The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for two top Taliban leaders in Afghanistan on charges of abuses against women and girls.
ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to suspect Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhunzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani of committing gender-based persecution.
“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,” the court said in a statement.
“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,” the court added.
The two Taliban leaders are now wanted men for their alleged persecution of women, girls, and gender nonconforming people. The international community should fully back the ICC in its critical work in Afghanistan and globally, including through concerted efforts to enforce the court’s warrants.
