Can ICC warrants save Afghan women?

Earlier this month, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan.

- YVONNE BREITWIESER-FARIA

The court's Pre-Trial Chamber II cited reasonable grounds for believing supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani were guilty of "ordering, inducing or soliciting the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds."

The warrants—the first ever on charges of gender persecution—are being hailed as an "important vindication and acknowledgement of the rights of Afghan women and girls".

But will they improve the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan, given the Taliban does not recognise the court or its jurisdiction?

The signs are not good with the Taliban denying the allegations and condemning the warrants as a "clear act of hostility [and an] insult to the beliefs of Muslims around the world".

Strict rules and prohibitions have been imposed on the Afghan people since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.

Women and girls have been singled out for even worse treatment by reason of their gender.

According to the warrants, the Taliban has "severely deprived, through decrees and edicts, girls and women of the rights to education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion".

Women are banned from public places and girls from attending school once they turn 12.