Afghanistan: End systematic killings of Hazaras and prevent possible genocide

In response, the Taliban reportedly oppressed protestors with violence2 and harassed the families of victims in Kabul.3 The Taliban has not taken responsibility for the recent attack, but in recent years, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) have claimed responsibility for similar attacks on the Hazara community. [...] More than half of the Hazaras’ overall population in Afghanistan were massacred, forced to flee or taken into slavery during the war.8 The size, pattern and targets of the ongoing attacks against the Hazara community, in addition to the public glorification of violence and hatred towards them by terrorist groups and Sunni hardliners, can clearly constitute evidence of genocide, according to the 19. [...] In the first half of 2021 alone, the United Nations documented 20 attacks against Shias/Hazaras, resulting in 143 Hazara civilians killed and more than 300 wounded, bringing the death toll of civilians to 500.12 The Taliban massacred thousands of Hazaras in Balkh13 and Bamiyan provinces during their first rule in the 1990s.14 Their brutality against the Hazara community has continued following the. [...] Cases of enforced displacement, extra-judicial and systematic killings, enforced disappearances of Hazaras, and persecution of Sikhs and Hindus, Sofis, Tajiks and Uzbeks continue to rise.17 The risks of persecution and possible genocide of Hazaras/Shias escalate in the face of continued brutality by the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-K) across Afghanistan. [...] States should facilitate the resettlement of members of the most vulnerable groups and those in urgent need of protection; b) Abide by the principles of the Genocide Convention and under the United Nations doctrine of Responsibility to Protect, recognise the historical and systemic persecution of Hazaras that could constitute genocide; c) Urge all stakeholders to take concrete steps that would put.