07/08/2025
🚨BREAKING: ICC Issues Arrest Warrants for Taliban Leaders Over Crimes Against Humanity!
📍The Hague, July 8, 2025 | HewadPress
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban officials, including the group’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani. The court accuses them of crimes against humanity and war crimes, particularly for the systematic persecution of women and girls in Afghanistan.
In a statement released Tuesday, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said the charges stem from actions committed between August 15, 2021 — the day the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan — and at least January 20, 2025. The allegations include gender-based persecution, imprisonment, torture, enforced disappearances, and severe restrictions on education, employment, and freedom of movement.
“These alleged crimes have caused immense suffering and are deeply injurious to the human dignity of women and girls across Afghanistan,” said Khan.
This is the first time the ICC has issued arrest warrants explicitly focused on gender persecution as a crime against humanity. The court’s Pre-Trial Chamber II found reasonable grounds to believe that both Taliban leaders bear criminal responsibility for the policies and practices implemented under their leadership.
The Taliban has rejected the ICC’s jurisdiction and dismissed the charges, calling them politically motivated and incompatible with Islamic Sharia law.
The warrants mean that any ICC member state is now legally obligated to arrest the two individuals if they travel to their territory. However, enforcement remains uncertain given the lack of diplomatic recognition and limited engagement many countries maintain with the Taliban government.
Human rights organizations welcomed the ICC’s move. Amnesty International called it a “milestone in the global fight against gender-based oppression,” while Human Rights Watch urged countries to uphold their legal obligations under the Rome Statute.
The ICC continues to investigate additional alleged crimes in Afghanistan, including those committed by other groups such as the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). Prosecutor Khan emphasized that the court’s focus remains on ensuring accountability for the most serious crimes under international law.
HewadPress News Desk