BAHARIN LEHIB

Baghlan- On January 23, 2025, Karim Khan, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) applied for arrest warrants for two senior Taliban officials: Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani.

Razia Nawab, a human rights activist in Baghlan Province located in northeastern Afghanistan, welcomed the application. “Such an application at a time when Afghan women are forgotten by international human rights organizations is very important. Since 1996, Talban’s Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has had blood on his hands. All Taliban leaders must be prosecuted for their crimes against humanity.”

Razia Nawab accused Taliban’s leaders of taking part in many massacres, assassinations, anti-women practices and thousands of other crimes. “They must be brought to justice for persecuting people. I look forward to the day when all local and foreign criminals in Afghanistan will be prosecuted by the Afghan people. These criminals have not only persecuted and betrayed the people of Afghanistan but also attacked the nature, soil, stone and all spaces of this country.” Razia Nawab also called on all Afghan women to fight for their rights. “It is the responsibility of the Afghan people, especially women, to put an end to all injustices and crimes.

On January 23, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders over gender-based persecution under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

“These applications recognize that Afghan women and girls as well as the LGBTQI+ community are facing an unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution by the Taliban,” Karim Khan said in a statement. “Perceived resistance or opposition to the Taliban was, and is, brutally repressed through the commission of crimes including murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, enforced disappearance, and other inhumane acts.”