ICC Prosecutor Files Letter Of Arrest Of Taliban Leader For Women's Discrimination Crime

ICC/Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - Prosecutors of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have issued arrest warrants against Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, including the supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada.

The ICC accuses them of crimes against humanity for widespread discrimination against women and girls.

Attorney Karim Khan's head office said the evidence collected as part of the investigation provided reasonable reasons to believe that Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, assumed criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity, namely gender abuse.

"They are criminally responsible for molesting Afghan girls and girls, as well as people the Taliban deem not in line with their ideological expectations about gender identity or expression, and people the Taliban consider to be allies of girls and girls," the statement said.

The persecution has been going on since August 15, 2021, until now, throughout Afghanistan and is still ongoing, prosecutors said.

The investigation in Afghanistan is one of the longest investigations carried out by the ICC prosecutor and has been hit by legal and practical delays.

Preliminary preliminary inspections began in 2007 and only in 2022 full-scale investigations resumed.

Since the Taliban Islamist group in Afghanistan returned to power in 2021, they have restricted women's rights, including restrictions on schooling, working, and general independence in everyday life.