Taliban Spokesperson Rejects ICC Arrest Warrants, Saying the Group Does Not Recognize the Court or Its Decisions
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesperson, has reacted to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to make public the arrest warrants for four senior Taliban officials, saying that the Taliban does not recognize the Court or its decisions.
On Monday, October 5, Mujahid rejected the position of the International Criminal Court, saying that Taliban leaders had not committed any acts that, in his view, would warrant their arrest or punishment. He stressed that the Taliban does not consider itself bound by decisions issued by international judicial institutions and instead follows Sharia law and the rulings of Taliban courts.
He also called on the International Criminal Court and other similar institutions to refrain, as he put it, from claiming jurisdiction beyond their authority.
The remarks came after the International Criminal Court on October 5 unsealed arrest warrants issued in 2025 for Hibatullah Akhundzada, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Habibullah Agha, and Neda Mohammad Nadim.
The Court’s Pre-Trial Chamber said the available evidence provides reasonable grounds to believe that the four individuals may bear criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of “persecution on gender grounds.” According to the Court’s findings, the allegations concern women and girls, as well as individuals who did not conform to the Taliban’s policies concerning gender, gender identity, or gender expression.
The Court said the alleged acts began following the Taliban’s return to power on August 15, 2021, and continued at least until January 20, 2025. The judges also linked Taliban policies to the widespread deprivation of women and girls of their rights to education, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion, as well as rights relating to private and family life.
According to the Court, individuals and groups identified as opponents or as “allies of women and girls” were also targeted by these policies. The Court further said that the evidence it examined was linked to acts including killings, imprisonment, torture, rape, and enforced disappearance.
The Taliban have so far rejected these allegations through their spokesperson. Mujahid has also said that Taliban leaders do not consider themselves bound by decisions of the International Criminal Court.
Writer:Roya Stanikzai
