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Minutes of 10/05/2000 - Provisional Edition

Afghanistan

B5-0776, 0781, 0785, 0789 and 0793/2000

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Afghanistan

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the common position of the Council concerning restrictive measures against the Taliban adopted on 15 November 1999 with a view to implementing Security Council Resolution 1267/99,

- having regard to the common position of the Council adopted on 24 January 2000,

- having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1880/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 on operations to aid uprooted people in Asian and Latin American developing countries,

- recalling its earlier resolutions on Afghanistan,

A. expressing great concern at the Taliban's recent offensives, which led to the fall of the town of Taloqan on 5 September 2000,

B. recalling that the incessant conflict in Afghanistan has already brought indescribable suffering on the Afghan people and threatens the stability and economic development of the region,

C. emphasising that the latest hostilities have further aggravated the situation of the civilian population, which is already severely affected by the drought currently afflicting the whole region,

D. whereas, according to the UN, almost one million Afghans have been mutilated by landmines, millions live in refugee camps, and thousands of civilians are still trying to escape from Kabul and Taliban-controlled areas to avoid living under an apartheid system and being subject to systematic human rights abuses,

E. whereas many Muslim intellectuals have denounced the Taliban's violation of basic human rights and the arbitrary and barbarous interpretation of the sharia,

F. whereas, when the Taliban seized power in 1996, women were subjected to extreme forms of psychological and physical repression in that they were partially or totally excluded from health care and education, opportunities to earn a living and freedom of movement,

G. recalling that the European Union is the main provider of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan,

H. condemning the Taliban's support for international terrorism and for the extension of drug cultivation on territory which they control and emphasising that, despite UNIDCP programmes and EU funding to combat drugs and, in particular, eradicate the cultivation of narcotics, Afghanistan has increased its production exponentially,

I. whereas the proceeds of this trade are also used to finance the war by the Taliban against the Northern Alliance,

J. convinced that there can be no military solution to this conflict that does not involve considerable additional suffering for the population as a whole,

1. Expresses its alarm at the fresh upsurge in fighting;

2. Condemns the apartheid system that is being established in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and urges the Council to maintain the restrictive measures it has adopted for as long as the Taliban regime continues its unacceptable policy of discrimination against women;

3. Condemns also the Taliban regime's support of international terrorism;

4. Calls on the Member States to bring their influence to bear on Afghanistan's neighbours, and in particular Pakistan, to stop all interference in Afghan affairs; reiterates its call to the other two countries which have recognised the Taliban regime to stop providing it with any form of support and to isolate it diplomatically;

5. Calls on the Security Council to impose an embargo on arms exports to Afghanistan;

6. Reiterates its commitment to the quest for a political solution to enable peace, stability and respect for international law and human rights to be restored in Afghanistan; urges the Council to make a political contribution to restoring peace to Afghanistan, inter alia by coordinating its initiatives with the neighbouring countries, especially Russia and Iran;

7. Calls on the Council to adopt a new common position which takes account of the developing situation and calls on the Council and Commission to report to the House on the EU's position and actions with regard to Afghanistan;

8. Calls on the Commission to take the emergency humanitarian measures required to ensure the survival of the population, especially in the areas controlled by the Northern Alliance;

9. Calls, in particular, for the direct implementation of the Treaty of Ottawa on the elimination of anti-personnel landmines, the organisation of a campaign to inform the population of the risks involved, and the provision of special EU aid to remove the anti-personnel mines laid in Afghanistan;

10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Taliban authorities, the Northern Alliance and the Governments of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, India, China, Russia, Iran, Uzebekistan and Tajikistan.

[Translation submitted to Omaid Weekly by COLLECTIF LIBERTE AFGHANISTAN]

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