The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for senior Taliban leaders, including Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, over alleged crimes against humanity.
According to media reports, ICC judges believe there are reasonable grounds to accuse the two of systematically targeting Afghan women and girls by imposing severe gender-based restrictions and stripping them of fundamental rights.
The court noted that while the Taliban enforced general laws on the public, they specifically targeted females, taking away their rights to education, movement, and freedom of expression and religion. The judges added that people were also persecuted for their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Situation in #Afghanistan: #ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II issues arrest warrants for Haibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani ⤵️ https://t.co/krawQGJQ52
— Int’l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) July 8, 2025
These alleged crimes began after the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, and continued until at least January 20, 2025.
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The ICC said its Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan had requested the warrants on January 30. After reviewing the evidence, the court approved the arrests of Akhundzada and Haqqani.
