A group of concerned Afghans sent an open letter to the United Nations Special Advisor on Genocide Prevention, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, calling for appropriate action under the UN Charter to be taken to prevent and suppress acts of genocide against ethnic Hazaras in Afghanistan.
The group, the Afghanistan National Movement for Peace and Justice (ANMPJ), said in the letter to the UN that the continuation of conflict, insecurity and violence has inflicted immense destruction and suffering on the country and its people.
The letter stated that after the fall of the previous government, the humanitarian crisis in the country has deepened and the human rights situation has deteriorated on all fronts, including significant increases in mass murders, revenge killings, arbitrary arrests, torture and assassination of former government officials, forced evictions of civilians and gender apartheid.
The movement stated in the letter that the most disturbing development, threatening the prospects of peace and survival of Afghanistan as a nation, has been the increase in targeted violence against the Hazara population, specifically because of their ethnic identity and religious beliefs.
They stated that over 300 acts of violence perpetrated against the Hazara population across the country, especially in the West of Kabul and along the highways of the country, have been documented by national and international human rights organizations and activists in recent years.
The movement mentioned the deadly attack on Kaaj institute in Kabul in September and says over 54 students, all Hazaras and mostly girls, were killed and 112 more were injured.
They said that the Taliban has failed to protect Hazaras against such “systematic violence” and it has denied the Hazara people their basic political and religious rights.
“The deliberate and systematic mass killings of Hazaras coupled with forced evictions and discriminatory policies by the Taliban constitute acts of genocide, in accordance with the definitions provided in Article I of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1951),” the letter reads.
Recently, Afghan refugees and diaspora communities worldwide launched a campaign of Stop-Hazara-Genocide and held demonstrations worldwide.
The movement condemns all violations of human rights and brings forward three main suggestions: prevent the acts of genocide against Hazaras, identify and prosecute those responsible for such acts, and initiate a coordinated action for the protection of Hazaras under the R2P Principles of the UN World Summit Outcome Document of 2005, based on the stipulated measures of the Genocide Convention.
“We earnestly call for a thorough and independent investigation of all crimes perpetrated against Afghan people, especially those deliberately targeting our Hazara people, by responsible agencies of the United Nations, and prosecution of the perpetrators of these crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC),” the organization says.
ANMPJ is an Afghan political movement established in July 2022 by Afghanistan’s politicians, government and former elected officials, civil society, human rights and women’s empowerment activists as well as media figures and academics.
