ICC Unseals Warrants for Taliban Education Ministers Over Gender Persecution

The International Criminal Court publicly unsealed arrest warrants on Monday for two senior Taliban officials who oversee Afghanistan's education system, accusing them of crimes against humanity through policies that have systematically excluded women and girls from classrooms and universities.

The warrants target Habibullah Agha, the Taliban government's minister of education, and Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the minister of higher education. According to the court, the warrants were originally issued on September 9, 2025, but remained confidential until Monday's disclosure.

Both men face allegations of gender-based persecution tied to a sweeping set of restrictions imposed after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. Under those policies, girls older than 12 have been barred from attending school, and women have been shut out of higher education entirely.

The ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber II announced it had decided to unseal all four warrants connected to the Afghanistan investigation, releasing them with some redactions. The chamber concluded that public disclosure would not significantly harm ongoing investigations and could help deter additional crimes by the suspects.

The court also suggested that making the warrants public could encourage greater cooperation from the international community regarding the broader situation in Afghanistan. Prosecutors had been building their case quietly for months before the documents became visible to the public.

In its findings, the court stated there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that Agha and Nadeem committed the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds. It said this persecution was specifically aimed at women and girls, with their fundamental rights stripped away.

The chamber further noted that these deprivations occurred "in connection with" other alleged crimes carried out under Taliban policies. Those additional allegations include imprisonment, torture, rape and enforced disappearance.

According to the court, the alleged offenses took place in Afghanistan from the moment the Taliban took control through at least January 20, 2025. That timeline underscores the sustained and institutional nature of the restrictions rather than any isolated incidents.

The warrants for Agha and Nadeem follow earlier action against the Taliban's most senior figures. In July 2025, the ICC authorized warrants for Supreme Taliban Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Supreme Court President Abdul Hakim Haqqani. Portions of those warrants have since been made public.

Both Agha and Nadeem are described as having played central roles in carrying out the supreme leader's vision for Afghanistan. Their positions atop the education ministries place them directly at the point where the most visible and far-reaching restrictions on women have been enforced.

The court's action came on the same day the UN Human Rights Council issued a sharp rebuke to the Taliban. The council urged the authorities in Kabul to repeal what it described as a worsening and systematic oppression of all women and girls in Afghanistan.

All 47 member countries of the Human Rights Council unanimously condemned the discrimination and the harms it has entrenched. In their statement, they called those harms unbearable, unjustifiable and said they should shock the conscience of humanity.

The practical consequences of the education bans have been documented extensively. Afghans across the country have described severe mental health struggles linked to the restrictions, with teenage girls and women largely confined to their homes.

Afghan universities have effectively become men-only spaces. Smartphones are prohibited on campuses, and students can face punishment if their beards are deemed too short, reflecting the broader enforcement of Taliban social codes in academic settings.

Some women and girls have attempted to keep learning through online study, but those efforts face steep obstacles. Internet connectivity and electricity problems across Afghanistan routinely disrupt remote education, leaving few reliable alternatives.

Women's presence in public life has shrunk dramatically. Those who leave home must follow a strict dress code that covers everything except their eyes, and they are barred from most jobs and many public places, including parks.

Long-distance travel requires women to be accompanied by a close male relative. The higher education ban has also produced staffing shortages in hospitals, according to multiple healthcare workers, because women can no longer qualify as doctors.

Monday's unsealing is likely to intensify international pressure on the Taliban government, which has faced widespread condemnation but limited practical consequences since returning to power. AFP said it had approached Taliban authorities for comment on the warrants.

The disclosure does not by itself mean the suspects will appear in court, since the ICC relies on member states to carry out arrests. Still, the public warrants add a formal legal dimension to years of diplomatic and humanitarian criticism of the Taliban's treatment of women and girls.