MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the situation in Afghanistan, in particular the situation of women’s rights
5.4.2022 - (2022/2571(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 132(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Mick Wallace, Clare Daly
on behalf of The Left Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0198/2022
B9‑0198/2022
European Parliament resolution on the situation in Afghanistan, in particular the situation of women’s rights
The European Parliament,
− having regard to the Charter of the United Nations,
− having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
− having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
− having regard to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
− having regard to the UN Convention On The Rights Of The Child,
− having regard to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
− having regard to the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders of 1998,
− having regard to the Report of the UN Secretary-General on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, 29 March 2021,
− having regard to the Statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at the 31st Special Session of the Human Rights Council,
− having regard to the UN Security Council Resolution 2593 (2021),
− having regard to UN General Assembly Resolution 2131 (xx) entitled Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention in the Domestic Affairs of States and the Protection of their Independence and Sovereignty,
− having regard to UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 (xv) entitled Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples,
− having regard to the Afghanistan Opium Survey 2020 published jointly by the Afghanistan National Statistics and Information Authority and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in April 2021,
− having regard to the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers (Gymnich) of 2-3 September 2021,
− having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas human rights violations perpetuated by the Taliban regime are reported daily in Afghanistan and including arrest, detention, abduction, torture, threats, extortion, killings, and attacks on human rights defenders and their family members; whereas there continues to be a complete lack of accountability for violations against human rights defenders including abduction, incommunicado detention, raids and killings; whereas this has been a sticking point even before the capture of Kabul by the Taliban;
B. whereas widespread house-to-house searches and home raids are taking place under the de facto authorities operation to capture their political opponents, members of the former Defence forces and human rights activists[1];
C. whereas there is a feeling of impunity for authorities in Kabul for attacks against human rights defenders, many of which are not reported publicly; whereas human rights defenders including women human rights defenders and women protesters and their family members have been abducted, with no information shared regarding their whereabouts despite repeated pleas for their release from national and international rights groups; whereas detained/abducted women have been later found to be in Taliban custody, and some women have been compelled to release public videos and/or ‘confessions’ under duress regarding their human rights work and activism; whereas human rights defenders who are released from custody and their families continue to fear for their lives and safety; whereas the Taliban must be pressured to maintain commitments on violations and accountability for reprisals and crimes;
D. whereas there is an absolute lack of justice or any form of remedial justice for those affected by the State committed violence and the overall feeling of impunity is disastrous for the society;
E. whereas human rights defenders have been subjected to physical surveillance, repeated raids on their houses and offices, and been forced to hand over devices including mobile phones and computers to the Taliban; whereas such raids and invasion of their privacy and data have severely compromised defenders’ security in the country and ability to work and live with dignity and safety; whereas the Taliban raids and door to door searches have increased since or around 23 February 2022 and serve to further terrorise vulnerable human rights defenders;
F. whereas a safe path via land or air out of Afghanistan is critically needed for all human rights defenders seeking to leave Afghanistan while ensuring that Taliban keeps their pledge to allow persons, including human rights defenders, to leave without harm; whereas safe pathways of exit are critical to Afghans, including human rights defenders, as such humanitarian visas are a lifeline to those seeking to leave; whereas there is currently lack of clarity regarding who would qualify for such visas and what the process is; whereas for those who are able to access a visa, travel documents, visas to third transit countries and a safe pathway out of the country are a challenge, and for those without passports, safely obtaining a travel document in Afghanistan requires diplomatic intervention;
G. whereas it is very worrisome that the de facto authorities have announced that women without a male guardian may now only travel up to 72 km from their home; whereas this will even more affect women human rights defenders and activists on the run to safety;
