On 8 July 2025, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban's Supreme Leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, its Chief Justice. They're accused of crimes against humanity for orchestrating systemic gender-based persecution targeting women, girls, LGBT individuals and anyone seen as an ally of women and girls in Afghanistan.
The ICC identified reasonable grounds to believe that both Akhundzada and Haqqani have facilitated and enacted policies designed to strip minorities, particularly women and girls of essential rights, such as their access to education and employment, freedom of expression, thought, conscience and family life.
The warrants are the first time the ICC has brought their claims based on gender identity and sexual orientation, with the acts noted by the court including: murder, torture, rape, enforced disappearance, and a broader campaign of gender persecution.
The warrants are connected to an ICC investigation opened in 2022. In January 2025, Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for the arrest warrants and by July 2025, the court had confirmed "reasonable grounds" to approve their issuance and ordered their publication.
Taliban reaction and enforcement
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid dismissed the ICC as hostile to Islam and refused to acknowledge the court's authority, noting "We do not recognize any organization called the International Criminal Court, nor do we have any commitment to it".
Given that Akhundzada and Haqqani avoid international travel and will not likely be hosted by any of the 125 ICC member states, we assess it is unlikely that these warrants will see any arrests made as a result of these warrants in the short term.
For most international businesses and observers, Afghanistan may seem like an outlier. A low-priority market with minimal commercial exposure. However, the ICC's arrest warrants are not just symbolic gestures, they signal a turning point in how gender-based oppression is treated by the international community.
Multinationals are increasingly held accountable for the environments they operate in and associate with. Governments, investors, and consumers are demanding that companies back up their ESG credentials with real-world alignment to human rights norms.
Supporting or enabling regimes facing ICC warrants, directly or indirectly via your supply chain, could become a red-flag issue in boardrooms, shareholder meetings and public relations campaigns.
Further, the warrants contribute to a wider narrative of Afghanistan's isolation under Taliban rule. Since the withdrawal of Western forces in 2021, Afghanistan has become a cautionary tale of how quickly a country can move from a fragile state to a sanctioned pariah. This latest legal development cements that trajectory - making the business case for re-engagement with Taliban-led Afghanistan even less tenable.
These warrants send a clear message: the self-titled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is not only not internationally recognised, but internationally indicted. Companies should view Afghanistan less as a distressed emerging market and more as a jurisdiction under quarantine, with all the compliance, reputational, and operational risk that entails.