Afghanistan

In August 2021, the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. This followed two decades of US-led military intervention and occupation, repeatedly justified as a mission to liberate Afghan women from the Taliban during their first regime from 1996-2001. Since their return, the Taliban have enforced an institutionalised regime of systemic discrimination and exclusion of women, depriving…

In the wake of relentless violence being live-streamed onto our phones for the last two years, the international legal community has been confronted with questions about the relevance and legitimacy of international law: ‘Is international law dead?’ ‘Is it in crisis?’ ‘What is it like to teach international law in times like…

In January 2025, the Office of the Prosecutor applied for warrants to arrest Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Supreme Leader of the Taliban and de facto leader of Afghanistan, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the Chief Justice of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds under article 7(1)(h) of the…

On 8 July 2025, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against two senior Taliban leaders in the Situation in Afghanistan. The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) hailed the warrants as an ‘important vindication and acknowledgement of the rights of Afghan women and girls’, with…