H. whereas Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, announced that women who don’t have male companions cannot travel abroad without having a strong legal excuse; whereas this would limit any safe passage ways for women activists who are trying to leave the country;
I. whereas there is an urgent need to record and preserve the evidence on the acts of violence committed on the Afghan women and girls;
J. whereas Afghan women and girls are in need of urgent assistance in their basic needs such as food, shelter and access to education and medical health care providers;
K. whereas the Taliban have presented their government as a ‘take carer’ government but they have not indicated until when; whereas this government exists of only men and does not represent the many ethnicities of the countries;
L. whereas it is not clear to whom and about what the European Union is engaged with during their diplomatic talks on the future of Afghanistan in Doha and elsewhere;
M. whereas the European Parliament was not invited to take part in the Afghan Women Leaders on 10 March 2021 which launched a structured dialogue on the role of women in the ongoing discussions about Afghanistan;
N. whereas vulnerable groups such as persons belonging to the LGBTI-community are not given priority in evacuation and safe passageways; whereas Taliban have a notorious reputation of stoning and killing of gay men and transgender persons;
O. whereas women human rights defenders have been in especially impacted and are in danger based on policies that target and restrict women, and the threat of violent reprisals against themselves and their families as punishment for speaking out against regressive policies and violations; whereas women human rights defenders and social activists must be prioritised and heard in all responses to the human rights and humanitarian crisis facing Afghanistan;
P. whereas the stated strategy of the US and its allies to ‘fight terrorism’ and impose their ‘nation-building’ concept on Afghanistan has failed; whereas the decades of conflict and war have caused massive loss of life, massive displacement, extensive human suffering and serious damage to the economic and social development in Afghanistan; whereas 20 years of US/NATO occupation has resulted in the proliferation of the drugs trade, the empowerment of warlords and armed militias and a general militarisation of the society; whereas Afghanistan was ranked the least secure country in the world in the 2020 Global Peace Index; whereas in 2019 Afghanistan was identified as the most drone-bombed country in the world; whereas foreign interference and military intervention contributed to the re-emergence of Taliban and popular support of parts of the Afghan people for them;
Q. whereas 20 years after the illegal US/NATO intervention and despite purported efforts towards state-building Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with development aid accounting for approximately 40 % of the country’s gross domestic product; whereas over half of Afghans live in poverty and 39 % of the population lives in extreme poverty; whereas the illicit opium production and trade reappeared and proliferated during the 20 years of US/NATO occupation;
R. whereas the occupation of Afghanistan was used as an effective money laundering operation, facilitating the massive transfer of wealth from taxpayers in participating countries to private military contractors and weapons manufacturers; whereas Brown University’s Cost of War Project estimated that during the period 2002-2021, military outsourcing pushed spending at the United States’ Department of Defence to EUR 14 trillion, of which between one third and one half went to contractors, with $2.1 trillion going to the top five defence companies - Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Boeing and Northrop Grumman;
S. whereas there has been a complete lack of transitional justice and any other measures implemented in order to redress legacies of human rights abuses of the past twenty years;
T. whereas on 11 February 2022 the US Administration issued an executive order invoking emergency powers to consolidate and freeze all $7 billion of the total assets the Afghan central bank kept in New York; whereas half of this money was moved into a funds for the victims of the 9/11 attacks; whereas this unilateral decision has received widespread criticism from the political and legal community;
U. whereas certain sections of the Afghan population remain at risk of further reprisals as the Taliban consolidates its rule: whereas according to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), between 1 January and 30 June 2021 there were 5 183 civilian casualties (1 659 killed and 3 524 injured); whereas the total number of civilians killed and injured increased by 47 % compared with the first half of 2020; whereas there are reports that civilians in areas captured by the Taliban have faced summary executions, looting and burning of homes and enforced disappearance; whereas grave human rights violations against women and girls, including forced marriage and strict restrictions on freedom of movement are commonplace;
V. whereas even before the Taliban takeover an estimated 87 % of Afghan women were suffering from gender-related violence; whereas Afghanistan ranks 153rd out of 189 countries on the 2019 UN Gender Inequality Index; According to data, 62 % of Afghan women have experienced multiple forms of violence which is almost three times the global average which is already considered exceptionally high; whereas impunity for perpetrators of gender-based violence continues; whereas the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that even murder and rape cases often never go to court;
