• Accuses Akhundzada, Hakim Haqqani of crimes against humanity for persecuting women and girls
• Taliban reject the move as ‘nonsense’, say they don’t recognise ICC

THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity for persecuting women and girls.

Judges said there were “reasonable grounds” to suspect Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhun­dzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani of committing gender-based persecution.

“While the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms,” the court said in a statement.

The Taliban had “sever­ely deprived” girls and women of the rights to education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion, ICC judges said. “In addition, other persons were targeted because certain expressions of sexuality and/or gender identity were regar­d­ed as inconsistent with the Taliban’s policy on gender.”

It said the alleged crimes had been committed between Aug 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized power, and continued until at least Jan 20, 2025.

Taliban authorities on Tuesday rejected the ICC’s arrest warrants, calling the move “nonsense”. “Such nonsense announcements won’t affect the strong commitment and dedication to sharia” of Taliban authorities, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said, adding that the Taliban government does not recognise the court.

The ICC, based in The Hague, was set up to rule on the world’s worst crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

It has no police force of its own and relies on member states to carry out its arrest warrants — with mixed results. In theory, this means anyone subject to an ICC arrest warrant cannot travel to a member state for fear of being detained.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2025