Afghanistan Diplomatic Missions Abroad Welcome ICC Prosecutor’s Call for Taliban Leaders’ Arrest

RASC News Agency: The Coordination Council of Afghanistan’s Diplomatic and Consular Missions Abroad has voiced strong support for the request by Karim Khan, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), seeking the arrest of the Taliban’s supreme leader and chief justice. The council urged ICC judges to act decisively on the prosecutor’s appeal and to pay tribute to Afghanistani women who endure relentless and systematic abuse under the Taliban’s rule.
In a statement released on Saturday, January 25, the council described the call for the arrest of Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the group’s chief justice, as a “courageous and transformative” step in the global struggle for justice, accountability, and the protection of human rights. Karim Khan’s request has sparked widespread support from various groups, including Afghanistani women, anti-Taliban resistance factions, human rights activists, civil society leaders, journalists, academics, researchers, and the broader international community. Organizations such as the United Nations and human rights bodies have hailed the move as a pivotal psychological blow to the Taliban and a milestone in advancing justice for Afghanistan.
Over the past three and a half years, the Taliban have inflicted severe political, ethnic, and cultural repression on the Afghanistani people. Their regime has disproportionately targeted women and girls, as well as non-Pashtun ethnic groups particularly the Tajiks subjecting them to systematic discrimination and tyranny.