Strasbourg, 05/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - Opening the debate on Afghanistan at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, the acting President of the Council, Bertel Haarder, welcomed the positive changes in Afghanistan, the consolidating of the political representation process in the Loya Jirga's work, the creation of a National Defence Council and the key role played by the United States in rapidly eliminating the Taliban regime making it possible to install the current government. He reaffirmed the EU's commitment to support the government's efforts, strengthen the peace process and help civilians, particularly in terms of the return of refugees. The lack of any comments on the allegations of war crimes provoked strong reaction from Francis Wurtz (France), President of the GUE/NGL group, who said that the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament's political groups had expressly requested that war crimes be covered by the Council and the Commission.
Commissioner Chris Patten said the process was progressing well, stressing the scale of challenges like internal security, which has not yet been assured. He argued that the international community's support for the central government was all the more crucial, before mentioning the atrocities that occurred during the US operation in Afghanistan. He recognised that these atrocities worried the international community, saying they had been discussed by the Security Council on 28 August and that the United Nations were not able to carry out an enquiry because witnesses could not be protected. Patten said the EU had more than doubled its emergency humanitarian aid since the beginning of the year from EUR 25 to EUR 60 million. Of the total allocation of EUR 1 billion over five years, EUR 250 million had been committed and most of it spent, he added.
Progress may have been made, but the main problems still remain, said French Christian Democrat Philippe Morillon, adding that the fight against terror had not ended and that the safety of Afghanistan had not been assured, that respect for human rights had barely begun and the return of refugees only aggravates the humanitarian situation. He said that Afghans should deal with their own security and called for the process of training the army and the police to be speeded up rather than extending the mandate of the multinational force which is restricted to Kabul at the moment. German Social Democrat Jannis Sakellariou called for prisoners to be treated according to international law and for an international investigation into the allegations of war crimes and violations of human rights. British Liberal Democrat Emma Nicholson hailed the efforts of the European Commission and the work of ECHO staff in the field and invited other donors to follow their example. French Communist Francis Wurtz was pleased that the draft common resolution called for an international investigation into the alleged war crimes but regretted that it included paragraphs justifying war as a means of fighting terrorism. Dutch Green Joost Lagendijk asked the Commission and Council what they were planning to do to ensure the safety of investigators and witnesses so the UN can carry out an investigation into the massacres. Along with other MEPs Cristiana Muscardini (Alleanza Nazionale) slammed the absence of progress on the situation of women. German Social Democrat Lissy Gröner mentioned the closing of girls' schools and said the EU should prevent the situation of women being made worse. Paul Coûteaux criticised the US for using weapons of mass destruction, violating international law and being responsible for war crimes in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, adding that Hitler today is Bush. Italian Radical Emma Bonino welcomed progress but regretted that the provisional government's request for the multinational force's mandate to be extended had not been complied with. We may have won the war but we risk losing the peace, she exclaimed. British Tory Geoffrey Van Orden also called for an extension of the multinational force's mandate and for demining to be stepped up.
Answering the MEPs, Bertel Haarder felt it was positive that President Karzai had announced the launch of an investigation into the mass graves and said that the EU was prepared to aid the investigation. He also stressed the need to increase aid for training the army and police in order to combat the production and trafficking of drugs and help in the demobilisation of paramilitaries. Responding to a suggestion by Spanish Socialist Maria Izquierdo Rojo that the Commission consider a programme to give women the possibility of swapping their burkas for driving licences, Chris Patten said he would consider the idea.
EP calls for more support for Afghanistan and international investigation into alleged war crimes
On Thursday, adopting a common resolution on Afghanistan by five political groups (EPP-ED, PES, ELDR, Greens/EFA and UEN) by 429 to 26 with 21 abstentions, the European Parliament called on the international community assume all its financial commitments, particularly in terms of rebuilding political structures and economic, social and cultural infrastructure, vital for the consolidation of peace and stability in Afghanistan. It staunchly supported the Afghan government and President Karzai in their attempts to fully implement the Bonn Agreement, including efforts to create a Constitutional Council. It believes that the new Afghan government must urgently pass and implement effective measures to promote the situation of women, individual freedoms and human rights. The European Parliament invites EU Member States to take all measures that can be considered to extend and develop the mandate of the international force helping assure security beyond Kabul to all necessary regions in order to provide security fort the population and properly implement the disarming of militia by the United Nations. It also calls for the urgent creation of a coordinated de-mining programme. The Afghan government and the governments of neighbouring countries are called up on to take all possible measures to combat the production and trading of drugs.
Parliament also calls for a detailed investigation into the allegations of war crimes, namely massacres perpetrated out under the aegis of the United Nations, and calls on the Afghan authorities to provide the assistance needed for such an investigation. If the allegations are justified, it calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice (by 475 votes against 2 with 11 abstentions). Parliament also reaffirmed that international law should be respected in all circumstances, including for people accused or found guilty of relations with terrorist networks. At the same time, it repeats its support for the international community's fight against terrorist networks.
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