The International Criminal Court’s (ICC)has announced plans to seek an arrest warrant for the leader of the Taliban over the alleged persecution of Afghan women and girls.
The Taliban’s Supreme Leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, has been accused of “unprecedented, unconscionable, and ongoing persecution” based on gender since 2021.
Thejudges must approve the request for a warrant.
Taliban
The Taliban is an extremist Islamist group that held power in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. In 2021, it seized power again after the U.S. and allies (including Australia) withdrew their troops from Afghanistan.
Akhundzada has been the Taliban’s Supreme Leader since 2016.
Since the Taliban came power, Afghanistan has become “the most repressive country in the world for women’s rights,” according to senior UN officials.
Persecution
The Taliban has imposed severe restrictions on women since taking power, including bans on attending high schools and universities, and speaking in public.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan alleges the “unprecedented, unconscionable, and ongoing persecution” also targets Afghanistan’s LGBTQI+ community, and anyone “perceived as not conforming with [the Taliban’s] ideological expectations of gender identity or expression.”’
The allegations span from 15 August 2021, when the Taliban took power, to the present.
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Arrest warrant
This is the ICC’s first arrest warrant application for a member of the Taliban since the 2021 takeover.
An application for a warrant was also made for Afghanistan’s top judge, Abdul Hakim Haqqani.
“The Taliban’s interpretation of [Islamic law] should not, and may not, be used to justify the deprivation of fundamental human rights… Afghan victims and survivors have suffered injustice for far too long,” Khan said.
Khan’s application will need to be approved by a panel of three judges.
Impact
124 countries, including Australia, are members of the ICC, meaning they must arrest anyone within their borders with an active warrant.
Australia is part of a separate gender discrimination case against the Taliban in the International Court of Justice.
This court oversees disputes between nation-states and global organisations.
Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said Australia launched the case to stop the Taliban’s “campaign of sustained and systematic oppression” of women and girls.
