Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders dismissed the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) jurisdiction over the country, labeling their predecessors' 2003 decision to join the Hague-based court’s founding treaty as "unlawful."
The decision was made in responce to the ICC chief prosecutor's announcement last month seeking arrest warrants for the Taliban's supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, and a close associate, accusing them of being 'criminally responsible "for the persecution of Afghan women and girls."
Ruling as the Islamic Emirate, the Taliban authorities have enforced their strict interpretation of Sharia law, imposing widespread restrictions on free speech and severely limiting women's access to education and public roles.
No country has formally recognized the Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate government, largely due to their oppressive treatment of women and girls.
"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as an entity that upholds the religious and national values of the Afghan people within the framework of Islamic Sharia, does not recognize any obligation to the Rome Statute or the institution referred to as the ‘International Criminal Court,’” the Taliban declared in an English-language statement.
The Taliban rejected the move, calling it politically motivated.
Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat criticized the ICC for not taking "substantive measures against the war crimes perpetrated in Afghanistan by occupying forces and their allies."
Thousands of women, children, elderly individuals, and even prisoners in captivity have been martyred, yet this ‘court’ has neither initiated investigations nor sought to prevent these acts of oppression,” he said.
“Given that many of the world's major powers are not signatories to this 'court,' it is unwarranted for a nation such as Afghanistan, which has historically endured foreign occupation and colonial subjugation, to be bound by its jurisdiction,” the Taliban asserted.
A government spokesperson quoted Akhundzada as stating that "every decree he issues is based on consultation with scholars and derived from the Quran and Hadith [sayings of Islam’s prophet] and represents commands of Allah.”
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