The International Criminal Court has made public four arrest warrants against senior Taliban figures over persecution of women and girls in Afghanistan.

In their decision, the ICC judges unsealed warrants for Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani and for two further suspects, Habibullah Agha and Neda Mohammad Nadim.

The court said there are reasonable grounds to believe all four are criminally responsible for ordering, inducing or soliciting persecution, a crime against humanity under article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty.

The ICC judges found that the Taliban had put in place a policy that led to serious violations of the civilian population’s fundamental rights and freedoms, linked to murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and enforced disappearance.

At the time, the ICC Prosecutor said further applications against other senior Taliban members would follow.