International Criminal Court Issues Arrest Warrant for Taliban Chief

The Hague – Netherlands, 8 July – (www.deccanlive.com): The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani.

The court has accused these Taliban leaders of discriminating against women and taking away their basic rights. The judges of the ICC have called these actions crimes against humanity.

What Are the Charges?

The court said that the Taliban have placed many restrictions on people, but women and girls were especially targeted. They were denied basic rights and freedoms just because of their gender.

According to the ICC, these crimes were committed from August 15, 2021, to January 20, 2025, and continued throughout this period.

During this time, women were banned from getting an education, making personal life choices, having families freely, moving around, expressing their opinions, practicing religion, and having freedom of thought and belief.

The court also noted that people who didn’t follow the Taliban’s gender or sexual identity policies were also targeted and oppressed.

What is the ICC?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is based in The Hague and investigates war crimes and crimes against humanity around the world.

However, the court does not have the power to arrest anyone. It depends on member countries to arrest the accused and hand them over to the court. But in many past cases, this has not happened.

The court also said that any person with an ICC arrest warrant cannot travel to ICC member countries, because they risk being arrested there.