The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) says he will seek arrest warrants against senior leaders of the Taliban government in Afghanistan over the persecution of women and girls.
Karim Khan said there are reasonable grounds to suspect that Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani are criminally responsible for gender-based crimes against humanity.
The ICC judges will now decide whether to issue an arrest warrant.
The ICC investigates and brings to justice those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, intervening when national authorities are unable or unwilling to prosecute.
In a statement, Mr Khan said the two men were “criminally responsible for the persecution of Afghan girls and women, as well as individuals who the Taliban perceive as not conforming to their ideological expectations of gender identity or expression, and individuals who the Taliban perceive as allies of girls and women'.
Opposition to the Taliban government is “brutally suppressed by committing crimes, including murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts,” he added.
Stalking has occurred since at least August 15, 2021. to this day throughout Afghanistan, the statement said.
Akhundzada became the Taliban's supreme commander in 2016. and is now the leader of the so-called Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan. In the 1980s, he participated in Islamist groups fighting against the Soviet military campaign in Afghanistan.
Haqqani was a close associate of Taliban founder Mullah Omar and was a negotiator on behalf of the Taliban during discussions with US officials in 2020.
The Taliban government has yet to comment on the ICC statement.
The Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in 2021, 20 years after a US-led invasion toppled their regime in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in New York, but their government is not officially recognized by any other foreign power.
Since then, the “moral laws” have meant that women have lost dozens of rights in the country.
Afghanistan is now the only country in the world where women and girls are prevented from accessing secondary and higher education – about a million and a half are deliberately deprived of education.
The Taliban have repeatedly promised they will be allowed back into school once a number of issues are resolved – including ensuring the curriculum is “Islamic”. That has yet to happen.
Beauty salons are closed, and women are barred from public parks, gyms and bathrooms.
The dress code means they must be fully covered, and strict rules prohibit them from traveling without a male companion or making eye contact with a man unless they are related by blood or family.
in december women are also prohibited from training as midwives and nurseseffectively closing their last path to further education in the country.