At The Hague on January 23 (Reuters), the International Criminal Court prosecutor announced on Thursday that he had applied for arrest warrants for two individuals in Afghanistan, including the supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, accusing them of persecuting women and girls.
A statement released by Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan's office stated that investigators had found sufficient evidence to believe that both Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, who has been chief justice since 2021, are criminally responsible for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds.
The statement indicated that they had persecuted Afghan girls and women, as well as individuals who were considered allies of girls and women by the Taliban.
Persecution has been ongoing throughout Afghanistan since at least August 15, 2021, the day the Taliban seized control of Kabul. The Taliban, who regained power in 2021, have restricted women's rights, leading to limitations on education, employment, and general autonomy.
Taliban leaders have not responded immediately to the prosecutor's statement, which was positively received by organizations advocating for women's rights.
The next step is for a three-judge panel at the ICC to decide on the prosecution's request, with no specific deadline mentioned. Typically, such procedures take around three months.
This marks the first time ICC prosecutors have publicly sought warrants in their investigation into potential war crimes in Afghanistan since 2007, a probe that initially included alleged U.S. military atrocities.
Khan emphasized the office's commitment to seeking accountability for gender-based offenses, stressing that the Taliban's interpretation of Islamic sharia law cannot excuse human rights violations.
In response to the prosecutor's actions, Zalmai Nishat, founder of UK-based charity Mosaic Afghanistan, highlighted that any ICC warrants issued might not significantly impact Akhundzada, who seldom leaves Afghanistan. However, he emphasized that this move would severely damage the Taliban's international standing.
Khan's actions come amid ongoing activities at the court, founded in The Hague in 2002 to prosecute individuals for crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and aggression.
While the U.S. administration under Donald Trump is preparing to challenge the court over an arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister related to alleged crimes in Gaza, Moscow has retaliated against the ICC by issuing warrants against Khan for 2023.
Despite recent high-profile warrant issuance, courtrooms in The Hague remain mostly empty. Notably, Khan himself is facing allegations of sexual misconduct in the workplace, which he denies.
The ICC lacks its own police force and relies on its 125 member states for arrests. However, some European members have reservations about detaining Netanyahu, and just this week, Italy apprehended an ICC suspect, but the outcome remains.