ICC unseals warrants for four Taliban leaders over women's persecution

International Criminal Court judges on 5 October 2026 unsealed arrest warrants for four senior Taliban officials over the persecution of women and girls in Afghanistan. The warrants name Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Habibullah Agha and Neda Mohammad Nadim. Judges said there are reasonable grounds to believe all four are criminally responsible for the crime against humanity of persecution.indiatoday.in+1

The unsealing moves the case into public view. Warrants for Akhundzada and Haqqani had been announced in July 2025 but their contents stayed sealed; the warrants for Agha and Nadim were issued on 9 September 2025. All four warrants were unsealed on 5 October 2026. The court's assessment is the arrest-warrant threshold, not a finding of guilt, and the suspects are presumed innocent.

What the warrants allege

Judges found the four, acting on behalf of the Taliban, implemented a government policy that resulted in severe violations of fundamental rights and freedoms of Afghanistan's civilian population, connected to murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and enforced disappearance. The persecution charge is brought under Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute, rather than separate charges for each associated act.ibtimes.co.uk

The court said the persecution ran on gender grounds against girls, women and others who did not conform to Taliban policy on gender, gender identity or expression, and on political grounds against people perceived as allies of girls and women. Judges also found people who opposed the policies passively, or by failing to act, were treated as political opponents.miragenews.com

How the four warrants were issued

The Prosecutor applied for the first two warrants on 23 January 2025 and judges issued them on 8 July 2025, initially under seal to protect victims and witnesses. The Prosecutor said at the time that further applications against other senior Taliban members would follow. The warrants against Agha and Nadim were issued on 9 September 2025.

The alleged crimes date from 15 August 2021, when the Taliban seized power, until at least 20 January 2025. Through decrees and edicts, judges said, girls and women were deprived of the rights to education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion. Other Afghans were targeted over expressions of sexuality or gender identity deemed inconsistent with Taliban policy.

When the alleged crimes occurred

Judges said the Rome Statute's definition of gender reaches beyond a purely biological idea of sex, recognising socially constructed roles, behaviours and expectations linked to sex. They found persecution covers systemic and institutionalised harm, including the imposition of discriminatory social norms, not only direct violence. Afghanistan deposited its instrument of accession to the Rome Statute on 10 February 2003.

The ICC has jurisdiction over crimes on Afghan territory or by Afghan nationals from 1 May 2003 onwards. There are 125 member countries party to the Rome Statute, including Afghanistan, Canada and Britain; the United States and Russia are not members. The court has no police force of its own and relies on cooperation with member countries.

Arrests remain unlikely, because the Taliban control Afghanistan and the ICC depends on states to arrest suspects and surrender them. Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the decision, saying Afghanistan does not recognise any court under the title of the International Court and is bound by Islamic Sharia rulings. When the first two warrants were announced on 8 July 2025, the Taliban rejected them.

Why arrests remain unlikely

Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, urged governments to support enforcement of the warrants, saying the international community should fully back the ICC's work in Afghanistan and globally through concerted efforts to enforce its warrants. Publishing the warrants does not itself secure arrests or reverse the policies described in the allegations.