The chief counsel of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has applied for the issuance of arrest warrants against Afghanistan’s highest spiritual Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani.
On Thursday, ICC Chief Counsel Karim Khan made the appeal on charges of crimes against humanity for widespread discrimination against women.
“Evidence from the investigation provides reasonable grounds to believe that Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, who has served as the Taliban’s chief justice since 2021, are responsible for crimes against humanity in the context of gender discrimination and oppression,” a statement from the chief counsel’s office said.
Khan said, “We have to take this step without realizing that the current situation of women in Afghanistan is not acceptable at all.” According to the counsel, this persecution has been going on throughout the territory of Afghanistan since August 15, 2021.
The statement from the Office of the Chief Counsel also said, “The two Taliban leaders are also accused of persecuting women and girls who the Taliban perceive as not conforming to gender identity or expression according to Taliban ideology and whom they consider to be allies of girls and women.” guilty of the same offence.”
The Taliban had no immediate comment on the ICC court’s request for an arrest warrant.
Counsel’s application will now be considered by a three-judge panel of the International Criminal Court. Then they will announce the decision. There is no fixed time limit within which a decision should be made on such an application. However, this process usually takes three months on average.