Ending Hazara persecution would hasten Afghanistan’s reintegration into global system.
THEY WOULD HAVE TO END GENDER APARTHEID
EURASIANET
Sep 12, 2025
Eurasianet has an operating agreement with the New Lines Institute, a Washington, DC,-based think tank that fosters “principled and transformative” policy solutions “based on a deep understanding of regional geopolitics and the value systems of those regions.”
A Hazara girl holds a placard during a protest against the September 2022 bombing in Kabul that took the lives of 54 young female students, largely from the Hazara minority community.
(Photo: Paul Becker, CC BY 2.0, n9.cl/0enpm)
Ongoing and systematic persecution of Afghanistan’s Hazara community meets the standard of genocide, according to a report published September 1 by the New Lines Institute (NLI).
The report focuses on documenting violations of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide committed against Hazaras in Afghanistan since August 2021, when the Taliban regime returned to power in Kabul amid the hasty withdrawal of US forces. Hazaras, who adhere to the Shia branch of Islam, may comprise up to 20 percent of Afghanistan’s estimated population of 44 million, although reliable, official demographic data is lacking.
In addition to Taliban elements, Hazaras have also been targeted for attacks by non-state actors, including the militant group Islamic State-Khorasan Province and Kuchis, or ethnic Pashtun nomads predominantly found in eastern and southern Afghan provinces, according to the report. The NLI analysis shows that Hazaras qualify as a distinct ethnic and religious group under Article II of the UN Convention and are thus covered by the treaty’s provisions. The report goes on to call on signatories to the pact to “employ all means reasonably available to them” to protect Hazaras from further persecution and to take action to bring perpetrators to justice.
“Preventing genocide against the Hazara would not only save lives but also help restore the foundations needed for Afghanistan to function as a state,” said Susanna Kelley, the NLI policy analyst who oversaw the production of the report. “Ending persecution would improve humanitarian access, reduce forced migration, and ease regional tensions by stabilizing the refugee situation in Iran and Pakistan. On a broader level, protecting minorities is a prerequisite for Afghanistan’s reintegration into the international system.”
The NLI report lists numerous atrocities against Hazaras going back almost a decade, including mass attacks on schools, markets, public transportation and other civic venues. Among the worst recent instances of violence was an attack carried out by ISIS-K on a mosque in northern Balkh Province in April 2022 that left 31 dead and 87 wounded.
The motive for Hazara persecution appears to be rooted in religion. Most of Afghanistan’s other main ethnic groups, including Pashtuns, Uzbeks and Tajiks, are adherents of the Sunni branch of Islam and are doctrinally hostile to Shia beliefs.
The NLI report stresses that discrimination against Hazaras in Afghanistan dates back at least to the 19th century. It notes that persecution of Hazaras persisted during the Afghan Republic era, the almost 20-year-long period that began in 2002 following the demise of the first Taliban regime and the establishment of representative government. The US-backed Afghan republican government endorsed the 1948 UN Convention in 2003, yet “despite the Afghan Republic delivering on palpable changes in terms of human rights, justice, and accountability, Hazaras, particularly Hazara women, have been targeted with impunity during the times of the Afghan Republic and since the Taliban takeover,” the report states.
To date global bodies, such as the International Criminal Court, have been slow to address the Hazara persecution issue, even though it long predates the return of the Taliban to power in 2021. The international focus has tended to fix on the Taliban regime’s draconian policies concerning women.
“The ICC and other relevant international bodies have been largely silent, and/or acted too late with respect to other long-standing and serious human rights violations in Afghanistan, including deliberate attacks against the Hazara,” the report states.
Kelley argues that dedicated international action to address Hazara persecution would help Afghanistan create a more solid foundation for economic reconstruction and integration into emerging regional trade networks, such as the US-backed Middle Corridor.
“For the United States and Europe, addressing the Hazara genocide is not only a moral obligation but a strategic necessity. The security of vulnerable populations is directly tied to regional and global stability,” she said.
To read the full report, click here.
Ongoing and systematic persecution of Afghanistan’s Hazara community meets the standard of genocide, according to a report published September 1 by the New Lines Institute (NLI).
The report focuses on documenting violations of the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide committed against Hazaras in Afghanistan since August 2021, when the Taliban regime returned to power in Kabul amid the hasty withdrawal of US forces. Hazaras, who adhere to the Shia branch of Islam, may comprise up to 20 percent of Afghanistan’s estimated population of 44 million, although reliable, official demographic data is lacking.
In addition to Taliban elements, Hazaras have also been targeted for attacks by non-state actors, including the militant group Islamic State-Khorasan Province and Kuchis, or ethnic Pashtun nomads predominantly found in eastern and southern Afghan provinces, according to the report. The NLI analysis shows that Hazaras qualify as a distinct ethnic and religious group under Article II of the UN Convention and are thus covered by the treaty’s provisions. The report goes on to call on signatories to the pact to “employ all means reasonably available to them” to protect Hazaras from further persecution and to take action to bring perpetrators to justice.
“Preventing genocide against the Hazara would not only save lives but also help restore the foundations needed for Afghanistan to function as a state,” said Susanna Kelley, the NLI policy analyst who oversaw the production of the report. “Ending persecution would improve humanitarian access, reduce forced migration, and ease regional tensions by stabilizing the refugee situation in Iran and Pakistan. On a broader level, protecting minorities is a prerequisite for Afghanistan’s reintegration into the international system.”
The NLI report lists numerous atrocities against Hazaras going back almost a decade, including mass attacks on schools, markets, public transportation and other civic venues. Among the worst recent instances of violence was an attack carried out by ISIS-K on a mosque in northern Balkh Province in April 2022 that left 31 dead and 87 wounded.
The motive for Hazara persecution appears to be rooted in religion. Most of Afghanistan’s other main ethnic groups, including Pashtuns, Uzbeks and Tajiks, are adherents of the Sunni branch of Islam and are doctrinally hostile to Shia beliefs.
The NLI report stresses that discrimination against Hazaras in Afghanistan dates back at least to the 19th century. It notes that persecution of Hazaras persisted during the Afghan Republic era, the almost 20-year-long period that began in 2002 following the demise of the first Taliban regime and the establishment of representative government. The US-backed Afghan republican government endorsed the 1948 UN Convention in 2003, yet “despite the Afghan Republic delivering on palpable changes in terms of human rights, justice, and accountability, Hazaras, particularly Hazara women, have been targeted with impunity during the times of the Afghan Republic and since the Taliban takeover,” the report states.
To date global bodies, such as the International Criminal Court, have been slow to address the Hazara persecution issue, even though it long predates the return of the Taliban to power in 2021. The international focus has tended to fix on the Taliban regime’s draconian policies concerning women.
“The ICC and other relevant international bodies have been largely silent, and/or acted too late with respect to other long-standing and serious human rights violations in Afghanistan, including deliberate attacks against the Hazara,” the report states.
Kelley argues that dedicated international action to address Hazara persecution would help Afghanistan create a more solid foundation for economic reconstruction and integration into emerging regional trade networks, such as the US-backed Middle Corridor.
“For the United States and Europe, addressing the Hazara genocide is not only a moral obligation but a strategic necessity. The security of vulnerable populations is directly tied to regional and global stability,” she said.
To read the full report, click here.
Eurasianet has an operating agreement with the New Lines Institute, a Washington, DC,-based think tank that fosters “principled and transformative” policy solutions “based on a deep understanding of regional geopolitics and the value systems of those regions.”
HASARA MINORITY IN PAKISTAN, NORTHERN IRAN
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