In the wake of a global call for protest against the genocide of Hazaras and gender apartheid in Afghanistan, demonstrators claim that Hazaras have been systematically eradicated from key governmental and military positions since the Taliban assumed complete control.
The resolution calling for international demonstrations against the Hazara genocide and gender-based discrimination was issued by protesters on Sunday, January 21.
The resolution contends that the historical policy of forced migration and land seizure, initially implemented by Abdul Rahman Khan in 1887, has been reinstated under the Taliban regime. Protesters assert that the Taliban is seizing the assets of Hazara merchants and elites.
According to the demonstrators, Hazaras find themselves once again the sole target of “waves of targeted and systematic killings,” continuing a long history of genocidal actions.
The resolution further details the inhumane treatment Hazara women and girls are allegedly facing, with arbitrary arrests and extensive kidnappings under the pretext of their attire.
Global protesters have appealed to international bodies, including the United Nations Security Council, the Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court, world leaders, and human rights organizations, urging them to condemn the abduction and detention of Hazara women and girls, as well as the ongoing genocide. They call for solidarity and official recognition of the Hazara genocide in Afghanistan, proposing the immediate formation of investigative teams to hold perpetrators accountable before the International Criminal Court.
The protest is not limited to Afghanistan, as today in Barcelona, Spain, dozens gathered to express their opposition to “the genocide of Hazaras and gender apartheid in Afghanistan.”
Earlier, the Independent Coalition of Women’s Protest Movements in Afghanistan’s Takhar Province denounced the Taliban, characterizing the group as rooted in “gender apartheid, the genocide of Hazaras, Tajiks, and fascist oppression based on nationality, ethnicity, language, and religion.”
Accusations of human rights violations, particularly against women, have been leveled against the Taliban for the past two years. Recently, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Kabul (UNAMA) reported an increase in violence against the Hazara and Shia communities in the provinces of Kabul, Balkh, and Herat over the past month.