ICC Judges Seek Separate Probe Into Taliban Gender Persecution Allegations

DID Press: Judges at the International Criminal Court’s Pre-Trial Chamber II have asked prosecutors to examine allegations of gender persecution by the Taliban through a separate investigation, arguing that the group’s conduct since 2021 is fundamentally different in nature from violence linked to the armed conflict covered by the court’s earlier Afghanistan investigation.

In a decision issued in mid-July 2026, the judges requested that the ICC prosecutor’s office consider allegations concerning the Taliban’s persecution of women and girls as part of a separate investigation. The move followed a formal referral of the Afghanistan situation by six ICC member states over alleged serious human rights violations and international crimes.

The ICC’s ongoing Afghanistan investigation, which covers alleged crimes dating back to 2003, includes alleged war crimes and other serious violations involving forces of Afghanistan’s former government, foreign forces, the Taliban and ISIS-Khorasan. The judges, however, said measures imposed by the Taliban after returning to power in August 2021 differ substantially in nature from violence associated with the armed conflict that formed the basis of the earlier investigation.

The new allegations largely concern policies, decrees and restrictions imposed on women and girls. According to the judges, such conduct could amount to the crime against humanity of gender persecution.

The ICC has previously issued arrest warrants for Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, chief justice of the Taliban’s Supreme Court, in connection with alleged gender persecution.

Despite the judges’ decision, the ICC prosecutor’s office has not publicly confirmed whether it will launch a separate investigation. In response to questions from Middle East Eye, the office said it does not comment on the conduct of its investigations.