The International Criminal Court has made public arrest warrants for Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and three other top officials, accusing them of crimes against humanity through the systematic persecution of Afghan women and girls since 2021.

The International Criminal Court this week unsealed four arrest warrants against senior Taliban figures, marking a significant escalation in international efforts to hold Afghanistan’s de facto authorities accountable for the severe restrictions imposed on women and girls since the group’s return to power. The warrants target Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Education Minister Habibullah Agha and Higher Education Minister Neda Mohammad Nadim. Judges determined there are reasonable grounds to believe the four ordered, induced or solicited the crime against humanity of persecution on gender and political grounds.

The alleged crimes took place in Afghanistan from 15 August 2021, the day the Taliban seized Kabul, until at least 20 January 2025. According to Pre-Trial Chamber II, the officials implemented a governmental policy that produced severe violations of fundamental rights and freedoms of the civilian population, linked to acts including murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and enforced disappearance. While the Taliban imposed strict rules on the entire population, judges found that women and girls were specifically targeted by reason of their gender. Through decrees and edicts, they were deprived of rights to education, privacy and family life, as well as freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion.

Warrants Target Education Ministers for First Time

Two of the warrants – for Agha and Nadim – had remained under seal until this week. The warrants for Akhundzada and Haqqani were issued and publicly acknowledged on 8 July 2025; those for the education ministers were issued on 9 September 2025. Akhundzada becomes the first ruler of Afghanistan to face an ICC arrest warrant. The court’s Office of the Prosecutor applied for the first two warrants on 23 January 2025 and for the education ministers on 6 March 2025.

Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan welcomed the decision to make the warrants public, describing it as “a further vindication of the rights of Afghan women and girls, particularly their right to education.” She stated that Afghan women and girls “deserve accountability for the severe deprivation of their rights and freedoms” and called their plight “one of the gravest examples of gender persecution.” The warrants also recognise the experiences of people the Taliban regard as non-conforming with its policies on gender identity or expression, including members of the LGBTQI+ community, as well as those perceived as allies of women and girls.

Systematic Discrimination Amounts to Institutionalised Harm

The judges emphasised that gender persecution under the Rome Statute encompasses systematic and institutionalised forms of harm, not only physical or sexual violence. The court found that the Taliban’s policies created a system of discrimination, segregation and domination. People could be targeted even for passive opposition or inaction if they were viewed as supporting women and girls. This broader interpretation aligns with evolving understandings of gender-based crimes in international law.

The development coincided with action at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. On the same day the warrants were unsealed, the Council adopted a resolution without a vote urging the Taliban to reverse policies and practices that violate the fundamental rights and freedoms of women and girls. Nasir Ahmad Andisha, Afghanistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, said the resolution described an institutionalised system of discrimination that “may amount to gender persecution as a crime against humanity.” He noted that despite the repression, “the women of Afghanistan have not surrendered.”

Taliban Reject Court’s Authority

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid dismissed the ICC’s action. He stated that Afghanistan does not recognise the court and attaches no significance to its positions. Mujahid maintained that Taliban leaders had committed no acts warranting arrest or punishment and that the group is bound by Islamic law and its own courts rather than by “so-called” international bodies. He called on international institutions to refrain from claims beyond their authority.

The issuance of the warrants does not constitute a finding of guilt. At this stage, judges have only determined that reasonable grounds exist to believe the four officials bear criminal responsibility. Enforcement remains a practical challenge: the ICC has no police force of its own, and the Taliban control Afghanistan’s territory. Arrest would require cooperation from states parties to the Rome Statute if any of the suspects travel abroad.

Broader Context of Restrictions on Women and Girls

The warrants sit against a backdrop of deepening restrictions documented by United Nations bodies and independent monitors. UNESCO has reported that approximately 2.4 million Afghan girls remain barred from secondary education. Women face bans on most forms of employment with non-governmental organisations and United Nations agencies, severe limits on freedom of movement requiring a male guardian, and constraints on dress, public presence and participation in public life.

UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett has described the cumulative effect of these policies as gender apartheid and warned of irreversible harm to an entire generation of children. Food insecurity, malnutrition and the return of millions of Afghans from neighbouring countries have compounded the crisis. Humanitarian organisations operating in the country have reported pressure to comply with gender segregation rules simply to continue delivering aid.

Path to Accountability Remains Uncertain

Former Afghan officials and rights advocates have described the ICC proceedings as important but noted that their ultimate value depends on the ability to bring suspects to trial. Abdul Manan Sheway-e Sharq, a former deputy minister, said the process is “important and fundamental” yet requires concrete action. The Office of the Prosecutor has indicated that investigations into gender persecution and other alleged crimes against civilians on political, ethnic and religious grounds continue.

The case underscores the limits and possibilities of international criminal justice when dealing with de facto authorities that reject the court’s jurisdiction. It also highlights the sustained focus of the ICC on gender-based crimes as a core category of atrocity. Whether the warrants produce arrests or merely serve as a formal record of alleged responsibility, they constitute the most direct legal challenge yet mounted against the Taliban’s leadership over the treatment of half the Afghan population.