ICC provides more details on arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders

AMSTERDAM, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court provided more details on Monday on arrest warrants issued last year for two Taliban leaders, Haibatullah Akhundzada, the group's supreme spiritual leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, who has been chief justice since 2021.

The ICC had already announced the existence of the warrants in July 2025, saying the men were accused of committing the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds against girls, women and other people who did not conform with the Taliban's policy on gender, gender identity or expression.

The precise contents of the warrants had remained sealed. Now the court has given more information about the findings of the judges who issued the warrants.

They found the suspects "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 strict rules and prohibitions on the entire Afghan population, they have specifically targeted women and girls by denying them the right to education, freedom of expression and freedom of movement, the judges found.

According to UN figures, half of Afghan women now ‌leave their homes only once or twice a month as Taliban-imposed restrictions curtail their freedom of movement and participation in public life.

Afghanistan remains the ​only country in the world to ban girls from secondary education and women from attending university, said UN Women, which promotes gender equality.