ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders in Afghanistan

By Stephanie van den Berg

The International Criminal Court prosecutor said on Thursday he had applied for arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders in Afghanistan including supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, accusing them of the persecution of women and girls.

A statement issued by the office of chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said investigators found reasonable grounds to believe that Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, who has served as chief justice since 2021, "bear criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds."

They are "criminally responsible for persecuting Afghan girls and women...and persons whom the Taliban perceived as allies of girls and women," the statement said.

Persecution has taken place across Afghanistan from at least Aug. 15, 2021 - the day that Taliban forces captured the capital Kabul - to the present day, the prosecutor said.

Since the Islamist group returned to power in 2021 it has clamped down on women's rights, including limits to schooling, work and general independence in daily life.

There was no immediate comment by Taliban leaders on the prosecutor's statement, which was welcomed by groups defending women's rights.

It will now be up to a three-judge panel at the ICC to rule on the prosecution request, which has no set deadline. Such procedures take an average of three months.

It was the first time ICC prosecutors have publicly sought warrants in their investigation into potential war crimes in Afghanistan, which dates back to 2007 and once included alleged crimes by the U.S. military there.

PERSECUTION OF GIRLS

Khan said his office was demonstrating its commitment to pursuing accountability for gender-based crimes and that the Taliban's interpretation of Islamic sharia law could not be a justification for human rights abuses or crimes.

"Afghan women and girls as well as the LGBTQI+ community are facing an unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution by the Taliban. Our action signals that the status quo for women and girls in Afghanistan is not acceptable," the prosecutor said.

Zalmai Nishat, founder of the UK-based charity Mosaic Afghanistan, said if ICC warrants were issued it may have little impact on Akhundzada, who rarely travels outside Afghanistan.

"But in terms of international reputation of the Taliban, this basically means a complete erosion of their international legitimacy, if they had any," he said.

COURT IN CRISIS

Khan's move came amid an existential crisis at the court, opened in The Hague in 2002 to prosecute individuals accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing new economic sanctions against it for issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged crimes in Gaza.

Moscow struck back at the ICC for its 2023 warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin by issuing a warrant of its own for Khan.

Despite the recent string of high-profile arrest warrants, courtrooms in The Hague are virtually empty and Khan is under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct in the workplace, which he denies.

The ICC has no police force and relies on its 125 member states to make arrests. But several European member states have expressed doubts about detaining Netanyahu and this week Italy arrested an ICC suspect, but failed to hand him over.