AFGHANISTAN
Statement
by
His
Excellency Dr. A. ABDULLAH
Acting
Minister for Foreign Affairs
of the
before the
United
Nations General Assembly
at its
55th Session
September
21st, 2000
In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of my delegation, I take
this opportunity to congratulate you on assuming the major task of presiding
over the important Millennium Session of the General Assembly. I would also
like to congratulate the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Namibia, Mr. Theo-Ben
Gurirab, on his excellent leadership of the 54th General Assembly Session, which set the stage
for the Millennium Summit.
Mr. President,
Three years ago, I stood before this
Assembly and stated from this very podium that, as the crisis in Afghanistan
continued to unfold, we had to ask-and answerimportant questions. At the time,
I spoke of the dark and ominous movement known as the Taliban, which - backed
by cross-border troops - had invaded Afghanistan. This year, the Millennium
General Assembly, indeed has to answer major questions. One among many is the
silence the world has chosen to keep, in dealing with the Taliban and their
Pakistani supporters. With the spread of Talibanism, which has led to the abject
misery of the Afghan nation, massive insurgency and turmoil in the region and
beyond, isn't it high time the international community put a stop to the
Pakistani-operated Taliban processing machine? Certainly, mere rhetoric and
inadequate reactions are not enough.
It is with this view that I should
like to focus my statement entirely on the situation in Afghanistan and its
devastating regional and international implications, within the given time
limit afforded to me.
Mr. President,
A question arises: what has been the
result of Talibanization of the occupied parts of Afghanistan? In an age of
information and globalization, Mr. President, it has been a reign of terror
imposed by a religious police and abuse in the name of religion, elimination of
all freedoms and civil liberties, massive violation of human rights and
degrading and tormenting treatment of men and women, trafficking of women and
girls, forced separation of women from their menfolk, random and deliberate
roundup of individuals based on their ethnic and religious origins, practice of
scorched-earth policy, torching and total obliteration of farmlands, orchards
and other means of livelihood, contamination of water sources, forcible
dispatch of children and adults to the battlefields, removal of all but
rudimentary religious education only to male students with closure of all
female schools, deliberate denial of access to humanitarian aid,
intensification of battles and exacerbation of the situation, widespread
terrorism and the destruction of the historical heritage and artifacts of
Afghanistan in order to alienate the Afghan nation from its ancestry and
historical identity.
The objective by the Pakistani military intelligence establishment known as the ISI, through the imposition of the so-called "Islamic Emirate" of the Taliban has been to create instability in Central and South Asia by means of terrorism. This "Islamic Emirate" has instituted Mullah Mohammad Omar, the militia's leader, as the undisputed
Amir-ul-Mo'mineen, i.e. the “Commander
of the faithful” not only in Afghanistan, but in
theory throughout the Muslim world.
The process the Pakistani military intelligence has chosen for the realization of its objective is to transform the Afghan nation into an exhausted, devastated, illiterate, ignorant and destitute nation struggling hard for mere survival. Pakistan wants to turn Afghanistan into its false front to mask illicit activities of narcotics trafficking, terrorism, and other crimes as well as religious extremism, by establishing centers and bases for such activities. Attempting to act as the champion of the Muslim world, Pakistan continues to execute these activities under the name of Islam. It is therefore not a matter of astonishment that such activities have led to the defamation of both the noble religion of Islam and the image of Muslims throughout the world.
In short, the Afghan nation has become the direct victim of the diabolic dreams by the Pakistani military's hegemonic interests in the region. These diabolic dreams are pursued by the Pakistani military intelligence (ISI), an evil and extremist institution, overlooking the implied risk and perilous consequence for the very survival of Pakistan as a state in the future.
Mr. President,
As the world is gradually awakening
to the creeping Taliban threat, it is a matter of dismay that some “civilized'
nations, on certain occasions, have preferred to deal with the reclusive and
defiant Taliban, an entity which has failed the minimum standard of being
considered as civilized, yet having championed terrorism, human rights
violations and crimes against humanity. However, it is no surprise, Mr.
President, that only Pakistan's military junta has continuously shed its entire
blessing on the movement.
its diplomats and officials
strangely claimed, was that it maintained contacts with both
parties to the conflict. However,
Pakistan's NNI news agency reported on May 25, 2000
that General Pervez Musharraf
claimed Pakistan's pro-Taliban policy "in accordance
with Pakistan national
interest." Advocating that Pashtuns should be on the side of
Pakistan, the General was quoted as
saying, "We have a national security interest, both
demographic and geographic." He
further stated that in the realization of this security
interest, "Pashtoons should be
on our side and they (Pashtoons) are represented by
Taliban." (Ref. to A/54/945
& S/ 2000/723 dated 21 July 2000)
Pakistan's
military ruler reiterated, once again, those points in a statement at the
Pakistani Institute of International Affairs on June 23, 2000. "With
Afghanistan, one has to understand Pakistan national security concerns and must
be clear to everyone, though not done earlier. No country in the world can
force any other country to give up its national security interest," the
chief of Pakistan's army was quoted as saying. These were the confession of the
Pakistani arch-military ruler expressed in the most arrogantly interventionist,
expansionist and hegemonist style.
