I.C.C. Seeks Arrests of Taliban Leaders Over Persecution of Women

Asia Pacific|I.C.C. Seeks Arrests of Taliban Leaders Over Persecution of Women

Judges at the International Criminal Court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for the leader of Afghanistan’s Taliban government and its chief justice, citing draconian restrictions against women and girls as evidence of crimes against humanity.

The Taliban have “specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms,” the court said in a statement detailing the arrest warrants against Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the country’s top justice official.

Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, they have mostly erased women from public life, preventing them from speaking outside, accessing most workplaces or going to public spaces like parks, gyms and salons.

Women cannot travel long distances without being accompanied by a male relative, and they must be covered from head to toe when outside the home. Girls cannot attend school beyond sixth grade.

These measures, affecting half of the country’s 41 million people, have made Afghanistan the most restrictive country in the world for women, experts say. Some accuse the Taliban of orchestrating a “gender apartheid.”

The court’s judges said that the policies imposed on the population had led to murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and forced disappearances.