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Time for both sides to stop fighting and make a deal, say foreign stakeholders
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and UNAMA both issued a communique on Saturday calling on both sides to the conflict to stop the fighting and start making progress at the peace talks tables.
The communique comes after a meeting on Thursday in Rome between the EU, NATO, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and the US, where they discussed the situation in Afghanistan and the developments in peace negotiations after last week’s high-level talks in Doha.
The communique stated the group of countries and organizations are committed to a strong partnership with Afghanistan and will be closely monitoring ongoing developments during the new phase of transition as foreign troops withdraw.
They said they “are deeply concerned about the high levels of violence, the Taliban’s military offensive, and the number of reported serious human rights abuses and violations alleged in communities most affected by the ongoing armed conflict across the country”.
“We call on all parties to reduce violence and protect civilians, respecting their obligations under international humanitarian law.
“We call on the Taliban to end their military offensive, and on both the Islamic Republic and the Taliban to engage meaningfully in the peace process.
“We reiterate the urgency of reaching a ceasefire to ensure the success of negotiations, and we acknowledge the sacrifices of the Afghan security forces,” the communique read.
The group also stated that they reaffirm there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and that it will not support any government in Afghanistan imposed through military force.
In addition they said that five elements of a final political settlement are critical to continued support. These are: 1) inclusive governance; 2) the right to elect political leaders; 3) protections for human rights, including rights of women, youth and minorities; 4) commitments on counter-terrorism, including to ensure that Afghanistan does not again serve as a safe haven for terrorists; and 5) adherence to international law, including international humanitarian law.
“We emphasize that international support to any future government will depend, at least in part, on adherence to these five elements,” the communique read.
“We also reiterate that future assistance to Afghanistan is dependent on good governance and a commitment to the rule of law and human rights, including preservation of the gains made by women and girls over the past two decades, as well as the government taking meaningful steps to tackle corruption and to meeting commitments made at the November 2020 Geneva Conference.”
The group also welcomed the talks held in Doha last week between senior leaders of the Afghan Republic and the Taliban and stated: “We further welcome the declared commitment of the two sides to accelerate negotiations toward an inclusive political settlement and to meet again in the near future. We believe future meetings should focus on core issues that will be fundamental to reaching an inclusive political settlement.”
They stated however that they are aware that reaching a final political settlement, including on the Constitution, will likely take time but urged both sides to agree to a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire, to foundational principles for the future Afghan State, and on details of transitional governing arrangements.
The group also called on both parties to negotiate in good faith in order to reach a just and durable political settlement.
The group also commended Qatar for bringing the parties together and for its overall contribution to the peace process.
In addition, the group said they encourage Afghanistan’s neighbors to intensify their support to the Afghan people and to contribute to a lasting peace settlement and economic development in the interests of all.
“We also call upon all parties to ensure the safety of foreign embassies and other diplomatic missions, multilateral agencies, media representatives, airports and non-governmental organizations and their Afghan and international staff.”
We particularly appreciate Turkey’s readiness and commitment to assist with airport security as needed.
In a meeting with the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, the political deputy of the Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate said that the government has fulfilled all the conditions and it should be recognized.
Mawlawi Abdul Kabir also said that the Islamic Emirate wants active engagement with the international community, but the United Nations should lift sanctions on the Islamic Emirate and its officials.
According to him, Daesh is a global threat, but the Islamic Emirate has rooted out the group in Afghanistan.
The political deputy of the Prime Minister also emphasized that the Islamic Emirate believes in dialogue and also believes in an inclusive system and wants appointments to be made based on expertise.
On the other hand, the special representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Afghanistan said in the meeting that the UN will continue to deliver aid to the country, according to a statement released by IEA.
Roza Otunbayeva emphasized on solving Afghanistan’s problems through dialogue, and said that the United Nations will work in this field.
Khairullah Khairkhah, Minister of Information and Culture, Anas Haqqani, senior member of the Islamic Emirate, and Markus Potzel, UNAMA’s political deputy, were also present in the meeting.
The Islamic Emirate’s foreign ministry officials in Nimruz province said that 20 Afghan prisoners, including students, scholars and ordinary citizens were released from Iran’s Zahedan province.
The Directorate of Information and Culture in western Nimruz province in an announcement said that after being released, the detainees were handed over to the IEA officials in Zaranj the provincial capital of Nimruz province.
According to local officials, these individuals were incarcerated due to failing to provide legal stay documents and visas and were released following the efforts of the Afghan consulate in Zahedan.
Mawlavi Sediqullah Nasrat, the head of the refugee and repatriation center in Nimruz province stated that returnees have been referred to International Organization for Migration (IOM) to receive the necessary help.
In addition, it is reported that hundreds of Afghan inmates have been released from prisons in Pakistan and Iran and returned to Afghanistan over the past month.
On Thursday (March 30) a delegation from the Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation of Afghanistan met with the representatives of Afghan refugees in Sistan and Baluchistan and Qom provinces and vowed to address refugees’ problems and find solutions respectively.
Over the past nine months, more than 2045 Afghan refugees returned to the country through the Islam Qala crossing point, according to Afghan border officials.
The United Nations Drug Control Programme and the Centre for International Crime Prevention, (UNODC) say it will support the rehabilitation program of drug addicts in Afghanistan, by covering 24 addicts’ treatment centers, state-run Bakhtar agency reported.
The UNODC will provide food, heating equipment, health materials, and medicine for these centers.
Currently, 3.5 million, which is about 10% of the total population of Afghanistan, are drug addicts, according to UNODC.
The UNODC will support these centers for at least six months.
The UNODC Office in Afghanistan, sharing reports says that the amount of land under poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2001 was about 8 thousand hectares, but after the US attack on Afghanistan, the upward trend of drug production in this country not only did not stop, but it gained speed and in 2017, the land under poppy cultivation increased to 224 thousand hectares.
With the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan, poppy cultivation has been banned in this country, and those who disobey this order will be punished.
The Islamic Emirate put an end to the gathering of thousands of addicts from around Kabul mainly Pul-Sokhta, which for many years was the solitary life of addicts and the hot market for buying and dealing drugs in the capital, thousands of addicts were gathered from Kabul and other cities and sent to clinics.
In recent days, the security forces have stabilized poppy cultivation fields in different parts of the country, and thousands of acres of land where poppy was cultivated have been destroyed so far.
The Islamic Emirate is committed to eradicating addiction in the country and ending poppy cultivation, and it follows this commitment seriously.
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