Change the World Model United Nations NYC 2019 SECURITY COUNCIL HS 2 1. The situation in Afghanistan,
Dear Delegates, I welcome you to the Security Council - The Situation in Afghanistan of the Change the World Model United Nation, New York City 2019. This document is a guide that will aid you during the research and preparation for the discussions during the committee. The guide will cover the mission of the Security Council in relation to the issues Afghanistan has been faces since the 2011 attack on the World Trade Center. There will also be some guided questions and a bibliography that will help you prepare the case. A reminder, this is only a guide. Each delegate is responsible for making a detailed written review for their respective assigned country. The commission belongs to all the participants, therefore, having an enriching discussion is dependent on the level of preparation from each delegate. I invite you to investigate different perspectives and to take a critical stance. Any questions you have will be resolved by the committee of the commission. Best regards, Manuela Giraldo Jaramillo Director of Committee 2
Security Council The Security Council is one of the six main organs the United Nations have. Its objective is to maintain the international peace and security. It has 15 members, each one with one vote, and all are obligated to comply with Council decision 1. Likewise, all members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council. The Security Council is the body that determines the existence of a threat to peace or an act of aggression between countries or in a country. If this happens, the Council calls on the parties to conciliate and generate an agreement by peaceful means. The Council may: set forth principles for such an agreement undertake investigation and mediation, in some cases dispatch a mission appoint special envoys request the Secretary-General to use his good offices to achieve a pacific settlement of the dispute If there is no agreement, the Council has the power to impose sanctions on the parties or authorize the use of force to restore international peace and security. This means: issue ceasefire directives that can help prevent an escalation of the conflict dispatch military observers or a peacekeeping force to help reduce tensions, separate opposing forces and establish a calm in which peaceful settlements may be sought economic sanctions, arms embargoes, financial penalties and restrictions, and travel bans severance of diplomatic relations blockade or even collective military action 2 1 United Nations Security Council. The Security Council. Taken from: http://www.un.org/en/sc/ 2 United Nations Security Council. What is the Security Council?. Taken from: http://www.un.org/en/sc/about/ 3
Afghanistan Afghanistan is a country that has been in war for more than 20 years, generating negative externalities. It can be said that the main reason for this war is the constant fight for the power of the Afghan territory. Since 1978, this Asian country has presented clashes between political parties against the state or revolutionary groups against the state. However, this war is not only about the country because other countries have been participants, as allies or facing the consequences of war. The first case occurred in 1978 when the power of the country was shared between People's Party and Banner Party. In this war between parties, the Soviet Union allied itself with the new government to initiate social and territorial reforms. The new government proposals were not well received by the Muslim population and the anticommunist, as a result, insurgencies began to emerge. By the new wars between the state and the revolutionary groups, the Soviet Union invaded Afghan territory. The Soviet troops tried to crush the insurgency with various tactics, but the guerrillas generally avoided their attacks. While the Soviet Union had about 100,000 troops controlling cities, the revolutionaries attacked with armament supplied by the United States, Soviet Union opponent during the Cold War. The first consequence that this war had was the displacement of civil society. In 1982, 2.8 million Afghans sought asylum in Pakistan and another 1.5 million in Iran 3. Citizens are victims, direct and indirect, who prefer to move before suffering the social and economic consequences of war. However, displacement means organizing a new life in a new territory. The second externality is that international relations are affected and, in many cases, it can also be due to power. The case of Afghanistan shows how two world powers supported the two opposing parties involved in the war; United States supplied weapons to insurgents because the Soviet Union was an ally of the government. 3 Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). Afghan war. Taken from: https://www.britannica.com/event/afghan-war 4
In 1988, the United States, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Soviet Union signed an agreement whereby the latter would withdraw its troops and Afghanistan returned to the non-aligned state. By other hand, with the attacks on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center in New York, Afghanistan started a new war. At the end of 2001, USA and UK bombed Al-Qaeda training camps because they were the responsible of the attacks. They thought they could kill Osama Bin Laden and all his revolutionary group. During this time, revolutionary groups were conquered new afghan territory and attacking civil society. In 2003, the International Security Assistance Force began with the objective of supporting the Afghan government to reduce insurgency capacity, support the development of Afghan security forces, and facilitate improvements in Afghanistan's governance and socio-economic development. For this, the militaries from the countries that conformed NATO (28 countries) began to work with the government to train the Afghan military to fight against the revolutionary groups. In 2008, the president of the United States, Barack Obama decided to change U.S.A strategy; it was no longer about helping the government to build democracy and help sustainable development, but about ending the revolutionary group Al-Qaeda. He decided to send more militaries to Afghanistan. At this point in the war, it is evident how United States passed from working with insurgent groups to attacking the revolutionary groups in favor of the government In 2010, at the Lisbon Summit NATO approved that it will withdraw all its soldiers from Afghan territory by the end of 2014. In 2013, the Afghan Armed Forces assume the responsibility of maintaining security in their country. However, in 2014 Afghanistan and E.E.U.U signed the Bilateral Security Agreement that allows extending the presence of US military personnel in Afghan territory as advisers. Likewise, NATO completes the combat mission International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan 4. Since 2017, Al-Qaeda has joined with the ISIS group intensifying terrorist activity and conquered at least 10% of the Afghan territory. In response, the new president of E.E.U.U has decided to change strategy; he will leave aside the political and diplomatic in favor of military action. Accordingly, it has agreed to increase American troops in Afghan territory. In addition, it launched the largest non-nuclear explosive on Afghan territory. The high number of missiles launched on Afghan territory is due to President Trump's strategy to force the Taliban to sit at a negotiating 4 Rtve. (n.d). Afghanistán la guerra más larga de Estados Unidos. Taken from: http://www.rtve.es/noticias/mision-otan-afganistan-cronologia/ 5