W. whereas with increased conflict and insecurity, it is children, those least responsible for the crisis in Afghanistan, who have paid the heaviest price: whereas many have been forced from their homes, cut off from their schools and their friends, deprived of the basic services associated with functional governance and bare minimum quality of life requirements;
X. whereas women and girls in Afghanistan are disproportionately impacted by a legacy of conflict, in addition to drought and the collapsing economy, which has plunged millions in Afghanistan into debt and humanitarian need;
Y. whereas the full and equal participation and representation of Afghan women and girls in all areas of public life is critical to the future of Afghanistan;
Z. whereas in addition to the political and security crisis, Afghanistan is confronting a severe drought, COVID-19, the prospect of another bad harvest this year, a banking and a financial crisis so severe that it has left more than 80 per cent of the population facing debt, and an increase in food and fuel prices;
AA. whereas according to the United Nations, there were 3 million people internally displaced in Afghanistan by the conflict by the 31st of December; whereas there are 24 million people in Afghanistan in need of vital humanitarian relieve; whereas 5.7 million Afghans are hosted in five neighbouring countries in need of support; whereas according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, between 1 January and 31 July of 2021 over 546 000 Afghans were newly displaced, 80 % of whom are women and children; whereas many of these individuals suffer from food insecurity, inadequate shelter, insufficient access to sanitation and health facilities and a lack of protection, and whereas many are children classified as particularly vulnerable to the risk of child labour, sexual abuse or potential recruitment to criminal and terrorist groups; whereas since the takeover of Kabul, thousands of Afghan civilians have attempted to flee the country amid fears of the consequences of the Taliban rule;
AB. whereas Afghans comprise the largest protracted refugee population in Asia, and the second largest refugee population in the world; whereas neighbouring countries, in particular Iran and Pakistan, host the majority of the Afghanistan refugees and need assistance in order to cope with the challenge; whereas the unilateral sanctions on Iran hinders its ability to provide adequate refuge for Afghan refugees; whereas the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told the EU’s high-level forum on providing protection to Afghans at risk in October 2021 that 85 000 Afghans in third countries would need protection over the coming five years and that the EU should take in half of that number;
AC. whereas many Afghan asylum-seekers in the EU are in a situation of legal limbo that remains unaddressed by Member States, despite the critical situation in Afghanistan; whereas the systematic non-compliance by Greece with the Asylum Procedures Directive as regards the safe third country concept, has led Afghan nationals having their claims dismissed as inadmissible and being ordered to return to Turkey, without any prospects of such a readmission; whereas this means that Afghan nationals are never granted access to an examination of their applications on their merits, contrary to the purpose of the Geneva Convention and of the Asylum Procedures Directive, which has led to the exclusion of many Afghan nationals from reception conditions, resulting in inability to have access to dignified living standards and to cater for their basic subsistence needs, including health care and food;
AD. whereas Afghanistan has a weak, undiversified economy that is reliant on imports, even for basic goods, and foreign funds; whereas Taliban’s seizure of power on 15 August interrupted Afghanistan’s relationship with some of its international donors further stressing its fragile economy and putting at stake the many public services funded by development aid;
AE. whereas Afghanistan is facing a major economic collapse; whereas prices for food and other essentials have risen, even as most banks remain closed; whereas according to the UNAMA, a staggering 95 % of the Afghans are not getting enough to eat, with the number rising to almost 100 % in female-headed households; whereas food security and malnutrition remains at historic highs; whereas in December 2020, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said that of the almost seven million children under age 5 in Afghanistan, an estimated 3.1 million, were acutely malnourished; whereas an estimated 3.2 million children under the age of five were expected to suffer from acute malnutrition by the end of 2021; whereas UNICEF estimates that 1 in 2 children under five will be acutely malnourished in 2022 due to the food crisis and poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene services;
AF. Since January 2022, roughly 13 000 newborns have died from malnutrition and hunger-related diseases, 95 % of the population does not have enough to eat, and 3.5 million children need nutritional support. Whereas the United Nations has called the situation “a food insecurity and malnutrition crisis of unparalleled proportions”;
