MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the partnership and cooperation agreement with Afghanistan
10.6.2013 - (2013/2665(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Willy Meyer, Marie-Christine Vergiat, Jacky Hénin, Marisa Matias, Alda Sousa, Patrick Le Hyaric, Younous Omarjee, Inês Cristina Zuber, Sabine Lösing on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
B7‑0284/2013
European Parliament resolution on the partnership and cooperation agreement with Afghanistan
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Afghanistan, in particular its resolutions of 8 July 2008 on the stabilisation of Afghanistan[1], of 15 January 2009 on the budgetary control of EU funds in Afghanistan[2], of 24 April 2009 on women’s rights in Afghanistan[3] and of 16 December 2010 on a new strategy for Afghanistan[4],
– having regard to the Country Strategy Paper for 2007-2013, which sets out the Commission’s commitment to Afghanistan until 2013,
– having regard to the negotiations of the Cooperation Agreement for Partnership and Development (CAPD) between the European Union and Afghanistan launched in March 2012 in Kabul,
– having regard to the London Conference on Afghanistan held in January 2010, which laid the foundations for an international consensus on a strategy entailing a ‘non-military’ solution to the Afghan crisis, as well as establishing that the transfer of security responsibilities to Afghan forces would begin in 2011 and be largely completed by 2014,
– having regard to the Council decision of 27 May 2013 extending the European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan (EUPOL Afghanistan) until 31 December 2014,
– having regard to the United Nations 2013 Human Development Report, which ranks Afghanistan 175th out of 182 countries,
– having regard to the 2012 annual report of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), published in February 2013, entitled ‘ Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflicts’,
– having regard to the US-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement signed in May 2012,
– having regard to the statement by US President Barack Obama calling for a summit on troops withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014,
– having regard to the work of the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC),
– having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the war in Afghanistan violates international law; whereas the international community has implicitly recognised that almost twelve years of war and international involvement have neither eliminated the Taliban insurgency nor brought peace and stability to the country, but rather the contrary;
B. whereas despite several announcements of withdrawal of foreign troops, 100 000 soldiers remain in Afghanistan, 66 000 of whom are from the United States;
C. whereas according to the latest UNAMA report from February 2013, 2 754 civilians lost their lives and 4 805 were injured in 2012; whereas since 2001 the war in Afghanistan has caused more 14 000 civilians deaths; whereas tens of thousands of Afghan civilians have died as an indirect result of the war, through displacement, starvation, lack of medical treatment, disease and crime resulting from the war;
D. whereas security and living conditions have deteriorated since the beginning of the war;, and whereas the coalition is increasingly perceived by the population as an occupying force; whereas a new and broader partnership with the people of Afghanistan is needed, involving unrepresented groups and civil society in peace and reconciliation efforts;
E. whereas the negotiations of the Cooperation Agreement for Partnership and Development (CAPD) between the European Union and Afghanistan are expected to be concluded soon; whereas this agreement will cover a broad range of sectors, including trade, development and justice/home affairs; whereas the CAPD will provide the legal basis for the EU’s enhanced cooperation to Afghanistan; whereas it includes the implementation of the IMF’s recommendations;
F. whereas the number of US drone strikes in Afghanistan increased by 72 % in 2012, killing at least 16 civilians; whereas the UK has recently started flying remotely controlled armed drones;
G. whereas several hundred people have protested against the presence of US forces after the discovery of mutilated bodies near a former US special forces base in Wardak province; whereas according to claims by relatives the victims had been tortured and killed; whereas during the protests two more men were killed and one seriously injured after police opened fire against the crowd;
H. whereas on 7 June 2013, in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktika Province, three US troops instructors were killed by a member of the Afghan army, while, on the same day in Farah Province, an Italian soldier was killed when a grenade was thrown into an armoured vehicle;
I. whereas capital punishment is legal in Afghanistan and is used for a number of crimes, including murder, apostasy, homosexuality, rape, terrorism, drug trafficking and adultery;
J. whereas the situation in the country for women remains a matter of great concern; whereas, according to UN reports, Afghanistan’s maternal mortality rate is the second highest in the world, at nearly 25 000 deaths per year, and whereas only 12.6 % of women over the age of 15 are able to read and write, while 57 % of girls are married off below the legal age of 16; whereas violence against women continues to be a widespread phenomenon; whereas the discriminatory Shia Personal Status Law is still in place and, amongst other provisions, criminalises women for denying their husbands sexual intercourse and forbids women from leaving the house without their husbands’ consent; whereas a law banning violence against women, child marriages and forced marriages has been stopped by the Afghan parliament; whereas the number of women and girls imprisoned for ‘moral crimes’ has risen by 50 % in the past 18 months; whereas Afghan police conducts ‘virginity tests’ that have no medical basis, in contravention of international law;
K. whereas Afghanistan is a party to several international conventions protecting women’s and children’s rights, notably the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and whereas the Afghan Constitution, in Article 22, stipulates that ‘the citizens of Afghanistan, men and women, have equal rights and duties before the law’;
L. whereas Afghanistan’s Finance Minister, Omar Zakhilwal, has criticised the contracting practices of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) for not benefiting the local Afghan economy, and whereas the Minister has blamed foreign contractors for taking the bulk of ISAF-financed contracts, causing a constant outflow of money from the country;
