KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Purple Saturday Movement, a group of women activists, has called on the UN to take immediate action and launch an independent investigation into the “massacres” and the “ongoing genocide” of Hazara-Shias in Afghanistan.
In a statement on Saturday, September 14, the activists urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to probe the crimes committed by the Taliban and ISIS against Hazaras and bring those responsible to justice.
They also called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as a representative body of Islamic countries, to take an active role in preventing the oppression of Hazara-Shias in Afghanistan.
“We urge all international human rights organizations to publicly condemn these atrocities and raise global awareness of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan through global campaigns,” the women activists said.
“We ask these organizations to promptly initiate relief and support programs for the victims and survivors of the recent attack in Ghor-Daikundi,” they added.
The women’s rights group says that ISIS and the Taliban share a common ideology and are deliberately targeting and killing Hazaras across Afghanistan.
Members of the Hazara community have been targeted and persecuted by extremist groups like ISKP and the Taliban for decades, with the violence escalating since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), a rights watchdog, since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan three years ago, ISKP has carried out at least 17 attacks on Hazaras, resulting in over 700 deaths and injuries.
The most recent ISKP targeted attack on Hazaras occurred on Thursday, September 12, in a remote border area between central Daykundi and Ghor provinces, resulting in 14 deaths and six injuries.
The victims, all residents of Daykundi province, were ambushed while traveling to welcome family members returning from a pilgrimage to Shia holy sites in Karbala. Four armed men stopped their vehicle and opened fire on them.
The targeted attacks against the Hazara community in Afghanistan have been widely condemned and have sparked global protests. Human rights groups and activists have labeled these attacks as ongoing genocide, urging the UN and the international community to formally recognize them as such.
Last month, the American Bar Association (ABA), a U.S.-based organization of lawyers, passed a resolution urging governments to “recognize, stop, and prevent” further acts of genocide against the Hazara people in Afghanistan.
The association also urged the U.S. Department of State and Congress to enhance national, regional, and international frameworks for preventing mass atrocities in Afghanistan and safeguarding at-risk groups like the Hazaras.
