THE Taliban’s supreme leader and the head of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court are now subject to arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of persecuting women and girls.

The warrants for Hibatullah Akhunzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, issued today, also accuse the leaders of persecuting “other persons non-conforming with the Taliban’s policy on gender, gender identity or expression,” as well as persecuting people on political grounds, particularly those perceived as “allies of girls and women.”

Since retaking control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban has enforced a wave of repressive policies against women and girls, including barring girls from education beyond primary school levels and forcing women to veil their bodies and cover their faces in public.

In a statement, the court said the Taliban had “severely deprived, through decrees and edicts, girls and women of the rights to education, privacy and family life, and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion.”

“Other persons were targeted because certain expressions of sexuality and/or gender identity were regarded as inconsistent with the Taliban’s policy on gender,” it added.

ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan initially sought the warrants in January, acknowledging what he called the “unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution” of Afghan women, girls, and LGBT people by the Taliban.

Global advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) welcomed the decision.

HRW international justice director Liz Evenson said: “Senior Taliban leaders are now wanted men for their alleged persecution of women, girls, and gender non-conforming people. 

“The international community should fully back the ICC in its critical work in Afghanistan and globally, including through concerted efforts to enforce the court’s warrants.”