M. whereas it has become obvious that no military solution is possible in Afghanistan; whereas the US had stated earlier that it would begin to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in the summer of 2011; whereas not only has this not happened but US President Obama has announced that NATO countries will hold a summit focusing on troop withdrawals from Afghanistan first in 2014;
N. whereas the EU is one of the major donors of development assistance and humanitarian aid to Afghanistan; whereas while annual allocations for the period covering 2011-2013 are on the order of EUR 200 million, the lack of sufficient coordination is undermining the effectiveness of EU aid contributions to Afghanistan; whereas corruption continues to be a major problem in Afghanistan, hindering the country’s development; whereas Afghanistan, together with Somalia and North Korea, ranks at the bottom of the list in Transparency International’s ‘Corruption Perceptions Index 2012’;
O. whereas, according to World Bank Statistics in 2012, 36 % of the Afghan population live below the poverty line; whereas while the average national monthly income in Afghanistan is USD 40, the national government and foreign organisations pay government officials monthly salaries on the order of USD 30 000-50 000 ;
P. whereas Afghanistan is not only the world’s leading producer of opium, and main supplier to heroin markets in the EU and the Russian Federation, but is also – according to a recent UNODC report – one of the world’s leading cannabis producers;
Q. whereas, according to the UNODC report, the number of Afghan citizens addicted to drugs has increased sharply in recent years, a trend which will have major social repercussions for the country’s future;
R. whereas while the EU has played an active role in supporting counter-narcotics efforts, these have not made any significant progress in restricting the pervasive influence of the drugs industry on the economy, the political system, state institutions and society;
S. whereas some poppy eradication tasks have been carried out in Afghanistan using chemical herbicides, and whereas this practice results in serious harm to people and to the environment in terms of soil and water pollution; whereas, however, there is now a consensus on the need to concentrate repressive measures on the drug trade and on the heroin-producing laboratories, not on farmers; whereas the main effort is currently focused on providing alternative livelihoods for farmers;
T. whereas Afghanistan has remarkable natural resources, including rich mineral reserves such as gas and oil, estimated to have a value of USD three trillion;
1. Condemns once more the war in Afghanistan and the occupation by the coalition forces that has led to a devastated country, with levels of poverty, and of living conditions among the Afghan population, that are worse than they were before the military occupation; condemns the extrajudicial killings and the drone attacks; reiterates its call for the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, and for a political solution involving all Afghan actors;
2. Condemns the fact that, since it began in 2001, at least 14 000 Afghan civilians have died because of the war; expresses its condolences to the families of all these innocent Afghan victims;
3. Condemns the fact that EU policy towards Afghanistan follows US strategic aims, which is mainly to seek a military solution; believes, therefore, that the EU’s strategy for Afghanistan must begin with an acknowledgement of the continuing deterioration of the security – socio-economic – situation in Afghanistan as a result of twelve years of international occupation;
4. Notes that there can be no stability or peace in Afghanistan while the war continues, and with it hunger and poverty; considers that, under these circumstances, a new broader partnership is needed with the people of Afghanistan, involving the participation of unrepresented groups and civil society in peace and reconciliation efforts;
5. Deplores the fact that, despite the commitment made by the United States to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by the summer 2011, this has not occurred, and deplores as well the fact that US President Obama has called for a NATO summit focusing on troop withdrawals from Afghanistan to be held no sooner than 2014;
6. Draws again attention to the failure of the military strategy towards Afghanistan and, in consequence thereof, strongly supports a civilian approach; recognises that the only possible solution is a political one, and that such an effort should include negotiations with the Taliban and other combatant groups, as well as with other political players in the country;
7. Insists that Afghanistan needs stability – to be achieved, however, not through military means but through political dialogue, development aid and respect for the country’s territorial and political sovereignty; stresses that any long-term solution to the Afghan crisis must start with the interest of Afghan citizens in their internal security, civil protection and economic and social development, and should include concrete measures to: eradicate poverty, under-development and discrimination against women; enhance respect for human rights and the rule of law; strengthen reconciliation mechanisms; and bring an end to opium production;
8. Stresses that the resources to be found on Afghan territory belong exclusively to the Afghan people, and that the ‘protection’ of these assets can never be used as an excuse to permanently base foreign troops on Afghan soil;
9. Reiterates that the EU and its Member States should respect Afghanistan’s decisions regarding the reconstruction of the state – with stronger democratic institutions capable of ensuring national sovereignty, security based on a democratically accountable army and police, a competent and independent judiciary, state unity, territorial integrity, equality between men and women, media freedom, an emphasis on education and health, sustainable economic development and the prosperity of the people of Afghanistan – while recognising the need for fundamental change in the attitude towards women;
10. Draws attention to the essential role of civil-society organisations in ensuring that Afghan citizens are involved in the process of democratisation and reconstruction, and in guarding against the risk of corruption;
11 Remains deeply concerned about the general situation for human rights in Afghanistan, in particular as regards the deterioration of women’s fundamental, political, civil and social rights over the past years, and expresses its concern about such negative developments as the fact that the majority of prisoners in Afghan jails are women escaping oppressive relatives;
