On Tuesday, May 17, 2021, the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) held an online roundtable discussion on “Hazara Genocide: Legal Components and Preventive Way”. Dr. Haroun Rahimi, Assistant Professor of Law and Researcher; Mujib Mehrdad, Editor-in-Chief of Daily Hasht-e-Sub and University Lecturer; Sayed Ehsan Khaliq, Commissioner of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission; Ehsan Qaane, Researcher at Afghanistan Analysts Network, were the speakers of the program. The event was moderated by Razia Danesh, University Lecturer.
Sayed Ehsan Khaliq said that we have asked international institutions to investigate the recent terrorist attacks. "Unfortunately, it is clear that the government and the judiciary in Afghanistan do not have enough capacity to deal with war crimes," he said. He added that the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) expects the Afghanistan government to follow up on the commission's statement to follow up on recent tragedies.
In his speech, Dr. Haroon Rahimi talked about two principles; 1) bring to trial the perpetrators of these crimes and genocides and 2) prevent these crimes. Unfortunately, Afghanistan law is mostly reactive rather than proactive. He added that the Hazaras have been attacked because of their ethnic and religious identities. According to him, in order to prevent systematic attacks, the Afghanistan government should take all precautionary measures, and if it is unable to do so, it should seek help from international institutions.
Ehsan Qaane said it was the duty of the Afghanistan government to condemn the recent attacks as genocide and to prosecute them in international courts. He stated that the Afghan government has not yet acknowledged that genocide has taken place in Afghanistan. He added that the legal treatment of war and conflict in Afghanistan has been neglected.
Mujib Mehrdad said that Hazaras and Shiites have been particularly targeted since 2015. He added that it is clear that Hazaras and Shiites are the targets of systematic attacks. It is the duty of all ethnic groups in Afghanistan to condemn these attacks. "It is the moral duty of all Afghans to try to prevent targeted crimes and attacks," he said. They should sympathize with the victims of the incidents and condemn these attacks.
You can watch the full video of the roundtable discussion at the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/AISSAfghanistan/videos/976922039719438