ICC unseals four arrest warrants against Taliban leaders over gender persecution
5 October 2026
Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court unsealed four arrest warrants in the Afghanistan situation on 5 October 2026. The warrants, issued on 8 July 2025 and 9 September 2025, name Haibatullah Akhundzada, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Habibullah Agha and Neda Mohammad Nadim. The Chamber found reasonable grounds to believe they ordered, induced or solicited the crime against humanity of persecution under article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute. The persecution was on gender grounds against girls, women and others not conforming to Taliban gender policy, and on political grounds against "allies of girls and women". The ICC says these crimes are believed to have been committed in Afghanistan from 15 August 2021 until at least 20 January 2025.
In plain words
Rome Statute Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court — The treaty that set up the ICC and defines its crimes.
Pre-Trial Chamber Pre-Trial Chamber — The ICC bench that decides on arrest warrants before any trial.