1999/73/CFSP: Common Position of 25 January 1999 defined by the Council on the basis of Article J.2 of the Treaty on European Union, on Afghanistan
Date: 1999-01-25
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Afghanistan, drug traffic, human rights, humanitarian aid, peacekeeping, the EU's international role

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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(Acts adopted pursuant to Title V of the Treaty on European Union)

COMMON POSITION

of 25 January 1999

defined by the Council on the basis of Article J.2 of the Treaty on European
Union, on Afghanistan

(1999/73/CFSP)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Afghanistan (1); whereas the latter should therefore be
repealed,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union and in
particular Article J.2 thereof,

Whereas the conflict in Afghanistan has caused untold
suffering for
the
stability of the region and its economic development;

the Afghan people, and threatens

Whereas the war’s exports of terrorism and illegal drugs
cause serious damage to Member States of the Union, and
more widely;

Whereas the Union continues to receive considerable
numbers of refugees from war-battered Afghanistan;

Whereas the Union is determined to play an effective role
in efforts to stop the fighting, and to restore peace,
stability and respect
including
human rights, in Afghanistan;

international

law,

for

Whereas the Union considers it imperative that all coun-
tries with an influence on the parties should exercise it in
support of and in close coordination with the United
Nations’ peace efforts, and that the supply of weapons,
for military use to the
munitions and other material
warring factions from outside Afghanistan, as well as the
involvement of foreign military, paramilitary and secret
service personnel, should cease;

Whereas the Union attaches the highest importance to
respect for international law and human rights, including
forms of
the Convention on the elimination of all
discrimination against women,
the
continued gender discrimination in Afghanistan;

and denounces

Whereas the Union is deeply concerned by reports of
massacres of innocent civilians and mass execution of
prisoners of war as well as ethnic-based persecutions;

HAS DEFINED THIS COMMON POSITION:

Article 1

The objectives of the Union in Afghanistan are:

— to bring about a sustainable peace in Afghanistan, put
an end to foreign intervention, and encourage intra-
Afghan dialogue through support for the central role
of the United Nations,

— to promote the stability and development of
whole region through peace in Afghanistan,

the

— to promote respect for international humanitarian law
and human rights, including the rights of women and
children,

— to provide effective humanitarian aid and ensure that
the international coordination of aid allows for its
provision in accordance with international human-
itarian principles and an impartial needs assessment,

— to reinforce the fight against

illegal drugs and

terrorism,

— to assist

in peace-building activities and, once a
durable peace settlement is in place, the reconstruc-
tion of the country after years of civil war;

Article 2

In order to support the United Nations peace efforts,
reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 203 A
and B of 18 December 1998, the Union shall continue to:

— support

the work of
Special Envoy for Afghanistan,

the UN Secretary-General’s

Whereas this Common Position is intended to replace
Common Position 98/108/CFSP of 26 January 1998 on

(1) OJ L 32, 6. 2. 1998, p. 14.

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— support and strengthen the work of the UN Special
Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA), including the civil
affairs unit, in line with the UN Secretary-General’s
report of 23 November 1998,

— ask other countries with influence on the parties to
exercise it in support of and in close coordination
with UN peace efforts,

— demand from the Taliban their commitment to the
implementation of the Agreements signed with the
UN on the safety and security of UN personnel, and
the conclusion of a thorough investigation of
the
murders of the UN Staff Members in order to bring
those responsible to justice,

— take into consideration the report of the UN Creden-
tials Committee on the representation of Afghanistan
at the United Nations,

— maintain its embargo on the export of arms, muni-
tions and military equipment to Afghanistan provided
in its Common Position 96/746/CFSP of 17
for
December 1996 (1), and urge other countries to adopt
a similar policy of restraint,

— urge countries concerned to stop the involvement of
service
paramilitary

secret

and

their military,
personnel in Afghanistan.

The Union shall also:

— continue contacts with the Afghan parties and prom-
inent Afghan individuals to point to the futility and
grave and unacceptable humanitarian consequences of
the continued fighting, and urge an immediate cease-
fire and the negotiation of a political settlement under
UN auspices, including the establishment of a fully
representative, broad-based government,

— follow closely and encourage efforts by influential
Afghan individuals and organisations, such as the so-
called Frankfurt Process, to contribute to an intra-
Afghan dialogue,

— continue to impress upon all those countries with
influence in Afghanistan the importance the Union
attaches to the early settlement of the conflict under
UN auspices, and urging them to lend the UN every
support.

