Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-04-Speech-3-063"
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"en.20020904.2.3-063"2
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"Mr President, the fierce Taliban regime was defeated in the war but social and political calm and economic stability have yet to be established in Afghanistan, and the many problems linked to respect for human rights persist. The new government is faced with severe difficulties and we must provide more than just economic aid. Over 1.5 million refugees have returned from the places they had fled to during the many wars and upheavals which have afflicted their country in recent decades, but they have neither houses nor work and are prey to the ongoing dangers caused by the lack of security in the country. With a view to bringing greater security, the US Special Forces advisors are working together with the Karzai government to set up a national army in Afghanistan, but if, on the one hand, the soldiers of the new army lack weapons, on the other, there appear to be 750 000 armed Mujahideen belonging to the various
ethnic groups. All this means that there will be further difficulties and that there is a need for especial political and diplomatic mediation between the national government and what are known as the ‘warlords’.
No progress has been made as regards the situation of women: the only woman elected a minister in the new government had to resign after receiving death threats for declaring her opposition to the
. The recent attacks, the recent discovery of a chemicals laboratory for producing explosives and lethal materials and the existence of an area under tribal influence between Afghanistan and Pakistan are further indications of a dangerous situation.
The Afghan government is proceeding, one small step at a time, to bring a return to law and order and respect for human rights, combating the extremist fringe groups which have combined terrorism and Islam to make a single religion. However, the international community must also continue to discharge its responsibilities through technical, humanitarian cooperation which will give Afghanistan the economic and structural support it needs to eliminate drug cultivation, and through more unambiguous measures to combat the
and discrimination against women.
The European Union has a particular responsibility: for too long, our democracies were deaf to the cries for help coming from the Afghan people oppressed by the Taliban regime and by the cultural and physical violence imposed by their dictatorship. This new, specific undertaking by the Union will also be an – albeit posthumous – tribute to the appeal made by Commander Massoud, who, on 5 April 2001 here in Strasbourg, called upon Europe for help, although Europe, I am sad to say, was insensitive at that time to the afflictions of a country oppressed by Taliban fundamentalism and which al-Qa’ida had made the cradle of international terrorism. In a few days’ time, it will be the anniversary of the assassination of Commander Massoud, who was murdered a few hours before the tragedy of 11 September. It is our hope that the men and women in Afghanistan too who believe in freedom and democracy will respond to Commander Massoud’s call and work together to defeat fundamentalist violence and secure peace for their people."@en1
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