Landmark ICC Arrest Warrant Application Seeks to Hold the Taliban Accountable for Homophobic and Transphobic Persecution

“I was beaten and harassed by the Taliban many times just for being gay,” said Azar, a 20-year-old gay man in Kabul, whose name is changed for his safety. In one of those incidents in mid-2023, Taliban members beat him in the street, then arrested and tortured him for days in a hidden, informal holding space.