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ICC Issues Sealed Arrest Warrants for Taliban Supreme Leader and Chief Justice

The first ICC charges of gender persecution carry sealed warrants urging member states to enforce justice despite the Taliban's refusal to recognize its authority.

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Abdul Kabir (C), Afghanistan's acting Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, speaks during a graduation ceremony of Manba-ul-Jihad, a madrassa or Islamic school, in Khost on January 24, 2025. Afghanistan's Taliban government said on January 24 an arrest warrant sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its leaders was "politically motivated". (Photo by AFP)
A Taliban security personnel stands over an armoured tank bearing a Taliban flag, as he keeps guard during a religious procession by Afghan Shiite Muslims celebrating Ashura, on the tenth day of the Islamic holy month of Muharram, in Kabul on July 6, 2025.
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Overview

  • On July 8, 2025, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber in The Hague issued sealed arrest warrants for Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani on charges of crimes against humanity for gender-based persecution.
  • The warrants allege that between August 15, 2021, and at least January 20, 2025, Taliban decrees deprived women and girls of education, movement, expression, thought, conscience, religion, privacy and family life.
  • These charges represent the first time the ICC has classified gender-based persecution as a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute.
  • Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan first sought these arrest warrants in January and has indicated he will pursue further indictments against additional Taliban figures.
  • The Taliban have dismissed the ICC’s authority as illegitimate, and the court is calling on its member states to arrest the accused to uphold international law.