THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The International Criminal Court has made public four arrest warrants against senior Taliban officials accused of crimes against humanity over alleged gender-based persecution in Afghanistan.
The ICC said Monday that Pre-Trial Chamber II unsealed the warrants against Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Habibullah Agha and Neda Mohammad Nadim.
The court said there are reasonable grounds to believe the four suspects ordered, encouraged or sought the commission of persecution on gender and political grounds.
The alleged victims include girls and women, as well as people whose gender identity or expression did not conform with Taliban policies. The alleged political persecution also targeted people seen as allies of women and girls.
Warrants Were Issued Earlier
The ICC did not issue the four warrants Monday.
It issued warrants for Akhundzada and Haqqani on July 8, 2025. It issued the warrants for Agha and Nadim on Sept. 9, 2025.
The existence of the first two warrants became public in July 2025. The court kept the other two sealed until Monday’s decision.
The unsealing therefore makes all four warrants publicly available and expands the public record of the ICC’s Afghanistan case.
Alleged Persecution
The ICC said the alleged crimes took place in Afghanistan after the Taliban returned to power on Aug. 15, 2021, and continued until at least Jan. 20, 2025.
The court linked the alleged persecution to a broader Taliban policy that it said severely restricted fundamental rights and freedoms.
According to the ICC, Taliban decrees and policies deprived girls and women of rights involving education, privacy and family life, as well as freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion.
The court also said its findings cover alleged persecution of people whose sexuality or gender identity was viewed as inconsistent with Taliban policy.
The ICC said the alleged persecution was connected to conduct including murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and enforced disappearance. Those acts are part of the court’s description of the alleged conduct underlying the persecution charge; the four suspects have not been convicted of those crimes.
No Convictions
The warrants do not mean the four men have been found guilty.
The judges said they had found reasonable grounds to believe the suspects were criminally responsible for the alleged persecution. The cases remain at the pre-trial stage.
The ICC lists all four men as at large.
The court also has no police force of its own. It depends on states to arrest suspects and surrender them to the court.
That makes enforcement difficult while the suspects remain outside the custody of a state willing and able to execute the warrants.
Wider Afghanistan Investigation
The warrants form part of the ICC’s broader investigation into alleged crimes in Afghanistan.
The court authorized the resumption of its Afghanistan investigation in 2022. Its jurisdiction covers alleged crimes committed in Afghanistan since May 1, 2003, as well as certain related crimes committed elsewhere that fall within the court’s jurisdiction.
The latest decision places the treatment of women and girls under the Taliban at the center of the court’s current public case against senior Taliban figures.
For the ICC, the immediate development is the public disclosure of all four warrants. For the suspects, the warrants remain active while they remain at large.
Reporting Credit: International Criminal Court; ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II; ICC Afghanistan Situation records.
