ICC issues arrest warrants for Taliban leaders over persecution of women

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FILE PHOTO: An Afghan woman walks among Taliban soldiers at a checkpoint in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Ali Khara/File Photo

THE HAGUE - The International Criminal Court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders in Afghanistan including supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, accusing them of the persecution of women and girls.

The ICC said there were reasonable grounds to believe that Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, chief justice of the Taliban, had committed the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds against girls, women and other persons non-conforming with the Talibans policy on gender, gender identity or expression.

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

The Taliban condemned the warrants as an example of hostility towards Islam.

We neither recognise anything by the name of an international court nor do we consider ourselves bound by it, the Taliban governments spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, added in a statement.

It is the first time judges of the ICC have issued a warrant on charges of gender 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.

The full warrants and details on the specific incidents they are based on remain under seal to protect witnesses and victims, the court said.

NGOs hailed the warrants and called on the