of Afghanistan’s civilian population. The violations were linked to acts including murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and enforced disappearance. The ICC prosecutor had previously said that applications for arrest warrants against other senior Taliban members would follow.
ICC unseals arrest warrants for four senior Taliban figures
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