The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) says he is seeking arrest warrants for senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan over the persecution of women, which is a crime against humanity.
Karim Khan said there are well-founded reasons to suspect that supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani “have criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of gender-based persecution”.
Khan said Afghan women and girls, as well as the LGBTQ community, were facing “unprecedented, unreasonable and persistent persecution” by the Taliban.
“Our action signals that the status quo for women and girls in Afghanistan is unacceptable,” Khan added.
ICC judges will now consider Khan’s application before deciding whether to issue arrest warrants, a process that could take weeks or months.
The tribunal, based in The Hague, was established to rule on the world’s most horrific crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
This institution has no mechanisms for implementing decisions and relies on the 125 member states to implement arrest warrants.
Theoretically, this means that anyone subject to an arrest warrant issued by the ICC cannot travel to a member state for fear of being arrested.
Khan said he would soon send additional requests to issue arrest warrants for other Taliban officials.
The chief prosecutor also said that other crimes against humanity are being committed, in addition to persecution.
” Perceived resistance or opposition to the Taliban was and has been brutally suppressed through the commission of crimes including murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts, ” he said.
After returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban vowed not to apply the harsh policies they first held when they were in power from 1996-2001. But they soon imposed restrictions on women and girls, and the United Nations has said it amounts to “gender apartheid”.
Under the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic Sharia law, enforced by Akhundzada, women and girls have been placed under severe restrictions on their rights.
The Taliban have banned girls from secondary education and women from attending university. Authorities have also imposed restrictions on the employment of women in non-governmental organizations and in the public sector.
Beauty salons have been closed, as have gyms and bathrooms, with women banned from visiting public parks and not allowed to travel long distances without a man.
Human rights groups and the international community have condemned the restrictions, saying they are a key reason why countries do not officially recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s leader.
The Taliban have repeatedly rejected international criticism of their policies, saying citizens have all rights under Sharia law.
