For Afghan women, who feel deserted by the international community as their lives have been crushed under the brutal rule of the Taliban, there may finally be a potential avenue for justice.
We should welcome International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan’s decision to apply for arrest warrants for the Taliban’s Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, who he says bear criminal responsibility for the persecution of Afghan women and girls. The list of violations is extensive and includes murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence and enforced disappearances.
Three judges will now decide whether to issue the warrants, a process that usually takes several months. Even then, there isn’t likely to be any immediate action. Akhundzada rarely leaves his base in Kandahar and Haqqani is unlikely to risk arrest by traveling.
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