SAP ReportIn November 2024, a coalition of investigative outlets, including The Guardian, the Centre for Information Resilience’s Afghan Witness project, Lighthouse Reports, and Afghan news organizations Zan Times and Etilaat Roz, unveiled disturbing findings on the Taliban’s so-called “regeneration program” in Kabul.
The investigation revealed that since regaining power in August 2021, the Taliban has razed 1.56 square kilometers (385 acres) of Kabul under the pretext of urban redevelopment.
This campaign has disproportionately impacted vulnerable communities, particularly ethnic minorities like the Hazara and Tajik populations, raising concerns about ethnically motivated destruction.
The report details widespread human rights abuses accompanying these demolitions, including allegations of killings. In some cases, residents claimed homes were destroyed with occupants still inside, resulting in fatalities such as a four-year-old child and a 15-year-old in Kabul’s District 22.
Those attempting to document the demolitions were reportedly subjected to violent reprisals. The forced evictions have left women especially vulnerable, compounding their plight under the Taliban’s draconian restrictions on women’s rights and freedoms.
Satellite imagery analyzed by Afghan Witness highlights that three of the six districts most affected by the demolitions were predominantly inhabited by the Hazara minority, while two others housed significant Tajik populations.
Although the Taliban ostensibly offers compensation to displaced residents, the requirement to produce legally valid land ownership documents has effectively disqualified 80% of claims.
This tactic has led to widespread displacement under the guise of legal compliance.
The persecution of the Hazara community is not a new phenomenon.
The Taliban’s return to power was marked by intensified attacks against this historically marginalized group.
In August 2024, the American Bar Association (ABA) passed a resolution urging global recognition and prevention of what it termed acts of genocide against the Hazara people.
The ABA highlighted over a century of persecution and violence against the Hazara, describing the community as victims of ongoing genocide necessitating immediate international action. Meanwhile, other religious minorities in Afghanistan have faced near-total eradication, with many fleeing the country or going into hiding after the Taliban’s takeover in 2021.
Calls for international accountability have been mounting. In 2022, British politicians urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the Taliban’s crimes against ethnic and religious minorities.
They also advocated for the Taliban-led Afghanistan to face charges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for breaches of the Genocide Convention. Similar appeals were made by Canadian parliamentarians in 2024.
However, no significant progress has been achieved.
While the ICC has assured that arrest warrants related to crimes against humanity, particularly gender persecution, are forthcoming, it has yet to address the genocide allegations.
Similarly, no state has filed a case against Afghanistan at the ICJ for violating the Genocide Convention, although a few countries are reportedly considering legal action under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
As international efforts to address gender-based persecution in Afghanistan gain momentum, the plight of ethnic and religious minorities, especially the Hazara, demands urgent attention. Without decisive action, these communities face continued violence, displacement, and annihilation under the Taliban regime.
