ICC Unseals Arrest Warrants for Taliban Education Ministers Over Gender Persecution

The International Criminal Court (ICC) unsealed arrest warrants on Monday, October 5, 2026, against two Taliban education ministers, Habibullah Agha and Neda Mohammad Nadeem, over alleged crimes against humanity.

The warrants, issued in September 2025, target the Education Minister and Higher Education Minister for policies restricting education for women and girls. The ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber II made public four arrest warrants against Taliban figures, including Haibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, for alleged persecution on gender and political grounds in Afghanistan. Judges found reasonable grounds to believe these individuals ordered or induced persecution against girls, women, and others not conforming to Taliban gender policies.

The alleged crimes occurred from August 15, 2021, until at least January 20, 2025. The chamber found suspects implemented a government policy resulting in severe violations of fundamental rights, including murder, imprisonment, torture, rape, and enforced disappearance. Girls and women were specifically targeted, deprived of rights to education, privacy, family life, movement, expression, thought, conscience, and religion.

People opposing these policies were targeted as political opponents. The decision to unseal all four warrants, with redactions, aims to promote international cooperation and not unduly affect ongoing investigations. The UN Human Rights Council also unanimously urged the Taliban to repeal all practices restricting women's and girls' freedoms, condemning the grave, worsening, widespread and systematic oppression. The US State Department designated the Taliban an "Entity of Particular Concern" on October 4, 2026, citing particularly severe violations of religious freedom.