The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for two top Taliban leaders on charges of persecuting women and girls. ICC judges on Tuesday said there were “reasonable grounds” to suspect Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhunzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani of committing gender-based persecution. “While the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms,” the court said in a statement. The Taliban has “severely deprived” girls and women of the rights to education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion, ICC judges said. “In addition, other persons were targeted because certain expressions of sexuality and/or gender identity were regarded as inconsistent with the Taliban’s policy on gender.” The court said the alleged crimes were committed from August 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized power for a second time, and continued until at least January 20 this year. The court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, sought the warrants in January, saying they recognised that “Afghan women and girls as well as the LGBTQI+ community are facing an unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution by the Taliban”.

Full report : ICC Judges say Afghanistan’s Taliban officials have ‘severely deprived’ girls and women of rights, including education.