
Gender justice: A move at the International Criminal Court signals hope for Afghan women

Summary
- An ICC prosecutor wants arrest warrants issued for Taliban leaders, signalling global concern for women facing brutality. Even if the ICC can’t do much, we need international institutions to push for justice.
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 (ICC) 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 enforced disappearances.
Three judges will now decide whether to issue the warrants. 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 travelling abroad.
Since the militant group retook control of Afghanistan in 2021, it has banned post-primary education for women and girls, restricted their access to public spaces, prohibited them from singing or reciting poetry in public and severely curtailed their employment opportunities and access to health services. Last month, the Taliban issued an order banning the construction of windows in residential buildings that overlook areas used by women.
Also Read: Will India’s decades of goodwill in Afghanistan vanish overnight?
In his 23 January statement, Khan said: “These applications recognize that Afghan women and girls as well as the LGBTQI+ community are facing an unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution by the Taliban. Our action signals that the status quo for women and girls in Afghanistan is not acceptable."
The case against Akhundzada and Haqqani should worry those nations that have chosen to normalize ties with the Taliban, including China, India, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Russia. If the court does go ahead and issue the arrest warrants, it will complicate trade and diplomatic relations and force countries to think twice before making the leap toward warmer dealings.
It also presents a conundrum for US lawmakers, who have been highly selective in their support for the ICC, threatening sanctions against court officials over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest warrant, but commending its actions against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite America’s damaging and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the US was, as of October, the nation’s largest donor and the fate of women and girls is still a concern.
Also Read: Beware the fallout of America’s exit from Afghanistan
In the turmoil of President Donald Trump’s first weeks in office, it is not clear how the US government views this latest development. Groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have also urged the ICC prosecutor to bring cases for alleged crimes committed by US military and intelligence personnel and former Afghan security forces since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. This is unlikely to happen.
The split in global support for the ICC’s actions and its lack of enforcement mechanisms highlight the court’s limitations. Its move in 2023 to issue a warrant for the arrest of Putin for war crimes committed in his invasion of Ukraine has not resulted in his apprehension. Nor did the ICC’s November warrant for Netanyahu for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against Palestinians in Gaza do much to restrain him.
Also Read: The Israel-Hamas ceasefire may not end the war
Having devoted years to covering conflict, political violence and terrorism, it is easy to lose faith in whether international law means anything anymore. But however flawed the ‘rules-based international order’ is, it’s all we’ve got. The alternative is a global version of what Trump is trying to do at home: Defund, defang or dismantle governing institutions and let anarchy rule.
Afghan women and girls need every bit of global support they can get to push back against the Taliban’s unhinged misogyny. They are trapped in a country facing a multi-dimensional crisis: As the Center for Strategic and International Studies notes, the stability of the economy and the welfare of the people are tenuous.
Another legal avenue against the Taliban opened up in September, when a group of countries (including Australia, Korea, Spain, Canada and Germany) announced a dispute with Afghanistan under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. This could lead to proceedings before the International Court of Justice, the top UN court that hears cases brought between states.
These complicated, fraught and flawed processes matter. They show Afghan women that they have not been forgotten and vindicate their struggle. They also encourage nations to come together in the defence of human rights—a critical show of solidarity in a world ridden with conflict. ©Bloomberg