Liberal Demokratic Party of Afghanistan
Hürderstrasse 4 - D-85551 Kirchheim - Germany - Fax 0049 (0) 89 - 329 21 73

info@afghanistan-jamhuriat.com

Total members: 117.524 (26 June 2017)

 

 

 

On 7 –8 July 2019, an intra-Afghan conference was held in Doha, Qatar City by a group of 17 Taliban members who met with 60 invited delegates from Afghanistan.  The meeting was organised by the governments of Germany and Qatar.

According to media reports, conference participants passed a resolution aimed at paving the way for a lasting peace in Afghanistan. The resolution was published in 3 languages: namely Pashto, Dari, and English. The copy in Dari as well as the English translation contains 8 points, while the Pashto version contains 11 points. We assume that errors may have slipped into the Pashto-language version. Therefore, our comments below refer to the 8 points published in the Dari- and English-language versions.

While most of the points in this resolution could be considered acceptable or at least tolerable for establishing peace among belligerents, we consider some small, but important changes to certain aspects of the resolution, as shown below, to be essential.

 

The 8 points in the resolution are quoted as follows:

Point 1: All conference attendees agree that a lasting, nationwide peace in Afghanistan, which is the desire of all Afghans, can be made possible through dialogue and negotiations involving all Afghans.

Point 2: Afghanistan is a united, Islamic state and home for all ethnic groups. The sovereignty of the Islamic system, the fundamental rights of citizens, social and political justice, national unity, and territorial sovereignty are values to which all Afghans have committed themselves.

Point 3: Afghans have made sacrifices throughout history, especially over the last 40 years, to preserve Islamic and national values as well as the freedom of Afghanistan.  We demand that the world community, other countries in the region, and internal leaders respect these values so that Afghanistan will not continue to be threatened by war and crisis. An intra-Afghan understanding among the different levels of society is crucial.

Point 4:  Since the Afghans are actually the victims of the war, the participants of this conference consider it necessary to take those steps necessary to facilitate for the intra afghan negotiations in order to achieve peace:

  1. a) The participants support the on-going peace talks in Qatar. These negotiations are having a positive effect towards ending the war in Afghanistan. 
  2. b) All warring parties should avoid threats and words vowing revenge and warmongering in their official statements, instead of those they should use softer language. 

Point 5: In order to minimize the damage and consequences of the war for the population and to create a climate of trust in order to achieve peace, the warring parties should agree to take the following measures: 

  1. a) Provide for the unconditional release of the elderly, disabled, and sick from prisons.
  2. b) Ensure the security of public institutions such as religious institutions, hospitals, educational institutions, shopping markets, dams, and workplaces nationwide.
  3. c) Ensure the security of educational institutions such as schools, religious schools, and universities.
  4. d) Protect the life, property, dignity, and homes of the population and reduce the number of civilian casualties to zero.

Point 6:  Secure women's rights in the worlds of politics, society, economy, education, and culture within the framework of Islamic values.

Point 7: The participants agree that the road to peace is based on the following conditions:

  1. a) Agree on the Islamic system in Afghanistan
  2. b) Start the peace process while fully complying with the necessary conditions
  3. c) Monitoring and observation of the peace agreements
  4. d) reforms to preserve and strengthen basic, defence, and other national institutions belonging to all Afghans
  5. f) Enable the return of refugees
  6. g) Discuss of new terms for continued cooperation with the assisting countries
  7. h) Confirmation of the peace agreement by an international conference
  8. i) Obtain guarantees from the countries in the region and other countries that they will not interfere in the affairs of Afghanistan
  9. We support all efforts for peace in Afghanistan, including the resolution of the Intra-Afghan Conference held in Moscow on 6 February 2019 . We demand that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the United Nations, the European Union, and the neighbours of Afghanistan confirm and support the Qatar peace resolution.

Below, we propose our suggested changes to the points of the resolution:

On Point 2: Religion and politics should be separated. The sovereignty of the Afghan constitution should continue to be maintained. Therefore, it is unnecessary to replace it with the Islamic system. As indicated in our letter of 14 February 2019, we might possibly consider changes to the Constitution if necessary.  