AG. whereas donors halted most international aid to Afghanistan’s governmental agencies and institutions shortly before and after the Taliban takeover; whereas the Central Bank of Afghanistan, now under Taliban control, has been cut off from the international banking system and access to the country’s foreign currency reserves; whereas the International Monetary Fund, reportedly at the request of the US, has prevented Afghanistan from credit and assets including about US$440 million worth of Special Drawing Rights the bank has allocated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; whereas past UN Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions and other restrictions on the Taliban for terrorism-related actions prevent the Central Bank of Afghanistan from receiving new paper Afghan currency, which is printed in Europe;
AH. whereas Afghanistan’s weak health care infrastructure was overwhelmed when COVID-19 swept across the country; whereas in most Afghan provinces there was no possibility of receiving a COVID-19 test, and samples were transported to the capital;
AI. whereas numerous cases of destruction of cultural heritage have been reported;
AJ. whereas despite the sexual abuse of children being well-publicised, and the abusive practice of ‘bacha bazi’ (male children being sexually abused by older men) being criminalised in 2018, the authorities made little effort to end impunity and hold perpetrators accountable;
AK. whereas children continued to be recruited for combat, particularly by armed groups and the Afghan security forces – pro-government militias and local police – and faced multiple abuses, including sexual abuse;
AL. whereas, according to UNAMA, Afghanistan continues to be ‘one of the deadliest countries in the world for children’, with both pro-government and anti-government forces responsible for more than 700 child casualties each;
AM. whereas according to UNICEF, over 2 million girls remained out of school, and according to government figures about 7 000 schools in the country had no building; whereas child labour is commonplace;
AN. whereas conditions are more difficult for journalists, media workers, and activists to function due to increasing insecurity and the targeted killings of activists, journalists; whereas the government introduced a draft mass media bill, which would have imposed further restrictions on the right to freedom of expression;
1. Deeply deplores the wholesale takeover of the country by the Taliban, with all this entails for the human rights situation, in particular for women;
2. Condemns the severe rollback of women’s rights in Afghanistan; expresses its admiration for courage and its solidarity with the women who publicly demand access to education, the right to return to work and a role in governing the country;
3. Condemns the disastrous legacy of decades of international intervention and illegal occupations, including by NATO, which have led Afghanistan to its present circumstances;
4. Strongly condemns the decision of the de facto authorities to prolong their ban on female education above grade 6; stresses that the end of this ban was a promise made to the Afghan people and most importantly to Afghan girls;
5. Notes that the United States ended their diplomatic talks with the Taliban due to this decision to prolong the ban on female education;
6. Believes the EU must do its utmost to stop the immense humanitarian crisis including through diplomatic initiatives, engaging all interested parties and authorities;
7. Stresses that access to education to all is the only way to gain social and economic independency;
8. Expresses deep concern regarding Afghan women’s lack of political rights in the current context; highlights that these rights must be at the core of any kind of conversation with the de facto authorities and urges the EU to include women in leading positions in these conversations;
9. Condemns the ongoing battles between the Taliban and militia forces in the country; urges all parties to lay down arms and engage in peace talks to avoid any more bloodshed and open a path to reconciliation and peace in the country;
10. Stresses that the Cabinet presented by the Taliban is undemocratic and unrepresentative; it fails to represent the political ethical, social and gender diversity of the Afghan society and the prospects for a lasting peace in Afghanistan;
11. Stresses that Afghans want peace; underlines that a new constitutional order that includes democracy, personal freedoms, free media, and women’s rights can only be the result of a nation-wide, inclusive debate without foreign interference;
12. Supports all human rights defenders in Afghanistan who still carry out their legitimate and peaceful human rights work, despite working in one of the most dangerous environments in the world;
13. Underscores that a sustainable end to the conflicts in Afghanistan can only be achieved through an inclusive, just, durable Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process, with the full and meaningful participation of all Afghans, in particular women, persons belonging to ethnic and religious communities, the whole range of civil society and all parties to the conflict; recognises the role and efforts of the UN and regional partners in facilitating an inclusive peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan; calls on the EU and its Member States to support this process;