Article 3

In order to promote respect for all human rights, funda-
mental freedoms and international humanitarian law the
Union shall:

(1) OJ L 342, 31. 12. 1996, p. 1.

— call on all parties to recognise, protect and promote all
human rights and fundamental freedoms including
the right to life, liberty and security of persons and
also to respect the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights to which Afghanistan has subscribed,

— urge Afghan factions to end discriminatory policies
and recognise, protect and promote the equal rights
and dignity of men and women, including access to
education and health facilities, employment, personal
security and freedom from intimidation and harass-
ment, and will point to the negative implications of
discriminatory policies for the effective supply of aid,

— support

the UN Secretary General’s proposals to
dispatch a mission to Afghanistan to investigate
reports of serious and widespread human rights viola-
tions by the warring factions, and to deploy civilian
UNSMA monitors in Afghanistan,

— attach special importance to human rights aspects in
the international coordination of humanitarian assist-
ance to Afghanistan,

— support aid programmes in Afghanistan which integ-
rate gender concerns and actively attempt to promote
the equitable participation of both men and women,
and which promote peace and human rights,

— urge all factions to respect and protect the cultural

heritage of Afghanistan.

Article 4

In order to help the suffering civilian population of
Afghanistan, the Union shall:

— continue to provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan,

conditions permitting,

— urge the warring factions to ensure freedom of move-
ment as well as free and safe access of national and
international humanitarian personnel to all those in
need, without restrictions based on gender, race, reli-
gion or nationality, and to cooperate fully and
sincerely with humanitarian organisations to respond
to the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people,

— continue to support national and international efforts
in mine action as an important precondition for
sustainable development,

— urge the warring factions not to lay any more land-
the same time emphasising its
to fund demining in regions

mines, while at
standing policy not
where mine-laying is continued,

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— improve the effectiveness of aid by closer

inter-
national donor coordination, in particular by working
through the Afghanistan Support Group and the
Afghanistan Programming Body,

ficking and abuse of drugs in Afghanistan, and notes
the importance of implementation of the Commun-
ity’s projects in support of the Union’s Central Asia
Drugs Initiative.

— ensure

close

coordination and complementarity
between the UN peace efforts and the aid effort, as
envisaged in the Strategic Framework common to the
international donor community and UN organ-
isations,

— ensure that its aid is provided in accordance with the
common Strategic Framework adopted by the donor
community and UN organisations and, thereby, to
encourage the implementation of a more effective
Common Programming in Afghanistan.

Article 5

In order to promote the fight against drugs, the Union,
shall:
— use contacts with the factions and those countries
with influence on them to underline the Union’s
concern at the increasing production and trafficking
of drugs in Afghanistan which threatens regional
stability and damages the health and well-being of the
populations of Afghanistan, neighbouring states and
elsewhere, and also to stress that the Union will take
account of drugs control objectives when considering
aid to reconstruct
contributions
Afghanistan once a durable peace settlement is in
place,

to development

— urge aid agencies to take account of drug control
objectives in the planning and implementation of
projects by taking into consideration their impact on
trafficking and abuse,
drug cultivation, production,
— support sustainable alternative development as an
important component of a balanced and compre-
hensive drug control strategy. Alternative develop-
ment programmes should be adapted to the specific
conditions in Afghanistan, should respect human
rights and incorporate the gender dimension enabling
women and men to participate equally in the develop-
ment process. Law enforcement measures are a neces-
sary complement to such programmes,

— support all consistent efforts, including those of the
United Nations Drugs Control Programme (UNDCP),
aimed at reducing substantially the production, traf-

Article 6

In order to advance the fight against terrorism, the Union,
which condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifesta-
tions, shall continue to:

— demand that all Afghan parties refrain from financing,
providing training or shelter for terrorist organisations
or otherwise supporting terrorist activities;

— urge all Afghan authorities to close down training
camps for foreign terrorists inside Afghanistan and to
take necessary steps to ensure that those responsible
for terrorist acts are brought to justice.

Article 7

The Council notes that the Commission intends to direct
its action towards achieving the objectives and the prior-
ities of this Common Position, where appropriate, by
pertinent Community measures.

Article 8

Common Position 98/108/CFSP of 26 January 1998 on
Afghanistan shall be repealed.

Article 9

This Common Position shall take effect on the date of its
adoption. It shall be reviewed at the latest twelve months
after its adoption.

Article 10

This Common Position shall be published in the Official
Journal.

Done at Brussels, 25 January 1999.

For the Council

The President

J. FISCHER