ICC unseals arrest warrants against four senior Taliban leaders over alleged gender persecution

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has unsealed four arrest warrants against senior Taliban figures over alleged persecution

ISLAMABAD/THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has unsealed four arrest warrants against senior Taliban figures over alleged persecution of women, girls and other people under the group’s gender policies in Afghanistan.

ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II announced on October 5, 2026, that it had unsealed warrants issued against Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Education Minister Habibullah Agha and Higher Education Minister Neda Mohammad Nadim. The warrants were originally issued in July and September 2025 but had remained sealed.

According to the court, there are reasonable grounds to believe that the four suspects are criminally responsible for ordering, inducing or soliciting persecution as a crime against humanity under Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute.

The alleged persecution was carried out on gender grounds against girls, women and other individuals considered by the Taliban to be inconsistent with its policies concerning gender, gender identity or expression. The court also found grounds to believe that people perceived as “allies of girls and women” were targeted on political grounds.
The ICC said the alleged crimes took place in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power on August 15, 2021, and continued until at least January 20, 2025.

The court said Taliban authorities implemented policies that resulted in severe restrictions on fundamental rights and freedoms. According to the ICC, women and girls were particularly affected by decrees and policies that deprived them of access to education, privacy and family life, as well as freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion.

The ICC also said its assessment covered alleged conduct connected with murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and enforced disappearance. It further noted that people whose sexual orientation or gender identity was viewed as inconsistent with Taliban policies were also targeted.

The court’s decision also addressed the meaning of “gender” under the Rome Statute, saying the concept extends beyond a purely biological understanding of sex and includes socially constructed roles, behaviours, expectations and hierarchies associated with sex.

The first two warrants, against Akhundzada and Haqqani, were issued on July 8, 2025. The ICC had made their existence public at that time, although the warrants themselves remained sealed. Warrants against Agha and Nadim were issued on September 9, 2025, and all four were formally unsealed on October 5, 2026.

The development represents a major legal step in the ICC’s Afghanistan investigation, which covers alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the country. The court authorised its Afghanistan investigation in 2020 after the Appeals Chamber approved the Prosecutor’s request to proceed.

However, the warrants do not automatically mean the accused will be arrested. The ICC does not have its own police force and depends on cooperation from states to enforce its arrest warrants. The four suspects are currently listed by the court as being at large.

The unsealing of the warrants places renewed international attention on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls and marks another significant development in efforts to establish legal accountability for alleged persecution under Taliban rule.