12. Believes that women’s rights are part of the solution, and that it is impossible to achieve stability in Afghanistan unless women enjoy their full rights in political, social and economic life; calls, therefore, on the Afghan authorities and the representatives of the international community to include women at every stage of the peace talks and reconciliation/reintegration efforts, in accordance with UNSC Resolution 1325; calls for special protection to be provided to women who are publicly or politically active, and who therefore are threatened by fundamentalists; points out that progress in the peace talks may not, under any circumstances, involve loss of any of the rights acquired by women in recent years; calls on the Afghan government to improve the protection of women’s rights by amending existing legislation, such as the criminal code, in order to avoid discriminatory practices;
13. Calls on the Commission, the Council and the individual Member States to continue to raise the issues of discrimination against women and children, and of human rights in general, in their bilateral relations with Afghanistan;
14. Notes that, despite improvements since the fall of the Taliban regime, the situation has worsened in recent years with regard to freedom of expression and of the press; highlights the importance of strengthening media freedom and civil society in Afghanistan for enhancing democratisation efforts in the country; calls for action to be taken in this regard;
15. Reiterates its complete opposition to death penalty; calls on the Afghan government to present an immediate moratorium on the death penalty, in accordance with UN Resolution 62/149 of 2007, with a view to its subsequent abolition;
16. Notes that, despite the huge injections of foreign aid, the situation in Afghanistan continues to be discouraging, preventing humanitarian and medical aid from reaching the most vulnerable sections of the population, that more Afghans are dying through poverty than as a direct result of the armed conflict, that – shockingly – infant mortality has risen since 2002 while life expectancy at birth, and levels of literacy, have declined markedly, and that the number of people living below the poverty threshold has increased by 130 % since 2004;
17. Deplores the fact that the United Nations 2013 Human Development Report ranks Afghanistan in 175th place among 182 countries, while the mortality rate for children under five and the maternal mortality rate in Afghanistan remain among the highest in the world; considers that, in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, specific objectives addressing these issues, and promoting access to health and education (in particular for women), should not be neglected;
18. Underlines the revelation by UNODC that heroin production in Afghanistan has increased 40 times since the occupation in 2001; points out that Afghanistan is the source of 90 % of all illicitly cultivated opium;
19. Draws attention to the huge cost of the war prosecuted in Afghanistan, which according to estimates presented in a Harvard study may reach USD 6 trillion; whereas Afghanistan’s GDP is USD 33 billion;
20. Takes the view that the fight against corruption should be at the core of the peace-building process in Afghanistan, since bribery causes misallocation of resources, constitutes an obstacle in terms of access to basic public services such as health and education, and represents a huge impediment to the country’s socio-economic development; emphasises that corruption undermines confidence in the public sector and the government, and, consequently, that it constitutes a major threat to national stability; urges, therefore, the EU, when providing assistance to Afghanistan, to pay special attention to the fight against corruption;
21. Notes that the US military in Afghanistan – as has been widely reported in the press and in the US House of Representatives report ‘Warlord, Inc.’ – has outsourced most of its logistics to private contractors, who in turn subcontract the protection of military convoys to local Afghan security providers, with disastrous consequences; notes that the decision to place the US military supply chain in private hands, without any reliable criteria for assuring accountability, transparency and legality, is fuelling extortion and corruption, as warlords, local mafia bosses and ultimately Taliban commanders end up taking a significant share of the USD 2.2-3 billion business of military logistics in Afghanistan;
22. Is appalled by the fact that protection money and extortion at every level of the military supply chain constitute the most significant source of funding for the insurgency, as recognised by former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton;
23. Notes that, as a result of the impunity given to growers and traffickers, cultivation has reached pre-2001 levels, with a small number of powerful warlords running a huge cartel;
24. Draws attention to the findings of a UNODC report indicating that the Taliban net only 4 % of the profits from the annual narcotics trade, and local farmers 21 %, while the remaining 75 % go to government officials, the police, local and regional brokers, and traffickers; notes, in short, that NATO’s Afghan allies are in fact getting the lion’s share of the profits from the drugs trade; recalls former US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke describing US counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan to date as ‘the most wasteful and ineffective programme I have seen in and out of government’;
25. Points out that, unless the dependence of the Afghan economy on drugs is ended once and for all and a viable alternative economic growth model found, the goals of restoring security and stability to the region will not be achieved;
26. Emphasises the importance of efforts to phase out opium cultivation in Afghanistan – which have had little success so far – and calls, in this connection, for viable alternative livelihoods to be provided for the 3.4 million Afghans who make a living from opium, and for the situation of rest of the Afghan rural population to be improved;
27. Stresses that for peace to be able to take root in Afghanistan, political deals must be made among the key regional powers, including India, Pakistan, Iran and the states of Central Asia, Russia, China and Turkey, and a common position must be reached on non-interference in and support for an independent Afghanistan; calls for a normalisation of the relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan, specifically involving a final settlement on the issue of the international border between the two countries;
28. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Secretary-General of NATO and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.