ICC Issues Four Arrest Warrants for Taliban Leaders Over Gender-Based Persecution
ICC unseals arrest warrants for Taliban leaders over gender-based persecution of women and girls in Afghanistan. New details revealed.
POLICY Wire — City, Country — The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued four arrest warrants targeting senior Taliban officials, accusing them of orchestrating systematic persecution against women and girls in Afghanistan, which constitutes a crime against humanity.
The court announced the warrants on Monday, revealing that they were issued between July and September 2025. The names included are Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Habibullah Agha, and Neda Mohammad Nadim. Their existence was first disclosed in July 2025.
The ICC found reasonable grounds to believe all four individuals are criminally responsible for perpetrating gender-based persecution, as outlined under Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute. This includes actions such as murder, imprisonment, torture, and enforced disappearance, targeting women, girls, and those who do not conform to the Taliban’s rigid gender policies.
The persecution occurred from August 15, 2021, when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, through at least January 20, 2025. The court highlighted that while some Taliban decrees applied broadly, women and girls were specifically targeted due to their gender. They were stripped of fundamental rights, including education, privacy, and freedom of movement, expression, and religion.
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In addition, individuals whose gender identity or sexual expression conflicted with Taliban ideology faced targeted repression. Those seen as passive opponents—such as allies of women and girls—were also persecuted as political adversaries. The ICC emphasized that the Rome Statute defines gender as a socially constructed concept, not solely biological, reflecting evolving international legal standards.
The ICC Prosecutor initially sought two warrants on January 23, 2025, and they were issued on July 8 of that year, initially sealed to protect victims and witnesses. The court later confirmed their existence. The prosecutor had indicated further applications against additional Taliban figures would follow.
Since the Taliban regained power in 2021, concerns over human rights abuses have escalated. Reports show worsening conditions for Afghans, with millions facing poverty and daily violations of basic freedoms. The Security Council recently addressed these issues, with civil society representatives highlighting that being born a woman in Afghanistan is considered a crime.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