The world must know that in a
flagrant violation of recognized international norms and principles and in
clear contempt to the UN Charter, the ruler of the Pakistani military junta,
under the outrageous pretext of "national security interest", has
claimed the right to impose a certain ethnic group through the invocation of an
ethnically provocative mandate at the cost of sovereignty and political
independence of Afghanistan, a member of the United Nations and prior to that,
of the League of Nations, long before Pakistan was even born.
Mr. President,
It is important to remember that
terrorist training camps operating from the Taliban-held territories of
Afghanistan, including those established by the infamous Osama bin Laden, whose
dismantling has been repeatedly called for by the United Nations and the entire
international community, have been established by Pakistan's military
intelligence through the Taliban mercenaries and other extremist networks. They
continue to utilize these territories as a ground for training, sheltering,
planning and dispatching of elements seeking hostile acts against countries of
the region and beyond. This is done under the guise of Islam but in fact, mainly
in pursuit of Pakistani hegemonistic objectives directed towards Afghanistan
and the Central Asian Republics. Recent events and activities by extremist
groups in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are manifest examples of the spillover of
Pakistani-Taliban supported agenda in the region.
Reiterating its condemnation of
terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, the Islamic State of Afghanistan
remains convinced upon the inadmissibility of the use of the Afghan soil for
waging war and engaging in hostile acts against the security and stability of
other States.
The Islamic State of Afghanistan
believes it is high time the UN Security Council-in accordance with relevant
Resolutions-shall undertake appropriate enforcement measures against Pakistan,
which is the prime source of sponsoring these activities.
Mr. President,
The United Nations Security Council
in its Resolution 1267 of 15 October 1999, unanimously adopted, has explicitly
demanded the Taliban mercenaries to refrain from sheltering, supporting and training
of terrorists and planning of terrorist acts from the Afghanistan soil against
other countries, and to extradite to the requesting States those indicted for
committing international acts of terrorism.
The recent upsurge of terrorist
activities in Central Asian countries and beyond, emanating from the Taliban-occupied
parts of Afghanistan require drastic measures by the Security Council against
the militia and their Pakistani supporters. The consideration of imposition of
further targeted sanctions and the expansion of the scope of Resolution 1267,
which must include the end of terrorist activities in all forms and
manifestations in the Taliban-held parts of Afghanistan, could adequately,
among other things, serve the cause of peace and security in the region.
Here I
would like to welcome the proposal by the Republic of Uzbekistan for convening
an international conference, at the earliest possible, to debate the evil
phenomenon of terrorism.
Mr. President,
In spite of the current devastating
drought in Afghanistan, the most severe in thirty years, Afghanistan remains
the leading producer of narcotics. The production of illicit drugs and their
trafficking by the Taliban and the politico-military mafia of Pakistan, account
for considerable revenues used to finance the prolonged war in Afghanistan,
leading to considerable transnational organized crimes, while adding to the
number of addicts both at home and abroad.
Mr. President,
Deliberate violation and absolute
disregard to international humanitarian laws and crimes against humanity by the
Taliban and their outside supporters, in the year 2000, among many speak:
--of the killing on 11 May in cold blood of 198 young
Uzbek and Hazara men
imprisoned as hostages in Taliban jails,
--of the brutal killing on 5 August of the OMAR-affiliated
UN mine clearance
employees,
--of the deliberate denial of access to humanitarian
aid, which according to the
European Union, in light of the devastating drought,
constituted "a breach of
international humanitarian law",
--of the forced blood drawing and organ removal of
innocent civilians along the
Tagab-Nijrab route in August,
--of the forced deportation of civilian populations
of the City of Aibak on 31 July
2000,
--of the closing down in August of all bakeries run
by the UNWFP, in which
widows were paid to make bread which was then sold at
a subsidized price to
other widows, numbering at least 25,000 in Kabul
alone, as part of the ongoing
four-year campaign by the Taliban to keep women from
working,
--of the aerial indiscriminate bombardment of
civilian neighborhoods of Taloqan
on 15 August,
--and of forcible displacement of hundreds of thousands of
people throughout the north due to renewed Taliban military onslaughts.
The committal of these heinous
crimes by the Taliban militia, we believe, was largely attributable to a lack
of adequate response by the Security Council and international community to
bring to justice perpetrators involved, in addition to others, in Bamyan in 1997,
in Mazar-e-Sharif and Bamyan in 1998, north of Kabul ín1999, killings of
Iranian diplomats and a journalist and the military adviser to UNSMA in 1998.
