The Guardian: ICC chief prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Taliban leaders over persecution of women

The Guardian reports

The international criminal court’s chief prosecutor has requested arrest warrants for the Taliban’s supreme leader and Afghanistan’s chief justice on the grounds that their persecution of women and girls in Afghanistan is a crime against humanity.

It marks the first time the prosecutor has built a case around systemic crimes against women and girls, legal experts say. It is also a rare moment of vindication for Afghan activists, who over the last three years have often felt abandoned by the international community even as Taliban oppression deepened.

Shukria Barakzai, activist and former member of the Afghan parliament, said in a statement: “This historic announcement is a powerful message that impunity for flagrant violations of women’s rights is not to be tolerated in Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world. We are deeply grateful to all our Afghan sisters who have worked relentlessly toward this moment.”

Karim Khan, the ICC chief prosecutor, said in a statement that the Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, and chief justice, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, are “criminally responsible” for ongoing persecution of girls, women, the LGBTQ+ community and their allies.

Read full article:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/23/icc-chief-prosecutor-seeks-arrest-warrants-for-taliban-leaders-over-persecution-of-women?utm_source=gazette_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CoA+rules+on+naming+of+judges+%7c+MoJ+consults+on+higher+civil+legal+aid+fees+%7c+Day+of+the+Endangered+Lawyer_01%2f24%2f2025