14. Expresses concern at the situation of the journalists and reports about detention of journalists in Afghanistan and use of violence against them; reminds the Taliban promises to allow Afghanistan’s independent media to continue operating freely and safely; urges the Taliban to live up to those promises, to stop beating and detaining reporters doing their job, and allow the media to work freely without fear of reprisal;
15. Urges the de facto authorities to urgently investigate the abduction of Alia Azizi, a senior female prison official who has been missing for more than three months;
16. Condemns the arrest of Professor Faizullah Jalal, a Kabul University lecturer detained for exercising his right to freedom of expression while criticising the Taliban on a news channel and asks for his immediate and unconditional release;
17. Welcomes the decision by the ICC to authorise the office of ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda to commence an investigation into alleged crimes committed on the territory of Afghanistan since 1 May 2003; Condemns threats by the US towards those who cooperate with the ICC investigations; in this regard, condemns the decision of the ICC judges rejecting the Prosecutor’s request to open an investigation into war crimes and human rights violations committed in Afghanistan, alleging the lack of full state cooperation and budgetary constraints; regrets that this decision can further weaken its credibility;
18. Urges the Taliban to refrain from destruction of places of cultural heritage which have deep impact on the Afghan culture and its multi-ethnic society;
19. Believes there should be an independent investigation under UN auspices, including into extrajudicial killings by drones, with a view to ending the culture of impunity as a key element for a stabilisation process in Afghanistan, and to creating public trust;
20. Calls for an investigation into corruption, money laundering, war crimes, and crimes against humanity on the part of NATO members plus Australia and institutions that carried out and perpetuated the illegal invasion and occupation of Afghanistan; insists that they must be subject to an adequate and effective investigation by an independent body and, where appropriate, be prosecuted; demands that all those responsible be held accountable, including all those in the direct and indirect chain of command, such as senior officers and ministers responsible for the Armed Forces;
21. Expresses its deep concern and regret regarding the decision of the US Administration to consolidate and freeze $7 billion of funds from Da Afghanistan Bank, the Afghan central bank, which had been held in the Federal Reserve Bank in New York; further condemns the decision to illegally appropriate half of this sum by moving it into a fund reserved for financial compensation to plaintiffs seeking redress for the 9/11 attacks in US courts; underscores that these funds belong to the people of Afghanistan, who bear no responsibility for the 9/11 attacks; warns that these actions undermine international law and will have far reaching consequences; calls for the urgent repatriation to Da Afghanistan Bank of all funds rightfully belonging to the Afghan people under the supervision of the United Nations;
22. Calls on the EU and the EU Member States to cease policies of military intervention, foreign interference and regime change, and instead engage with third countries in a spirit of mutual respect and respect for international law;
23. Recall the role of the US and its allies in creating, promoting and supporting groups that are known for their terrorist action, including in Afghanistan, and cynical invocation of the so-called ‘war against terrorism’ to justify and carry out their strategy of domination;
24. Strongly rejects ideas first presented by the High Representative Joseph Borrell to develop additional EU military capabilities for military interventions; stresses that the further militarisation of EU foreign policy is precisely the wrong lesson to be learnt from the failed Afghanistan policy;
25. Expresses deep concern at the many reports of violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international law in the country;
26. Stresses that the appropriate bodies can play an important and useful role by highlighting violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights in Afghanistan thus contributing to the defence of Afghan people; calls for international monitoring and accountability mechanism to address ongoing abuses;
27. Urges the EU to provide to the Afghan people humanitarian assistance in view of both humanitarian and economic hardships, the COVID-19 crisis, the looming bad harvest on top of already severe poverty, food insecurity, and climate vulnerability in an already fragile economic and social system;
28. Stresses that the EU must fulfil its climate action commitments, with particular attention to the principles of climate justice and climate debt;
29. Welcomes the fact that the UN is positioning itself to coordinate and deliver humanitarian and development efforts in concert with NGOs; calls on the Taliban and all other actors concerned to allow full, safe, and unhindered access for the United Nations, its specialised agencies and implementing partners, and all humanitarian actors engaged in humanitarian relief activity and to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches all those in need;
30. Recognises that unilateral coercive measures that have detrimental effects on the human rights of whole populations are seeing increasing use; calls for an end to the use of unilateral coercive measures which are found by UN bodies to have such effects;