Mr. President,
It is significant to note that the
Taliban continue to deprive women from their fundamental rights, including the
right of education, affecting over 100,000 female students just in Kabul. Women
are still barred from employment by the Taliban. While the predictable results
will speak for themselves, the present and future female generations of
Afghanistan will be
illiterate. The cultural and social impact of this criminal act will be enormous on the coming generations of the country.
Mr. President,
The renewed Taliban-Pakistani-bin
Laden military attacks this year of 1 March, targeting areas north of Kabul, of
10, 11, 13 and 14 March in Salang, Dara-e-Souf and Burka, of 29 April and 4 May
in numerous districts of the central-western Province of Ghor, of 19 and 22 May
on Salang and the Shamali Plains, of l and 9 July again on the Shamali Plains,
of 28 and 29 July on Nahrin's new and old Towns, of 5-8 August on Bangi and
Taloqan and of 9 August again on Taloqan to be repeated on 13 and 14 August,
which after about 40 days of constant fighting, finally led to the capture of
the Town on 6 September 2000, were staged in clear contempt, and blatant violation
of repeated calls by the UN and the Member States of the Group of "Six-plus-Two",
not to pursue military means.
In this context, I shall remind the
international community that last year's “Summer Offensive” by the Taliban-Pakistan-bin
Laden axis, despite our early warnings to the Security Council, led to the
great humanitarian tragedy in which hundreds of thousands of the Shamali
inhabitants were driven out of their homes, who sought refuge in the Panjshir
Valley, where they had to survive a harsh winter under difficult circumstances.
Once again, despite our repeated calls on the Security Council to take
necessary measures, the same kind of humanitarian tragedy occurred with the
occupation of Taloqan just two weeks ago, when more than 100,000 persons-fearing
Taliban persecution-fled the town and its periphery and sought refuge in
eastern Takhar and in Badakhshan.
Mr. President,
Pakistani military intervention in
Afghanistan is a well-known fact to the international community. The presence
of hundreds of Pakistani prisoners in the custody of the Government captured
while fighting alongside the Taliban, of hundreds of their mortal remains
in the battlefields as well as documents and identification cards obtained
from their pockets, intercepted radio transmissions, massive logistical support
and overt supply of large quantities of military hardware and ammunition -
all prove direct involvement of Pakistani Army personnel in Afghanistan. In
fact, Brigadier General Rustam of Pakistan's Armed Forces, currently stationed
in Afghanistan's Kunduz Province, commands the Pakistani-Taliban-bin Laden
operations in the north. He has been assisted by two of Bin Laden's henchmen,
Abu Wara and Hubab, all involved in the recent occupation of Taloqan and atrocities
committed against the civilian population. It is important to mention that
Foreign Affairs magazine has put the total number of Pakistanis, having fought
in Afghanistan since 1994, exceeding 80,000. (Nov/Dec 1999).
A breakdown of Pakistani nationals
fighting in Afghanistan include the following:
--Pakistani Armed contingents, including units from the
North-West Frontier Corps and different commando units, having actively participated
in the battles on various occasions,
--ISI officers involved in the planning and command and
control of operations, intelligence operations as well as logistical support,
--ex-commissioned officers in charge of tactical operations,
artillery support and logistics,
-- Frontier militia units,
--para-military members of extremist and terrorist groups
affiliated with the ISI, such as the Sipah-e-Sahaaba, the Sepah-e-Tayeba,
Harakat-ul-Ansar etc.
--the so-called volunteers from Pakistani Madrassas or
religious schools.
Other categories of foreign fighters in Afghanistan entail:
--Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda Brigade and its affiliated
units from around the Persian Gulf, the Middle East and Africa,
--extremist groups from Central Asia, South Asia and the Far
East.
In addition, thousands of Afghan
refugees, educated and trained in Pakistani religious schools, are dispatched
to the battlefronts of Afghanistan. Finally, there are conscripted and forcibly
recruited persons from around Afghanistan deployed as canon fodder.
In this context, the Islamic State
of Afghanistan appeals to the Security Council to mandate the United Nations
Special Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA) to dispatch an
investigation team to Afghanistan to verify and
report to the Security Council on the
presence of Pakistani armed men and Arab fighters-working
shoulder to shoulder with the Taliban mercenaries. This would break the
silence, which has thus far encouraged
further Pakistani intervention in Afghanistan.
I should like to remind that only those Afghans conscripted and forcibly recruited, shall be immune from being convicted by the Islamic State of Afghanistan as perpetrators of crimes of war, crimes against humanity and genocide. The rest shall be subject to indictment.
