A/HRC/46/44 incidents of caste-based discrimination and violence that had taken place during the COVID19 pandemic.10 The human rights service of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) continued to document deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian objects, in particular direct attacks against the Shia Muslim population, most of whom were ethnic Hazara, and against the Sikh community. In the first half of 2020, in addition to 18 attacks on religious leaders by anti-government elements, UNAMA reported an attack by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province, on 6 March, at a commemoration for a Hazara leader in Kabul, which killed 34 civilians and injured 78. A subsequent attack by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan was perpetrated on 25 March on worshippers at a Sikh-Hindu temple in Kabul, which killed 25 civilians and injured 12.11 The OHCHR Regional Office for Central Asia monitored incidents of violence in south-eastern Kazakhstan between ethnic Kazakhs and Dungans taking place in February which killed several people and injured many others. Reportedly, over 4,000 Dungans crossed the border into neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, returning to Kazakhstan only after several days. The OHCHR Regional Office for Central Asia noted a sharp increase in nationalistic rhetoric in Kyrgyzstan, following a political crisis in October. The results of parliamentary elections held on 4 October were annulled after allegations of widespread fraud, and subsequent protests. Frequent nationalistic rhetoric, including negative comments about nonKyrgyz speakers and non-Kyrgyz journalists, was shared. In September, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and the Committee on Enforced Disappearances issued joint guidelines on COVID-19 and enforced disappearances, highlighting the fact that women from minority groups and women affected by poverty and social inequalities were particularly exposed to enforced disappearances. These pre-existing vulnerabilities may be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. C. Preventing and addressing acts of discrimination During the period under review, OHCHR engaged in activities and strategies for the promotion and inclusion of non-discrimination guarantees regarding minorities, in relation to legal and policy processes, including in the context of measures adopted to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2019, India passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The High Commissioner raised her concerns over its discriminatory nature against the country’s Muslim minority, and followed up by filing during 2020 an intervention application in the Supreme Court of India laying out the obligations of India under international human rights law, with respect to the right to non-discrimination and equality before the law. 12 In the months following its passing, concerns were also raised by several United Nations human rights experts, including about the widespread crackdown on activists and protesters demonstrating against the Citizenship Amendment Act, the majority of whom were Muslim.13 In June, OHCHR published a guidance note on racial discrimination in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, concluding that people of African descent, people of Asian descent and Roma were disproportionately affected by the pandemic. In addition, they represented a significant percentage of front-line workers who were more exposed to the risk of 10 11 12 13 4 See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25913&LangID=E. See https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/unama_poc_midyear_report_2020_-_27_julyrevised_10_august.pdf. See www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25425&LangID=E. See https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunication File?gId=25343.