ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II issues arrest warrants on gender grounds against girls, women and other persons non-conforming with the Taliban’s policy on gender, gender identity or expression
Today, 8 July 2025, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “the Court”) has issued, in the context of the Situation of Afghanistan, warrants of arrest for Mr Haibatullah Akhundzada, Supreme Leader of the Taliban, and Mr Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Chief Justice of the Taliban, who have exercised de facto authority in Afghanistan at least from 15 August 2021.
The Chamber has found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Haibatullah Akhundzada and Mr Abdul Hakim Haqqani have committed by ordering, inducing or soliciting the crime against humanity of persecution, under article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute, on gender grounds against girls, women and other persons non-conforming with the Taliban’s policy on gender, gender identity or expression; and on political grounds against persons perceived as “allies of girls and women”. These crimes are believed to have been committed on the territory of Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power on 15 August 2021, and have continued until at least 20 January 2025.
Pre-Trial Chamber II considered that the Taliban have implemented a governmental policy that resulted in severe violations of fundamental rights and freedoms of the civilian population of Afghanistan, in connection with conducts of murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and enforced disappearance. 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. Specifically, the Taliban severely deprived, through decrees and edicts, girls and women of the rights to education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion. 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.
In assessing the evidence before it, the Chamber has taken into account the object and purpose of Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute. This provision reflects the Statute’s broader aim to protect civilian populations from serious and systemic violations of fundamental rights, particularly those targeting vulnerable groups. In this context, the Chamber considered that the protection of victims of such crimes – especially women and girls who are often disproportionately affected by gender-based persecution – is central to the provision’s purpose. The Chamber found that gender persecution encompasses not only direct acts of violence, but also systemic and institutionalised forms of harm, including the imposition of discriminatory societal norms.
Furthermore, the Chamber found that individuals perceived as opposing these policies, even passively or through omission, were also targeted by the Taliban. This included those described as “allies of girls and women”, who were viewed as political opponents.
The Chamber has decided that the warrants will remain under seal at this stage, in order to protect victims and witnesses and safeguard the proceedings. Nevertheless, the Chamber considered that the conduct addressed is ongoing and that public awareness of the warrants may contribute to the prevention of the further commission of these crimes. Accordingly, the Chamber found that it is in the interests of justice to publicly disclose the existence of these warrants.
For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Spokesperson and Head of Public Affairs Unit, International Criminal Court, by telephone at: +31 (0)70 515-9152 or +31 (0)6 46448938 or by e-mail at: fadi.el-abdallah@icc-cpi.int
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More: https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/situation-afghanistan-icc-pre-trial-chamber-ii-issues-arrest-warrants-haibatullah-akhundzada
International and Comparative SOGIESC Law - Professor Andreas R Ziegler 