Mr. President,
Against all odds, the Islamic State
of Afghanistan continues to adhere to its solemn commitment of a negotiated
settlement, based on the merits of restoration of peace and the right of the
people of Afghanistan for self-determination. Proceeding from this conviction,
the Islamic State of Afghanistan participated in the first session of indirect
talks sponsored by the Organization of Islamic Conference on 8 March 2000 in
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, attended also by the UN Secretary-General's Special
Representative to Afghanistan, Mr. Francesc Vendrell.
The Islamic State of Afghanistan also attended the second round
of indirect talks held on 7 May 2000 with the earnest desire of addressing
substantial issues and promoting confidence building measures. Abandoning
large-scale military offensives, refraining from targeting civilians and guaranteeing
free movement of humanitarian assistance, among the four agenda items tabled
in Jeddah, were rejected by the Taliban militia, which only agreed to the
exchange of POWs. Yet, the militia subsequently violated the agreed item on
11 May 2000, just one day after the inconclusive indirect talks, by killing
in cold blood 198 young Uzbek and Hazara men imprisoned as hostages in their
jails
One must conclude that the failure
of the Jeddah indirect negotiations in particular, and other peace initiatives
at large, thus far embarked upon, derive from the sad reality that peace has
had no place in the Taliban agenda.
Mr. President,
While striving for the realization
of noble human values and principles, institution of a democratic system,
observation of human rights including those of women and girls, civil liberties
and elections, the Islamic State of Afghanistan reiterates its firm position in
a peaceful settlement of the conflict, and hereby, declares its full readiness
for the formation of a broad-based, multi-ethnic and fully representative
government through a workable mechanism such as the traditional Grand Assembly
(Loya Jirga) or any other representative forum, under the auspices of the
United Nations.
Meanwhile, as long as Pakistan
continues to directly and massively intervene in the internal affairs of
Afghanistan, the Islamic State of Afghanistan considers the task of defending
the territorial integrity, national unity and political independence of
Afghanistan its immediate priority.
The Islamic State of Afghanistan
believes that continuation of the conflict in Afghanistan will further disturb
regional strategic balance, which may lead to new polarizations and probable
direct confrontations. As such, the dire consequences shall not benefit anyone
while possibly threatening many of Afghanistan's northern neighbors. We believe
upon the cessation of Pakistani intervention in Afghanistan, the conflict in
our country shall come to an end, and the evil phenomena of terrorism,
Talibanism and narcotics be eliminated. This will ensure the development and
economic progress of the region in which Afghanistan shall serve as the
convenient crossroad, connecting the Middle East, Central and South Asia and
the Far East.
Mr. President,
The Islamic
State of Afghanistan highly expects:
--from the United Nations and the international community to
exert pressure on Pakistan to immediately cease its intervention in Afghanistan
and to withdraw all its military personnel and armed nationals from
Afghanistan;
--from the Security Council to address the question of foreign
intervention, existence of terrorist networks in Afghanistan and an effective
implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions;l
--from the Organization of the Islamic Conference to clarify
its view of Taliban words and deeds, practiced under the name of Islam, what we
consider to be distorting and contrary to the true spirit of Islam, its tenets
and injunctions;
--from the
United Nations Drug Control Program to assist the Islamic State of
Afghanistan in the fight against the production and
trafficking of illicit drugs;
--from the United Nations and the international
community to step up their efforts for an early peaceful settlement of the
Afghan conflict;
--and from the international community to provide
humanitarian assistance to the war-stricken and drought-hit civilian population
of Afghanistan.
I should like to mention that the
current drought, the most severe in 30 years, will have tremendous humanitarian
repercussions.
Mr. President,
We remain thankful for the
statements made by the Heads of Delegation of the Millennium Summit and General
Assembly, expressing their legitimate concerns over the dangers emanating from
the Pakistani-Taliban occupied territories of Afghanistan.
Mr. President,
We highly appreciate and support the
indefatigable efforts by Mr. Francesc Vendrell, the Secretary-General' Special
Representative for Afghanistan and Head of UNSMA, who has left no stone
unturned and no party to the conflict and countries concerned out of
communication, in finding a peaceful solution to the Afghan conflict.
Mr. President,
I would like to conclude by stating
that the United Nations cannot embark on the new Millennium without
appropriately addressing issues enshrined in its Charter, among others, the
question of non-interference. Neither can this international body advocate
globalization in the true sense when Talibanization threatens regional
stability in our part of the world. Certainly, the Pakistani military junta
would remain the prime actor in this dreadful and immense tragedy of Asia.
We wonder Mr. President, like many
others afflicted with the Taliban plague, as to how far the evil threat of
Talibanism shall expand, how many more souls it will bury and how many new
borders it must cross, before the conscience of the international community
would be awakened, not to just consider, but to adopt immediate and drastic
preventive measures.
Thank You, Mr. President