KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban said in a statement on Thursday that they are not bound by the Rome Statute or the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC), asserting that their governance is based on Islamic law.
Accusing the ICC of political bias, the Taliban claimed the court “is not founded on justice and fairness” and dismissed Afghanistan’s previous membership in the ICC as legally invalid.
The Taliban’s statement follows senior ICC prosecutor’s attempt to request arrest warrants for Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the head of the Taliban’s Supreme Court, on charges of crimes against humanity and gender persecution of women.
The move has been widely welcomed by political opposition groups, civil society activists, human rights defenders, and several governments.
However, rights organizations and activists argue that issuing arrest warrants alone is insufficient, urging the ICC to take concrete steps toward prosecuting Taliban leaders.
