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EU-Afghan working group tackles human rights issues
The third meeting of the EU-Afghanistan Special Working Group on Human Rights, Good Governance and Migration was held on Wednesday virtually in which parties involved expressed grave concern about the continuing high level of violence, and condemned the increasing number of targeted killings of media workers, civil society activists and law enforcement officials.
In a statement issued late Wednesday night, the European Union stated the parties discussed human rights and fundamental freedoms in the context of the ongoing Afghan peace process.
The parties “expressed grave concern about the continuing high level of violence, and condemned the increasing number of targeted killings of media workers, civil society activists and law enforcement officials, who are essential bastions of a democratic and open society.”
The EU called on the Afghan government to “provide for the security of these important actors in society, as well as conduct thorough investigations, bring the culprits to justice and keep the Afghan public fully informed about the measures taken.”
The EU also emphasized the importance of respecting and promoting International Humanitarian Law to protect civilians in conflict by all parties to the conflict.
“The protection of civilians, medical and education facilities as well as humanitarian workers, cannot wait for peace. The parties stressed that only an immediate cessation of violence would restore confidence in the sincerity of the Taliban for a political settlement to end the war,” the statement read.
The EU and Afghanistan meanwhile agreed on the importance of an enhanced promotion of inclusivity in the peace talks, notably the involvement of women, youth, minorities, internally displaced persons, refugees and victims of war, to ensure an ownership of the process by all Afghans.
They also underlined that the preservation and further strengthening of the democratic and human rights gains of the last 20 years is indispensable during and after the peace process, and referred to the broad-based consensus on this, as expressed at the Geneva Conference for Afghanistan in November 2020.
“In the areas of women and children’s rights, the necessity to enforce legislation against widespread violence and harmful practices was highlighted, as well as the need to address discrimination against religious minorities.
“In the field of governance, the EU and Afghanistan emphasised the importance of free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive electoral processes that would facilitate legitimate transfer of power, and discussed the experiences of their electoral cooperation and the prospects of continuing electoral reform.
“Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) issues were also addressed, in view of the EU’s ongoing assessment of Afghanistan’s AML/CFT regime,” read the statement.
Afghanistan’s anti-corruption efforts were also discussed along with the regional dimension of migration.
The parties discussed the measures taken by the Afghan Government and commended their joint coordination in the area of anti-corruption policy and institutional reforms, and committed to keep the matter high on their bilateral agenda.
The European Union announced Tuesday it has made available 400,000 euros (over 30 million afghani) in response to widespread flooding in the north of Afghanistan in the past few weeks.
This humanitarian aid will provide immediate emergency assistance to beneficiaries in the regions of Baghlan, Badakhshan, and Takhar, the EU said in a statement.
The assistance will be delivered by EU humanitarian partners ACTED and DACAAR. It will include an emergency multi-sectoral response through cash assistance as well as access to clean water, emergency sanitation and hygiene supplies, the statement read.
The EU mentioned that it has been funding humanitarian operations in Afghanistan since 1994, providing close to 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in funding.
Last year alone, the EU mobilised 159 million euros ($172 million) in humanitarian funding.
In addition, since 2021 the EU has organised a Humanitarian Air Bridge to Afghanistan, with 35 flights so far that have carried over 1,600 tonnes of aid.
Turkish Airlines will resume its flights to Afghanistan tomorrow (Tuesday), officials said on Monday.
The Ministry of Transport said that a Turkish Airlines plane will land in Kabul airport on Tuesday.
“Tomorrow, Turkish Airlines will resume its flights to Kabul International Airport. There will be four flights between Kabul and Istanbul per week. This is good news for Afghan travelers. For those Afghans who travel to European countries, they can move easily through Turkey,” said Imamuddin Ahmadi, the spokesman of the Ministry of Transport.
However, the Chamber of Commerce and Investment emphasized that visas should be provided to businessmen and citizens of the country, otherwise companies will benefit the most, not Afghan citizens and businessmen.
“Not a single passenger is allowed, the reason is that they do not issue visas. If the Turks don’t start issuing visas, or the Arabs don’t issue visas, the plane will come for the cargo and there will be little movement of people,” said Khanjan Alokozay, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment.
In a meeting with Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, the Deputy Prime Minister said the Islamic Emirate will participate in the third Doha meeting if its “position” is accepted.
He said that Afghanistan is under the complete control of the Islamic Emirate and that the country “has an Emir” and the government is “obeyed”.
According to a statement issued by Mawlavi Abdul Kabir’s office, the deputy prime minister told DiCarlo: “The previous meeting in Doha was incomplete due to some shortcomings of its organizers, and the position of the Islamic Emirate should be accepted in the next meeting so that the delegation of the Islamic Emirate will participate in it.”
The Secretary General of the United Nations once expressed regret for the Islamic Emirate’s non-participation in the Doha meeting, but at the same time said that accepting the demands of the Islamic Emirate is equivalent to its recognition.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate is asking the United Nations and other countries to recognize them as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
Kabir said that the Islamic Emirate has fulfilled all its obligations and “rules over the entire geography of Afghanistan… There is a central government in all of Afghanistan that has an emir and is obeyed.”
The United Nations is expected to hold the third Doha meeting with the participation of special representatives of countries for Afghanistan, but it has not set a date for it yet.
The Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs of the United Nations meanwhile visited Kabul this week and invited the Islamic Emirate’s officials to participate in the Doha meeting.
According to the deputy prime minister’s office, DiCarlo informed Kabir about the Doha meeting and said that “the Islamic Emirate’s conditions for participating in this meeting are not difficult.”
She expressed hope that a delegation of the Islamic Emirate will participate.
She said that representatives of a number of international organizations and countries have been invited to the Doha meeting, including the World Bank.
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