Report of several members of the British Parliament on the threat of genocide of Hazaras in Afghanistan

A new British parliamentary inquiry into the plight of the Hazara minority in Afghanistan says that "in recent months, we have seen a serious and growing threat of genocide against the Hazaras."

A group of multi-party representatives from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords and experts released their investigative report on the situation of Hazaras in Afghanistan on Saturday, September 3. Focusing on the situation of Hazaras in Afghanistan from 2021 until now, the report shows that "Hazaras in Afghanistan as a religious and ethnic minority are at serious risk of genocide by the Taliban and the Khorasan branch of the Islamic State group."

The authors of this report say that their findings, in line with the UN Genocide Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, commit governments to protect millennials to prevent their possible genocide.

The report states that when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, it significantly affected the situation of the Hazaras and "reversed" their 20-year evolution from marginalization and discrimination to progress.

According to the assessment of this study, the Taliban's return to power has resulted in "brutal acts of violence against Hazaras across Afghanistan and the return of terror" for this minority.

The Taliban has not reacted to this report so far, but the Taliban officials have pledged to protect all the country's minorities and their rights in their talks with representatives of the international community. In their meetings with Afghan Hazara and Shia leaders, Taliban officials have always emphasized on securing religious places and ceremonies, including Muharram.

Lord Alton of Liverpool, of the British House of Lords, a member of the Millennial Research and supporter of the Genocide Response Coalition, said in a statement released on the occasion of the publication of the report: "In recent months, we have seen a serious and growing threat to the generation We have been against millennials. "It is imperative that we act to protect this vulnerable community before it is too late."

Lord Alton added that "it is urgent that action be taken to protect this vulnerable targeted community before it is too late. The situation will be worse and worse for the Hazaras of Afghanistan if the crimes committed against the Hazaras are treated with inaction and impunity. "We have obligations under the Genocide Convention and it is time to fulfill them."

Baroness Helena Kennedy, another member of the research, who is the director of the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association and a supporter of the Coalition to Respond to Genocide, also added in this statement that "the intensification of hostilities and attacks against Hazaras in Afghanistan requires an immediate response." "

Baroness Kennedy said: "We cannot allow the Taliban and ISIS to target the Hazaras in this country to wipe them out - we cannot if we keep any promises we once made to prevent and punish the crime of genocide. »

This report has been presented to the government in Great Britain, America, Canada, the Netherlands, as well as representatives of the United Nations and the International Criminal Court.

What does the report say?

In the first half of 2022, as a result of targeted attacks, including bomb explosions in schools, mosques and other Hazara centers, hundreds of members of the Afghan Hazara community were killed and many were injured.

While the report was being finalized in August 2022, the Khorasan branch of the Islamic State group (ISIS) claimed responsibility for several attacks that killed more than 120 people in just a few days.

While the problem of "the treatment of Hazaras in Afghanistan is a long-standing issue", the Taliban's domination of Afghanistan is a new threat to the Hazara community. For this reason, this report focuses on the situation of the society as of August 2021 (and during the one year period of Taban's rule over Afghanistan).

After the May 8 explosion at a Kabul school that killed 90 students, most of them from the Hazara community, Genocide Watch issued an emergency warning of the threat of genocide and targeting of Shia Hazaras in Afghanistan. .

The organization said that "although neither the Taliban nor ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, such targeting of the Hazara religious minority is a sign that genocide is imminent."

In total, between January 1 and June 30, 2021, UNAMA recorded 20 incidents targeting Shiites and Hazaras, resulting in 500 civilian casualties (143 killed and 357 wounded).

On August 21, 2021, Amnesty International released a report that shed light on the mass killing of Hazaras by the Taliban. This report was prepared based on interviews with 25 eyewitnesses and examination of photographic evidence after the murder in the village of Mendrekht, Ghazni province, Afghanistan.

On October 8, 2021, 151 civilians were killed and more than 200 were injured in the explosion of an ISIS suicide bomber in Hazareha Mosque in Seyedabad Pass of Kunduz.

On October 15, 2021, ISIS detonated a bomb in the Bibi Fatima Mosque in Kandahar, killing 63 people and injuring 90 others.

After the attacks, ISIS issued a statement saying it would target Shiites in their homes and centers in every way, "from slaughter to dismemberment... and news of [ISIS] attacks on [Shiite] mosques and Their gatherings from Baghdad to Khorasan are not hidden from anyone."

In November and December 2021, another series of attacks by ISIS targeted Hazaras in Kabul. The Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent non-profit investigative organization, reported that "three explosions west of Kabul" occurred on December 10.

On April 19, 2022, multiple explosions targeted a boys' high school and near an educational center named Mumtaz, both located in Dasht Barchi area of Kabul, leaving 6 dead and at least 11 injured. No group claimed responsibility.

On April 21, 2022, ISIS claimed responsibility for an explosion in a Hazara Shiite mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif, which left at least 10 dead.

On April 28, ISIS claimed responsibility for two twin blasts in Mazar-i-Sharif that killed at least nine people and wounded 13 others.

According to the statements of the Khorasan branch of the ISIS group, Human Rights Watch said that "their criminal attacks reflect a deliberate policy."

In January 2022, the European Asylum Support Office (ISO), an agency of the European Union, published a report on the vulnerable situation of Afghan Hazaras, especially after the Taliban took over.

In January 2022, a British House of Lords select committee report on Afghanistan said that "Millennials have a long history of suffering state persecution on ethnic and sectarian grounds", and that the Hazara Shia minority "are regularly subjected to targeted killings, violence and They are discriminated based on their ethnic and religious identity.

The report concluded that the response of the Afghan government and the international community was "largely insufficient or completely missing".

On January 26, 2022, the British Home Office wrote in its policy update on Afghanistan that under the Taliban regime, ethnic and religious minorities, especially the Hazaras, are at risk.

According to the US State Department report, on August 31, 2021, Taliban fighters killed 13 Hazara Shiites in Daikundi province. The Taliban rejected this claim. The report concluded that "due to the passivity and impunity of the perpetrators of these attacks on millennials, more attacks are expected in the future and this trend will probably continue."

The report concluded that "due to the passivity and impunity of perpetrators of attacks on millennials, more attacks are expected in the future and this trend is likely to continue."

Therefore, in line with international obligations in accordance with the Genocide Convention, there is an urgent need to support this community.

The group said it has also conducted research on Pakistan's millennials, the report of which is expected to be published in the coming months.

What is the Hazaras Research Group in the British Parliament?

Five members of the British Parliament and a number of experts have prepared this research report, which includes a one-year period from August 2021, when the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, to August 2022.

Lord Alton and Baroness Kennedy from the British House of Lords, Paul Bristow, the Conservative Party representative for Peterborough, Chris Law, the Scottish National Party representative for Dundee West, and Brendan O'Hara, the Scottish National Party representative for Argyll and Bute, participated in the preparation of this report.

Lord Alton and Baroness Kennedy from the British House of Lords, Paul Bristow, the Conservative Party representative for Peterborough, Chris Law, the Scottish National Party representative for Dundee West, and Brendan O'Hara, the Scottish National Party representative for Argyll and Bute, participated in the preparation of this report. .

This is an "unofficial" report from the UK Parliament's cross-party inquiry into millennials, which they say aims to:

"Reviewing the situation of Hazaras in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the crimes committed against this ethnic group and identifying the facilities for this community and their deficiencies;

Involvement of the British government and international actors in helping this community;

Seeking ways of justice and accountability by resorting to the law and based on the evidence collected.