One Year After ICC Warrants, Taliban Leaders Remain At Large
One year ago, on 8 July 2025, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Taliban Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani.
One year ago, on 8 July 2025, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Taliban Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani.
The ICC said the two senior Taliban officials were being sought over their alleged role in systematic persecution on gender and political grounds against women, girls and others in Afghanistan.
The warrants were issued on the basis of extensive evidence of systematic policies of gender-based persecution targeting women, girls and opponents.
The ICC said there were reasonable grounds to believe that, from 15 August 2021 onwards, the two senior Taliban officials played a role through decrees, rulings and official policies in systematically depriving women and girls of fundamental rights, including education, work, freedom of movement, expression and belief.
The court said these actions amounted to gender-based persecution and crimes against humanity.
The case was built on reports by human rights organisations, statements from witnesses and victims, media records and official Taliban decrees.
After reviewing the evidence, the court’s prosecutor concluded that Taliban policies were not isolated or local decisions, but an organised and deliberate policy aimed at systematically removing women from public life.
These policies included bans on girls’ education, restrictions on women’s employment, severe limits on freedom of movement, and the suppression of protesters and civil society activists.
As the ultimate decision-maker within the Taliban structure, Hibatullah Akhundzada bears primary responsibility for these policies.
The Taliban immediately rejected the warrants and said it did not recognise the court in The Hague.
By contrast, figures including Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan; Heather Barr, associate women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch; Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai; and Afghan activists welcomed the decision and described it as an important step towards justice.
Despite issuing the warrants, the ICC has no enforcement force of its own, and responsibility for carrying them out rests with countries that are parties to the Rome Statute.
To date, the warrants have not been enforced because the Taliban leaders have not left Afghanistan and the group maintains full control over Kandahar.
One year after the warrants were issued, no arrests have been made. However, the warrants remain valid and continue to carry legal and political consequences for the Taliban’s international relations.
