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Today, I can announce that my
Office has filed two applications for warrants of arrest before
Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court in the Situation
in Afghanistan. These filings have
benefited from the contributions of our dedicated Afghanistan Unified
Team under the supervision of Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan,
and multiple experts, including Special Adviser on Gender and Other
Discriminatory Crimes Professor Lisa
Davis.
Since the 31 October 2022 decision
of the Pre-Trial Chamber to authorise the resumption of my Office’s investigation, after a period of
deferral, my Office has been independently and impartially examining
alleged crimes committed against Afghan civilians.
After a thorough investigation and
on the basis of evidence collected, my Office submits 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, bear criminal responsibility
for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds, under
article 7(1)(h) of the Rome
Statute.
My Office has concluded that these
two Afghan nationals are criminally responsible for persecuting Afghan
girls and women, as well as persons whom the Taliban perceived as not
conforming with their ideological expectations of gender identity or
expression, and persons whom the Taliban perceived as allies of girls
and women. This persecution was committed from at least 15 August 2021
until the present day, across the territory of Afghanistan.
This ongoing persecution entails
numerous severe deprivations of victims’ fundamental rights, contrary
to international law, including the right to physical integrity and
autonomy, to free movement and free expression, to education, to
private and family life, and to free assembly.
These severe deprivations of
fundamental rights were also committed in connection with other Rome
Statute crimes. Perceived resistance or opposition to the Taliban was,
and is, brutally repressed through the commission of crimes including
murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence,
enforced disappearance, and other inhumane acts.
These are the first applications
for arrest warrants in the Situation in Afghanistan. My Office will
file further applications for other senior members of the Taliban soon.
These requests for warrants of
arrest are based on diverse evidence, including expert and witness
testimonies, official decrees, forensic reports, statements by the
suspects themselves and other Taliban representatives, and audio-visual
material. Our multi-disciplinary investigative team screened and
interviewed potential witnesses, and identified investigative leads,
experts and cooperation partners. To ensure that the gender dimension
of the alleged crimes is properly addressed, the Office has integrated gender
experts in its investigative team, along with country experts and
psycho-social experts.
In making these applications, my
Office seeks to demonstrate that our commitment to pursue
accountability for gender-based
crimes, including gender
persecution, remains an absolute
priority.
These applications recognise 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. Afghan survivors, in particular women
and girls, deserve accountability before a court of law.
My Office further submits that the
Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia should not, and may not be used to
justify the deprivation of fundamental human rights or the related
commission of Rome Statute crimes.
In making these applications, I
wish to acknowledge the remarkable courage and resilience of Afghan
victims and witnesses who cooperated with my Office’s investigations. I
am grateful for the invaluable support for this investigation from
Afghan civil society, and from the Office’s partners from various
national authorities and international organisations.
The judges of the International
Criminal Court will now determine whether these applications for arrest
warrants establish reasonable grounds to believe that the named
individuals committed the alleged crimes. If the judges issue the
warrants, my Office will work closely with the Registrar in all efforts
to arrest the individuals. As in all situations, I request States
Parties to fully cooperate with the Court and help it in enforcing any
judicial order.
My Office’s investigation in the
Situation in Afghanistan continues. We pursue our investigation into
alleged crimes by individual members of the Taliban and the Islamic
State – Khorasan Province. As I have underlined since taking office, Afghan victims and survivors have suffered
injustice for too long. We remain unwavering in our commitment to
ensure that they are not forgotten, and to demonstrate through our
work, through the effective and impartial application of international
law, that all lives have equal value.
More information
Situation
in Afghanistan
Policy
on Gender-based Crimes
Policy
on the Crime of Gender Persecution
Office of the Prosecutor
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