Luis Carlos Díaz
On July 8, 2025, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued two arrest warrants against the top leaders of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan: its Supreme Leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, and the Chief Justice of the Taliban, Abdul Hakim Haqqani. Both are accused of the crime against humanity of gender-based persecution, systematically committed between 2021 and 2025 against women, girls, LGBTQI+ people, and those who defended them. The crimes are ongoing.
This case is relevant to Venezuela, the only country in the Americas with an open ICC investigation, for legal, political, and moral reasons.
What did the Court decide?
Arrest warrants are judicial decisions of the Pre-Trial Chamber (Article 58 of the Rome Statute), issued when there are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects are responsible for crimes under the ICC’s jurisdiction.
Although the warrants against Akhundzada and Haqqani were approved in January 2025, the Court decided to keep them confidential and ex parte (without notifying the other parties) for several months to protect the safety of victims and witnesses, preserve the integrity of the investigation, and prevent the accused from evading justice. This is legal and consistent with long-standing ICC practice: the Court determines when warrants can be made public, depending on the circumstances. The versions released on July 8, for example, are redacted so as not to expose the victims’ identities or put them at risk.
Why does the Afghanistan case matter for Venezuela?
a. Justice does not depend on a single person
Prosecutor Karim Khan filed the requests in January. However, Khan is temporarily out of office due to a judicial process, and the warrants were made public under the management of the prosecutors in charge. This demonstrates that ICC investigations are institutional, not personal, and are not halted by changes in officials. There is sufficient initiative and leadership to move forward with the Court’s actions.
b. The timing of the proceedings is encouraging
In Afghanistan, the investigation was authorized in 2020. Appeals were resolved, and the investigation continued. Requests for warrants were filed in January 2025 and announced in July. In Venezuela, whose investigation was formally authorized in November 2021, this pace suggests that similar measures may be imminent. The investigation is still active and is not an eternal process.
c. International justice also protects those who cannot speak out
Atrocities against Afghan women and girls were investigated despite enormous difficulties in documenting them in one of the most oppressive environments on the planet. Afghan civil society, both inside and outside the country, continued to raise its voice in international organizations. In Venezuela, the silence of many victims does not mean impunity, but protection. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor’s Office is gathering criminal evidence on patterns of widespread violence to substantiate its allegations.
d. Warrants aren’t always public
In Venezuela, we must understand that even if we don’t know the names or details of possible warrants, that doesn’t mean there isn’t progress. Confidentiality is also an essential part of the procedure. For example, in the Philippines, the arrest warrant against Rodrigo Duterte remained confidential until his arrest in March of this year. The hearing to read him the charges will be at the end of September.
What crimes are being investigated in Afghanistan?
The case against the Taliban leaders documents a systematic and widespread attack against the civilian population, based on their gender or their advocacy for women’s rights.
The main charge is persecution as a crime against humanity (Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute), committed from at least August 15, 2021, to January 20, 2025. The ICC Prosecutor also documented that the discriminatory measures of persecution do not stem from a legitimate religious interpretation, but from a coercive Taliban ideology transformed into state policy, which has been condemned even by other Muslim states and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
The victims were four main groups:
- Girls.
- Women.
- People perceived as non-conforming to ideological gender expectations (including LGBTQI+).
- People perceived as allies of the above.
The practices included:
- Prohibition of secondary and university education for girls.
- Expulsion of women from government jobs, NGOs, the UN, and their own businesses.
- Closure of women-owned businesses (such as beauty salons).
- Imposition of mobility and dress restrictions, forcing them to stay at home or go out only with a male guardian.
- Replacement of the Ministry of Women with the “Ministry for Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.”
- Violent repression of protests, with arrests, torture, rape, and disappearances.
- Persecution of LGBTQI+ people, with physical punishment and executions for alleged “morality crimes.”
Furthermore, the Prosecutor’s Office links these acts to other crimes listed in Article 7 of the Rome Statute, such as murder, imprisonment, torture, sexual violence, and enforced disappearances. The Prosecutor’s Office reserves the right to expand the charges at a later date.
Venezuela and its support for the Taliban regime
It’s impossible to ignore the political context: Venezuela has supported the Taliban regime in various UN forums, such as the Human Rights Council.
For example:
• On October 7, 2021, the Venezuelan government voted against the resolution establishing a special rapporteur on Afghanistan. Only five countries voted against it: Venezuela, China, Eritrea, Pakistan, and Russia. Twenty-eight voted in favor, and the resolution was passed.
• On February 29, 2024, the Venezuelan envoy rejected the UN rapporteur’s report on Afghanistan, downplaying the abuses against girls, women, and other persecuted people and blaming the Afghan crisis on international sanctions.
This support for the Taliban regime also demonstrates why attempts have been made to hide the seriousness of the complaints that Venezuelan victims themselves, affected by politically motivated persecution, have filed before the same international organizations.
Another milestone
The arrest warrants in Afghanistan are a global milestone in the fight against the systematic oppression of women and demonstrate that international justice is not halted by political changes or the brutality of regimes.
In Venezuela, it is crucial to remember that the confidentiality of some judicial decisions does not imply inaction. Victims can build trust in international mechanisms without giving up their right to demand justice and speed. Therefore, it is necessary to follow every advance at the ICC, learn from other situations, and multiply efforts for the Venezuelan cause.
Documents:
- News item on the ICC website: Situation in Afghanistan: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II issues arrest warrants for Haibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani
- Statement of the ICC Office of the Prosecutor on the issuance of arrest warrants in the Situation in Afghanistan
- General information on the situation in Afghanistan at the ICC
- Judges’ decision on Haibatullah Akhundzada (PDF)
- Judges’ decision on Abdul Hakim Haqqani (PDF)
- Venezuela’s support for the Taliban at the UN