Afghanistan: Update to Response to Information Request AFG26036.E of 13 February 1997 on the treatment of the Hazara in Kabul by the Taliban since their 27 September 1996 capture of the capital

The Taliban are Sunni and consist primarily of ethnic Pashtun (the largest ethnic group), who are "historic rivals" of the Shi'i Hazara ethnic minority (AFP 30 Mar. 1997; The Herald Dec. 1997, 89; National Public Radio Inc. 10 Dec. 1997). The Hazara "form the backbone" of the Hizb-e Wahdat, which is one of the major armies opposing the Taliban (The Guardian 20 Dec. 1997; The Herald Dec. 1997, 88). In Kabul, the Hazara and the Tajiks form approximately two thirds of the population (The Guardian 20 Dec. 1997).

On 25 July 1997 Amnesty International reported that it had received information that in the last few days the Taliban in Kabul had "rounded-up as many as 2,000 men from the Tajik and Hazara minorities," primarily from the suburbs of Khair Khana, Karte Parwan, Dasht Barchi and Char Kala, and had detained them in Pul-e-Charkhi prison near Kabul. Amnesty International added that since it had not heard that these men had been involved in any fighting, it was treating these prisoners as prisoners of conscience based on their minority identity. According to section 1.d of Country Reports 1997, a number of observers had reported that "mass arrests of Uzbeks, Hazara, and Tajiks on suspicion of fifth column activities" increased in frequency during this period.

The attached 21 September 1997 report in The Record describes life in Kabul a year after the Taliban captured the city. According to this report,

the Taliban have used the war to justify a campaign of arrests that has targeted the city's Tajik, Uzbek, and Hazara minorities. ... Hundreds have been arrested in Kabul in the past two months on suspicion of aiding the opposition. Most are released after a few days, sometimes after a lashing. ... [However, according to Sher Mohammed Abbas Stanakzai, the deputy foreign minister,] every edict [the Taliban] issue and every arrest they make is part of the army's step-by-step attempt to bring law and order.

Nevertheless, Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban leader, has insisted that "assertions that [the] Taliban, which represents the Pushuns, comes out against granting rights to Afghan ethnic minorities, including Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazaras" are "unfounded propaganda" (TASS 18 Dec. 1997). Mullah Omar further claimed that "peace and order [had] been fully restored" in the two-thirds of the country under their control (ibid.).

Please consult the 20 December 1997 attachment from The Guardian, which provides examples of some of the problems faced by Kabul's minorities, particularly the Hazara, since the Taliban conquest of the capital.

For additional information on the situation of the Hazara, please consult the February 1997 DIRB publication entitled Afghanistan: Chronology of Events, January 1995-February 1997, which is available at all Regional Documentation Centres.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 30 March 1997. Terence White. "Afghan Taliban Demand POW Exchange but Peace Settlement Doubtful." (NEXIS)

Amnesty International (AI). 25 July 1997. Afghanistan: Amnesty International Receives New Information About Taleban Detentions. (AI Index: ASA 11/07/97). London: Amnesty International.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1997. 30 January 1998. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.

The Guardian [London]. 20 December 1997. Jonathan Steele. "Private View: The Taliban Paradox: More Security and More Terror." (NEXIS)

The Herald [Karachi]. December 1997. Vol. 28, No. 12. A. Rashid. "Afghanistan: The Importance of Being Hazara."

National Public Radio Inc. 10 December 1997. "Women Fighting Taliban: Guests: Ahmed Rashid." (NEXIS) (Transcript)

The Record [Bergen County, NJ]. 21 September 1997. All Editions. "In Afghan Capital, Peace Has a Price." (NEXIS)

TASS. 18 December 1997. "Taliban Leader Offers Peace Talks with Adversaries." (NEXIS)

Attachments

The Guardian [London]. 20 December 1997. Jonathan Steele. "Private View: The Taliban Paradox: More Security and More Terror." (NEXIS)

The Record [Bergen County, NJ]. 21 September 1997. All Editions. "In Afghan Capital, Peace Has a Price." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

The Afghanistan Forum [NY]. May 1997. Occasional Paper #35. Rameen Moshref. "The Taliban."

Asian Survey [Berkeley, Calif.]. Monthly. October 1996-present.

Barnett R. Rubin, Barnett R. December 1996. Afghanistan: The Forgotten Crisis - Update March-November 1996.

     _____. February 1996. Afghanistan: The Forgotten Crisis.

     Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995. 1996.

DIRB. February 1997. Afghanistan: Chronology of Events, January 1995-February 1997.

Mousavi, S.A. 1998. The Hazaras of Afghanistan: An Historical, Cultural, Economic and Political Study.

     Online Concise Encyclopedia of Afghanistan.

     Resource Centre. "Afghanistan" country file. September 1996-present.

_____. "Afghanistan: Amnesty International" country file. September 1996-present.

UNHCR, Geneva. June 1997. Background Paper on Refugees and Asylum Seekers From Afghanistan.

     Electronic sources: IRB Databases, LEXIS/NEXIS, WNC.