By The South Asia Times

The International Criminal Court’s Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan, said on Thursday that he is seeking arrest warrants for the Afghan Taliban’s supreme leader and Afghanistan’s top judge over the persecution of women, which constitutes a crime against humanity.

In a statement, Khan announced that his office had filed two applications for arrest warrants before Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court in relation to the situation in Afghanistan.

"These filings have benefited from the contributions of our dedicated Afghanistan Unified Team, under the supervision of Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan, and multiple experts, including Special Adviser on Gender and Other Discriminatory Crimes, Professor Lisa Davis," he said.

He accused the Afghan Taliban of committing crimes against Afghan civilians.

"After a thorough investigation and based on the evidence collected, my office submits that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the Supreme Leader of the Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundzada, and the Chief Justice of the 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,' Abdul Hakim Haqqani, bear criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds, under Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute," he stated.

"My office has concluded that these two Afghan nationals are criminally responsible for persecuting Afghan girls and women, as well as individuals perceived by the Taliban as not conforming to their ideological expectations of gender identity or expression, and those perceived as allies of girls and women. This persecution has been committed from at least 15 August 2021 to the present day, across the territory of Afghanistan," he added.

So far, the Afghan Taliban has not responded to these developments.