The International Criminal Court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity for persecuting women and girls.
Judges said there were "reasonable grounds" to suspect Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani of committing gender-based persecution.
"While the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms," the court said in a statement.
The Taliban had "severely deprived" girls and women of the rights to education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion, ICC judges said"In addition, other persons were targeted because certain expressions of sexuality and/or gender identity were regarded as inconsistent with the Taliban's policy on gender."
The court said the alleged crimes had been committed between August 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized power, and continued until at least January 20, 2025.
Taliban authorities rejected the warrants as "nonsense".
The ICC warrants "won't affect the strong commitment and dedication to sharia (Islamic law)" of Taliban authorities, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.
The ICC, based in The Hague, was set up to rule on the world's worst crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It has no police force of its own and relies on member states to carry out its arrest warrants -- with mixed results.
In theory, this means anyone subject to an ICC arrest warrant cannot travel to a member state for fear of being detained.
After sweeping back to power in August 2021, the Taliban authorities pledged a softer rule than their first stint from 1996 to 2001.
But they quickly imposed restrictions on women and girls that the United Nations has labelled "gender apartheid".
Edicts in line with their interpretation of Islamic law handed down by Akhundzada, who rules by decree from the movement's birthplace in southern Kandahar, have squeezed women and girls out of public life.