31. Calls on the EU to provide humanitarian assistance to major Afghan refugee-hosting countries, and underlines that all parties must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law in all circumstances, including those related to the protection of civilians;
32. Stresses that the EU and its Member States have the duty to support and protect those Afghan people who are fleeing from the Taliban; stresses that the EU and its Member States should accept all the Afghans who worked for NGOs, member states, and international organisations, as well as those whose rights and lives are at risk such as LGBTI persons and women, ensure access to international protection and provide them with a predictable and secure status upon arrival;
33. Calls on the EU Member States to provide humanitarian visas to Afghans at risk and seeking international protection in Europe; regrets that so few humanitarian visas have been issued in this regard; observes that humanitarian visas represent one possible legal route to the EU and calls on the Commission in cooperation with UNHCR and Member States to look into establishing and facilitating alternative legalised routes to make possible safe travel for Afghan refugees and to make fast-tracking family reunification possible; underlines the need for EU Member States to make immediate and thorough preparations to accommodate those expected to arrive in the immediate and more distant future, according to international law;
34. Calls on the EU Member States to agree on a European mechanism of fair, proportional and mandatory distribution, ending the principle of responsibility of the first Member State of entry;
35. Calls to step up resettlement of vulnerable Afghan refugees who are in neighbouring countries; insists that the EU Member States pledge additional resettlement places for Afghans from third countries of first arrival and transit in numbers commensurate with the scale of the crisis and in line with past emergency resettlement schemes; notes that these resettlement pledges should not replace – but must be additional to – support for other ongoing crises and displacement situations in line with UNHCR-identified priority situations;
36. Calls on EU Member States to stop forced returns of Afghans to third countries, including calling on Greece to revise its law deeming Turkey safe third country for Afghan asylum-seekers and, in parallel, ensure relocation of Afghans from Greece to other EU Member States; urges the European Commission to promptly take the necessary measures to ensure that Greece effective comply with Article 38(4) of the Asylum Procedures Directive, so as to ensure that Afghan nationals to whom the safe third country concept has been applied have their applications promptly examined on the merits and are provided with respective legal status and adequate reception conditions;
37. Deplores aspects of anti-smuggling laws that have been introduced in EU Member States such as Greece which in many cases have had the reversed result and have resulted in people being prosecuted for ‘facilitating illegal entry’ in the course of seeking international protection in the EU, receiving harsh fines and lengthy jail terms; equally deplores the criminalisation and prosecution of aid workers for engaging in humanitarian rescue;
38. Calls on the EU Member States stop deportations to Afghanistan and to revisit all asylum rejections affecting Afghans and provide them permanent or temporary legal status, in line with national and EU law; is concerned about the intentions of some Member States to start again their return procedures with regard to Afghans seeking international protection; demands to facilitate and fast-track family reunification for Afghans with relatives already in European countries;
39. Stresses the necessity to ensure that all Afghans arriving irregularly at EU Member States are allowed access to apply for asylum, as foreseen in EU law, and to apply for family reunification if they have relatives in another EU member state; condemns the push-backs perpetrated by many Member States at EU’s external borders on asylum-seekers, amongst whom many Afghan nationals, and urges the Commission to act to end this impunity; Welcomes the EU and Member States’ commitment to welcome and accommodate Ukrainians fleeing war, in particular the application of the Temporary Protection Directive 2011/55/EC; regrets that the same commitment has not been shown for other migrant populations facing similar crises; calls on the EU Member States to show support in the Council for the implementation of the Temporary Protection Directive also with regard to the Afghan refugees;
40. Stresses the need for inclusive regional cooperation with the objective of promoting long-term peace, stability and security in the wider region; favours a new approach to the situation in Afghanistan and its neighbours, in the form of a multilateral forum for dialogue and negotiation between the countries and regions concerned, covering commitments relating to political, security, social, economic, environmental and human rights issues; stresses that such a forum could signal a new and constructive approach based on ownership, self-determination and the responsibilities of states towards their citizens and to each other; emphasises that this forum should be initiated in cooperation with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the UN;
41. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Government and Parliament of Afghanistan, the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the UN and NATO.