Women’s Movement in Exile: ICC Ruling Against the Taliban Is a Promising Step, but Requires Concrete Action

Sent to Zan TV

In continued reactions to the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Chief Justice of the group, the “Afghanistan Women’s Movement in Exile” has issued a statement describing the decision as “a promising step” toward justice for victims, especially Afghan women.

In its statement, the movement emphasized that the issuance of this warrant, at a time when certain powers like Russia are moving toward recognizing the Taliban while ignoring the group’s structural crimes, and the United Nations holds “vague and fruitless” meetings on Afghanistan’s political future, could be a glimmer of hope for millions of women and girls deprived of their most basic human rights by the Taliban.

However, the movement warned that this ruling must not be allowed to become merely symbolic. The statement reads, “For its practical implementation, there is a need to establish and activate an international, independent, and monitoring judicial committee that not only accelerates the process of pursuing these cases but also prevents political efforts to whitewash the image of the Taliban.”

This comes as the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Hibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani on charges of committing “crimes against humanity” and the systematic implementation of gender-based discrimination against women and girls in Afghanistan.