International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim AA Khan announced on Thursday that his office filed two applications for arrest warrants before the Pre-trial Chamber against two Taliban officials accused of committing crimes against humanity. These applications stem from thorough investigations conducted by the Prosecutor’s Office and are part of a broader inquiry into the situation in Afghanistan.

Karim AA Khan stated that his office collected solid evidence suggesting that the Supreme Leader of the Taliban and the Chief Justice of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” committed the crime of persecution on gender grounds, violating Article 7 (1) (h) of the Rome Statute. He claims that these Taliban officials have been persecuting Afghan women and girls, as well as any person who didn’t follow their ideology, over the last four years. He also specified that the requested arrest warrants were based on a wide range of evidence, including testimonies, official statements, and forensic reports gathered by a specialized investigation team.

Khan further detailed that the evidence indicates Taliban leaders deprived Afghan women of their fundamental rights, including the right to physical integrity, free movement, free expression, education, and private and family life. They also allegedly brutally repressed any individual who resisted or opposed their decisions through acts of murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other inhumane acts criminalized by the Rome Statute. The ICC’s Prosecutor highlighted that Afghan women have been subject to various crimes and human rights violations, which necessitate the ICC’s intervention to hold the perpetrators accountable. He also emphasized that “the Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia should not, and may not be used to justify the deprivation of fundamental human rights or the related commission of Rome Statute crimes”.

Finally, the ICC prosecutor asserted that his office wil continue its investigation into the alleged crimes committed by the Taliban against Afghan nationals in order to bring those responsible to justice as required under international law. The judges of the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber will decide on Thursday’s requets for arrest warrants, and their acceptance would allow the prosecutor to arrest the concerned individuals.

Since the Taliban gained power in August 2021, the human rights situation has worsened in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, especially for women and girls. This deterioration has prompted foreign countries to refer the situation in Afghanistan to the ICC for further investigations. The Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on women and girls that denied them fundamental rights, such as education, healthcare, and freedom of movement. In December 2024, Taliban authorities banned female students from pursuing medical training in the country and have also imposed construction restrictions that prohibited the inclusion of windows in homes overlooking neighbouring properties occupied by women.