THE HAGUE, Netherlands — On Thursday, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced a significant step towards addressing the treatment of women in Afghanistan by filing requests for arrest warrants for two prominent Taliban leaders.
Karim Khan made a declaration stating that he has asked the court’s judges to issue warrants for Hibatullah Akhunzada, the supreme leader of the Taliban, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, who heads Afghanistan’s Supreme Court. Both are accused of committing crimes against humanity through the systematic persecution of women based on their gender. Khan emphasized that Afghan women and girls, as well as members of the LGBTQI+ community, are undergoing an unparalleled, severe, and ongoing form of oppression under Taliban rule.
Since regaining power in 2021, the Taliban have enacted various policies that restrict women’s rights, prohibiting them from working, attending most public venues, and pursuing education beyond the sixth grade. Notably, Akhunzada issued a decree last year preventing buildings from being constructed with windows that could allow views into areas where women might be present.
Human rights organizations have voiced their support for the International Criminal Court’s recent actions against the Taliban leaders. Liz Evenson, the international justice director for Human Rights Watch, commented that the persistent and systematic violations of the rights of women and girls, including the bans on education and the repression of advocates for women’s rights, have continued unchecked. She pointed out that the requests for warrants represent a vital opportunity for accountability in the absence of justice within Afghanistan.
This move marks the first instance in the court’s history in which crimes against the LGBTQ+ community are being categorized as crimes against humanity. In 2022, the judges at the International Criminal Court approved the chief prosecutor’s request to resume investigations into Afghanistan to address the evolving human rights crisis. The original inquiry had been paused after the Afghan government asserted its capability to conduct the investigations itself.
Khan cited the hopelessness of effective domestic investigations in Afghanistan under Taliban control as a reason for the renewed interest in the inquiry. However, his decision to concentrate on the crimes committed by the Taliban and the affiliated Islamic State group drew criticism from various human rights groups. He stated that he would deprioritize investigations into offenses committed by U.S. forces.
The previous chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, had received endorsement in 2020 to initiate an examination of alleged offenses involving Afghan government forces, Taliban members, U.S. military personnel, and operatives from U.S. intelligence dating back to 2002. The scrutiny of American actions led to sanctions being imposed on Bensouda by the previous Trump administration, which were enacted while her term was still active and concluded in 2021.
Judges at the International Criminal Court are not bound by a specific timeline to issue decisions regarding requests for arrest warrants, although these rulings generally have an average duration of about four months. The pre-trial chamber took three weeks to deliver an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023, while it required six months to reach a decision in the case involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the previous year.