table 5. Although Trump developed four methods to put pressure on Taliban groups -maximum military pressure, targeting the Taliban s financial sources, publicly questioning and putting pressure on Pakistan - they didn t work 6. By other hand, the European Union (EU) signed an agreement with Afghanistan with two objectives: i. Afghanistan rejects asylum seekers from Europe, ii. EU supports development, women s right, ending corruption, and electoral reform. The International Criminal Court asked permission to open an investigation for war crimes and crime against humanity 7. This war has had many victims as shown in graph 1., in 2016, "UNAMA documented 11,418 civilian casualties (3,498 deaths and 7,920 injured); marking a two per cent decrease in civilian deaths and six per cent increase in civilians injured. These figures amount to a per cent increase in total civilian casualties compared to 2015.5 Since 2009, the armed conflict in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of 24,841 civilians and injured 45,347 others" (Cordesma, 2017) 8. Nowadays, many attacks have been against hospitals and health professionals. As a consequence, there is no infrastructure to serve the civil society that has been the victim of war attacks. In addition, as there are no medications and medical services, there has also been an increase in diseases such as diarrhea, polio, measles and malnutrition, because there is not enough food 9. 5 Bassets, L. (2017). Afganistán, la guerra de nunca acabar. Taken from: https://elpais.com/internacional/2017/07/07/actualidad/1499444790_265189.html 6 BBC News. (2018). Why Afghanistan is more dangerous than ever. Taken from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45507560 7 Human Rights watch. Afghanistan events of 2017. Taken from: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/afghanistan 8 Cordesman, A. (2017). The Afghan war: Key developments and metrics. Taken from: https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fspublic/publication/170524_report_afghan_war.pdf?lcvhcikxyffp3sknn5nr0drorilgbzey 9 CICR. (2018). Afganistán: Se necesita un compromiso genuino de las partes beligerantes ara reducir el sufrimiento de la población civil. Taken from: https://www.icrc.org/es/document/afganistan-se-necesita-un-compromiso-genuino-de-las-partes-beligerantes-para-reducir-el 6
Graph 1. Having said that, it can be concluded that Afghanistan has always been at war due to the lack of a stable government. The State wants to have autonomy and to be able to decide on its territory, but the revolutionary groups want the power of the State since they do not share their resolutions. As a consequence, there are local externalities such as a decrease in the population, an increase in diseases and basic needs; and international consequences such as migration, problems between countries involved, among others. To resume, there are 5 reasons that explain the intensification of the problem: 1. All parts involved wants to increase their influence and seize more territory. 2. The lack of policy clarity since 2001 and the effectiveness of US strategy. 3. Level of violence increased. 4. Taliban want to maximize their influence in peace talks 5. Increasing tension between US and regional players 10 It is important to say that a lot of countries have contributed for Afghanistan peace building. Some of them have sent troops to teach Afghanistan militaries to fight and sent medical help; some 10 BBC News. (2018). Why Afghanistan is more dangerous than ever. Taken from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45507560 7
authorizes the use of airspace and seaports; others helped with mice-clearance; some helped with logistic or financial support, among others. UNAMA Unama is the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan 11. Its mission is to support the people and government of Afghanistan in achieving peace and stability, in line with the rights and obligations enshrined in the Afghan constitution. To recover the international peace and security the mission has to: Support efforts to achieve peace and stability in Afghanistan. Prepare for and support peace processes between the Government and armed groups; Support Afghans to build a culture of peace and social cohesion, by advancing consensusbuilding and inclusive peace and reconciliation processes and mechanisms at the national and sub-national levels, as well as a victim-centered transitional justice process; Advance regional cooperation for the normalization of security, stability, economic integration and development in Afghanistan; and Strengthen the protection of civilians, particularly women, children and vulnerable groups. Support efforts to guarantee the rule of law, accountable governance, and the respect for human rights. Advance the Government s reform of governance and rule of law, including anticorruption, and Government accountability; 11 UNAMA. Mission Statement. Taken from: https://unama.unmissions.org/mission-statement 8
Improve the credibility, integrity, inclusiveness and sustainability of electoral processes; and Assist with the implementation of the human rights provisions of the Afghan Constitution and international treaties to which Afghanistan is a State party. Lead and coordinate the international community in support of the Government s priorities to advance peace, governance and development for the benefit of all Afghans. Strengthen the coordination and coherence of the international community s engagement, including policy, strategy and programming, and improve its alignment with the Government s peace, governance, as well as development priorities, particularly as they relate to economic growth and job creation; Improve coordination and coherence between all UN entities in line with One UN and in order to maximize their effectiveness; and Support sustainable returns of returnees and internally displaced people. Further research Focus questions What is your assigned country position on the situation of Afghanistan? Has your country participated in the situation of Afghanistan? What has it done? What do you think your country could do to help end this war? From your assigned country, what do you think is the best solution? Research links 9
European Asylum Support Office. (2018). EASO Country of Origin Information Report, Afghanistan Security Situation Update. Taken from: https://www.easo.europa.eu/sites/default/files/publications/afghanistan-security-situation- 2018.pdf BBC News. (2018). Why Afghanistan is more dangerous than ever. Taken from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45507560 Human Rights watch. Afghanistan events of 2017. Taken from: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/afghanistan Cordesman, A. (2017). The Afghan war: Key developments and metrics. Taken from: https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fspublic/publication/170524_report_afghan_war.pdf?lcvhcikxyffp3sknn5nr0drorilg BZeY 10