Dear President  

On the 5^th of December 2001, at the Bonn Conference, the international community established the roadmap for a political process of state building in Afghanistan. It agreed to set up a democratic government to work towards establishing a broad-based multi-ethnic and fully representative government.  Although, some achievements have been made towards reaching this goal by the Afghan government and the international community, the Hazara minorities have largely been excluded and alienated from this process.

Hazaras are one of four main ethnic groups in Afghanistan. According to ‘Minority at Risk’ of University of Maryland, one of the most credible ethnic databases, Hazaras make up 19% of the Afghan population. During the history of Afghanistan’s nation-building, the Hazara population has been the main victim of Pashtun hegemony and internal imperialism. We, the Hazara minority, have been victimized exclusively because of our Turko-Mongoloid physical appearance and particular cultural customs. The first mass genocide of Hazaras took place in the 1890s by Amir Abdul Rahman Khan, when 64% of Hazaras were massacred, while the rest were forcibly replaced to the Central Highlands. This has been recorded in length by the most renowned Afghan historian, Feiz Mohammad Kateb. More recent massacres reported by the Human Rights Watch are the Afshar massacre in 1993, Mazare-Sharif and the Bamyan massacres by the Taliban in 1998-9. In Bamyan, according to the US Department of State, hundreds of civilians including women and children were murdered by the Taliban; while the Human Right Watch 2005 Report puts this figure to 2000 civilians. This is not to mention the destruction of the giant Buddha statues at Bamyan by the Taliban, which struck at the very cultural existence of the Hazara minority.  

In spite of the great sufferings of Hazara people, particularly during the Taliban, they have largely been excluded and marginalized from the present power-sharing government. None of the main ministries, Defence, Foreign, Interior or Finance is allocated to Hazaras. The 4 ministries given to Hazaras out of 27 are largely symbolic and have little impact on the overall decision-making process. Data from the 2006 Afghan Government’s Ethnic Allocation of third to fifth grade high officials show that overall Hazaras occupy between 3 to 5% of the positions in the government, though comprising 19% of the population.  For instance, there are only 4% Hazaras in the Finance department and 3.74% in the Interior department, compared to 44% Pashtuns and 39% Pashtuns in the same departments respectively. This shows the continuing discrimination and exclusion of the Hazara minority in Afghanistan in the government, military and higher education. 

While, we the Hazara people of Afghanistan are grateful to the international community for their aid to the country, we believe that the Hazaras have been largely excluded from incoming international aid. According to the 2008 ACBAR paper, there are significant disparities in the geographical distribution of aid. Most of the aid is disproportionately allocated to the Southern Pashtun provinces where the Taliban reside; whereas the Central highland Hazaras have ironically become the victim of their cooperation with and assistance to the international community. According to Oxfam 2008, the three Southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Nimroz received more than two thirds of assistance from the USAID, while the province of Dai Kundi in the Central Highlands received less than 1 mn USD. These disparities are also reflected in the allocation of budgets by the Afghan government. For 2007-2008 the most insecure provinces of Nimroz, Helmand, Zabul, and Kandahar in the South were allocated more than $200 per person, whereas Bamyan province received even less than one third of this figure. 

The Hazara Rights Watch is a lobby organisation that campaigns for change in the direction of state-building in Afghanistan. It foresees that a peaceful Afghanistan can only be achieved if the international community take a more inclusive approach to state-building in Afghanistan. Therefore, we propose the following: 
 

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  Positive discrimination of Hazaras in the government, military and higher education.

  
  
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  More equal distribution and allocation of aid by the international community and the Afghan government.

  
  
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  A shift from the policy of rewarding insecurity and excluding the safer areas. This entails more economic and political support to the Hazara people, who have unconditionally supported and co-operated with the international community.

These proposals are supported by a number of Hazara and international organisations, including Hazara Human Rights group… Amnesty International, Oxfam UK, .. 

We urgently request and hope that you support these reforms for a better future for Afghanistan. Thank you very much for your time and attention to this important matter.  

Yours Faithfully, 

Hazara Rights Watch Campaign Group