The International Criminal Court (ICC) on July 8 issued warrants of arrest for two senior leaders of the Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, for the crime of persecuting women, girls, and others who oppose the gender policy of the Islamist militia that rules Afghanistan.The judges have accepted evidence presented by the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC that these individuals “committed — by ordering, inducing or soliciting — the crime against humanity of persecution…on gender grounds, against girls, women and other persons non-conforming with the Taliban’s policy on gender, gender identity or expression; and on political grounds against persons perceived as “allies of girls and women””.The ICC is an international tribunal established under the Rome Statute, an international treaty that was adopted on July 17, 1998. It is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, and started functioning after its founding treaty entered into force on July 1, 2002.The ICC aims to “end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community” — genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.It is the only international court with the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals — this is unlike the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is an organ of the United Nations (UN) that takes up disputes between states.Who are the two Taliban leaders, and why are they facing arrest warrants?Haibatullah Akhundzada is the emir or Supreme Leader of the Taliban, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani is the Chief Justice of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.Story continues below this adThe Taliban regained control over Afghanistan in August 2021, and their regime, which is currently recognised only by Russia, has promulgated a series of laws to systematically oppress and marginalise women and girls, deny them education and opportunities, and put severe restrictions on them.According to the ICC, the Taliban have “severely deprived” girls and women of basic human rights like education, privacy, and family life, and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience, and religion.A 144-page “morality law” promulgated by the Taliban in August 2024 includes provisions requiring women to cover their entire body in public, and to not sing or even speak in public. The code forbids women and men from looking at each other in public, and provides for the persecution of LGBTQIA+ people.Explained | Formalised ‘gender apartheid’: What Taliban’s new ‘morality law’ means for Afghan womenThe UN has characterised these actions and laws as “gender apartheid”.Story continues below this adWhat is the ICC’s law on ‘crimes against humanity’?Afghanistan acceded to the Rome Statute on February 10, 2003, allowing the ICC to exercise jurisdiction over relevant crimes in Afghanistan, or by its nationals from May 1, 2003 onward.Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines “crimes against humanity” as the “persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender…or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law…” when carried out as an element of a large-scale or methodical attack aimed at any civilian population, with awareness of the attack.What has happened in the case so far?On January 23 this year, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC submitted applications before the Pre-Trial Chamber II for the leaders of the Taliban to “bear criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds”.In Explained | Why the ICC Prosecutor has asked for an arrest warrant against Netanyahu, and what could happen nowProsecutor Karim A A Khan stated that the Office had been investigating crimes committed against Afghan civilians, and had submitted the application after gathering relevant evidence against the Taliban regime, including “expert and witness testimonies, official decrees, forensic reports, statements by the suspects themselves and other Taliban representatives, and audio-visual material”.Story continues below this adKhan’s Office has accused Akhundzada and Haqqani of “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 has been ongoing since August 15, 2021, when the Taliban took power in Kabul, the Office has said.The chamber granted these applications on July 8, and issued arrest warrants against the two Taliban leaders.And what have the Taliban said in response?Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Taliban, posted on X: “We do not recognise any organisation called the International Court, nor are we committed to it in any way.”Story continues below this adThe ICC’s warrant is unlikely to result in any arrests. Haibatullah Akhundzada is extremely reclusive, and rarely makes public appearances.A previous attempt by Canada, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands in September 2024 to take the Taliban to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over gender discrimination has not made much headway yet.The writer is a summer intern at The Indian Express.