To Point 5a:  In the event Taliban members older than 65 are released, this should be subject to a prior review. Those guilty of severe crimes should not be released despite having reach this age. Those Taliban members in prison who are seriously ill should undergo a specialist medical examination, with their possible release not considered until after they have received a corresponding medical recommendation for release. 

On Point 6, women's rights:

Women in Afghanistan have suffered tremendously from cruelty, distress, and torture during the last 40 years, including during the years of Taliban rule (1996-2001). They were burned alive, stoned, imprisoned without having committed a crime, tortured with whips, and underage girls were forcibly married. We do not want a repeat of these atrocities. Women's rights should never be trampled on again. We call on the Taliban not to underestimate or disregard the women of Afghanistan. There are many women in Afghanistan who are more intelligent than some Taliban members. 

Although there is currently a women's organisation in Afghanistan, it cannot enforce the legitimate rights of women for fear of terrorist reprisals. It also cannot expect any support from the current Afghan government because it is corrupt and occupied by the Mafia gang. Out of fear of terrorist attacks and suicide bombings, Afghan women have to date avoided asserting their rights; otherwise, millions of women would have taken to the streets to protest against the violation of their rights.  This is why the majority of Afghan women have placed all their expectations on us, to alert the world community to their suffering. We ask for support from the world community to protect Afghan women from further harm and violence. In this context, we refer to our various letters that we have published on the rights of Afghan women on our homepage.

In the event we assume control of the government, all Afghan women would be able to hold their heads up high because we will ensure that women's rights are respected.

On Point 7a: See our position on Point 2.

On Point 7b: The peace process and ceasefire must begin no later upon signing of a peace agreement and should not wait for full compliance of all conditions.

On Point 7d: The national defence institutions should continue to be modernised.

On Point 7i:

Neighbouring countries should guarantee that they will not support terrorists. Terrorists will have no place in the Afghanistan of the future.

On Point 8:

We commented on the resolutions made at Moscow with our letter of 14 February 2019.

We ask the UN, the EU, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation not to accept the resolution in the form passed by the conference participants since this would lead to Talibanism. We ask the above organisations to consider the changes we have proposed in place of this resolution as the basis for a potential peace agreement.

As outlined above, we have filtered out some aspects of the resolution passed at the most recent Intra-Afghan Conference which would be detrimental to Afghanistan and the Afghan people. These "Trojan horses" were sneaked into the resolution under Taliban pressure as an attempt to impose their ideology on the Afghan people with cat and mouse tricks.

In any case, we want to avoid a repeat of Taliban rule. We and the Afghan people do not want any Talibanism. The Taliban have been responsible for killing innocent civilians, including women and children, for 18 years as a result of their hostilities. A Taliban regime will not work in Afghanistan because Afghan society has since become much more modern and cosmopolitan over the past 18 years and most Afghans now have high educational standards.  If the Taliban regime were re-established, millions of Afghans would once again be forced to flee overseas as refugees from their homeland. 

Dear President Trump, dear members of the world community! Please do not give Talibanism a chance in Afghanistan.

Should we take over the future Afghan government, we would offer Taliban members employment opportunities as part of a peace settlement, for example in the fight against opium cultivation, drug trafficking, land-grabbing, serious crime, and counterterrorism. The number of employees would depend on the availability of jobs. The state would be the employer. The Taliban would not be allowed to act independently in these tasks, but would instead be subject to the state's monopoly on command.

We respect Islam and all world religions. Islam is a holy religion. Islam recommends that its followers make peace. It would be a misuse of religion if innocent people were killed in the name of Islam.

In any case, we welcome the ongoing peace negotiations and welcome the fact that the Taliban are now also interested in a lasting peace. However, all aspects of the Afghanistan issue should be considered. Considering all the efforts of the participants and the helping countries, we very much hope that the peace desired by all Afghans can be achieved in a timely manner.

We wish to thank the United States, the United Nations, Germany, Qatar, as well as all the other countries in the world community who are working to end the war and restore peace in Afghanistan.

Yours sincerely,

 

Hayattullah Maiwand

Chairman of the FDPA