Taliban term ICC\u2019s decision devoid of fair legal basis and \u201ca matter of double standards\u201d
\n KABUL
\nAfghanistan\u2019s Taliban government said on Friday an arrest warrant sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its leaders was \u201cpolitically motivated\u201d.
\nIt comes a day after the ICC chief prosecutor said he was seeking warrants against senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan over the persecution of women \u2014 a crime against humanity.
\n\u201cLike many other decisions of the (ICC), it is devoid of a fair legal basis, is a matter of double standards and is politically motivated,\u201d said a statement from the foreign ministry posted on social media platform X.
\n\u201cIt is regrettable that this institution has turned a blind eye to war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by foreign forces and their domestic allies during the twenty-year occupation of Afghanistan,\u201d it said.
\nIt said the court should \u201cnot attempt to impose a particular interpretation of human rights on the entire world and ignore the religious and national values of people of the rest of the world\u201d.
\nThe Taliban swept back to power in 2021 after ousting the American-backed government in a rapid but largely bloodless military takeover.
\nAfghanistan\u2019s Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Nabi Omari, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, said the ICC \u201ccan\u2019t scare us\u201d.
\n\u201cIf these were fair and true courts, they should have brought America to the court, because it is America that has caused wars, the issues of the world are caused by America,\u201d he said at an event in eastern Khost city attended by an AFP journalist.
\n\u2018Unconscionable persecution by Taliban\u2019
\nAfghanistan\u2019s government claims it secures Afghan women\u2019s rights but many of its edicts are not followed in the rest of the Muslim world and have been condemned by Muslim leaders.
\nIt is the only country in the world where girls and women are banned from education.
\nWomen have been ordered to cover their hair and faces and wear all-covering dress, have been barred from parks and stopped from working in government offices.
\nICC chief Karim Khan said there were reasonable grounds to suspect that Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani \u201cbear criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds\u201d.
\nKhan said Afghan women and girls were facing \u201can unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution by the Taliban\u201d.
\n\u201cOur action signals that the status quo for women and girls in Afghanistan is not acceptable,\u201d Khan said.
\nICC judges will now consider Khan\u2019s application before deciding whether to issue the warrants, a process that could take weeks or even months.
\nThe court, based in The Hague, was set up to rule on the world\u2019s worst crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
\nIt has no police force of its own and relies on its 125 member states to carry out its warrants \u2014 with mixed results.
\nIn theory, this means that anyone subject to an ICC arrest warrant cannot travel to a member state for fear of being detained.
\nKhan warned he would soon be seeking additional arrest warrant applications for other Taliban officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Taliban term ICC\u2019s decision devoid of fair legal basis and \u201ca matter of double standards\u201d KABUL Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban government said on Friday an arrest warrant sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its leaders was \u201cpolitically motivated\u201d. It comes a day after the ICC chief prosecutor said he was seeking warrants against senior Taliban […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457445,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-457425","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n