“The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested the issuance of arrest warrants for the supreme leader of the Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundzad, and the supreme judge, Abdul Hakim Haqqani.”, — write: www.ukrinform.ua
The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested the issuance of arrest warrants for the supreme leader of the Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundzad, and the supreme judge, Abdul Hakim Haqqani.
“Today I can announce that my Office has filed two motions with the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for arrest warrants in the Afghanistan case. These motions were made possible by the efforts of our case team,” Khan said. .
He also noted that since the decision of the Pretrial Chamber dated October 31, 2022, which allowed the resumption of his Office’s investigation after a break, “we have been independently and impartially investigating alleged crimes committed against civilians in Afghanistan.”
“After a detailed investigation and based on the evidence gathered, my Office asserts 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, are criminally responsible for crimes against humanity under Article 7(1 )(h) of the Rome Statute,” he said.
He said the charges related to crimes against humanity for the persecution, discrimination against women and girls, as well as those who the Taliban believed did not conform to their ideological views on gender identity or expression, and those who supported women and girls. This persecution has been occurring since at least August 15, 2021 and continues to this day throughout Afghanistan.
Read also: Public prosecutor ISS offers reject denial Israel of order on arrest Netanyahu “These are the first applications for arrest warrants in a case involving Afghanistan. My office will be filing additional applications for other high-ranking Taliban officials in the near future,” Khan said.
He also noted that requests for arrest warrants are based on a variety of evidence, including expert and witness testimony, official orders, forensic reports, statements by the suspects themselves and other Taliban representatives, and audio and video footage.
“Our multidisciplinary investigative team interviewed potential witnesses, identified investigative lines, and engaged experts and partners for cooperation. In order to properly address the gender dimension of the alleged crimes, the team included gender experts, as well as experts in country studies and psychosocial assistance,” he said.
As reported by Ukrinform, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of senior Libyan police officer Osama Najim on suspicion of crimes against humanity and war crimes.