Afghanistan: Vote on a Draft Resolution Renewing the Mandate of the Monitoring Team Supporting the 1988 Sanctions Committee*
Tomorrow morning (12 February), the Security Council is expected to vote on a draft resolution renewing the mandate of the Monitoring Team supporting the 1988 Afghanistan Sanctions Committee for 12 months. The US, the penholder on Afghanistan sanctions, authored the draft resolution.
Background
The 1988 Afghanistan sanctions regime imposes an assets freeze, a travel ban, and an arms embargo on individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities associated with the Taliban. The listing criteria for these sanctions include participating in the acts of, supplying arms to, recruiting for, or otherwise supporting the activities of those associated with the Taliban in constituting a threat to the peace, security, and stability of Afghanistan. Apart from the humanitarian exception established by resolution 2615 in December 2021, the regime has not been substantively updated since the Taliban seized power in August 2021.
The 1988 Afghanistan Sanctions Committee is a subsidiary organ of the Council established to oversee the regime. Its tasks include designating individuals and entities who meet the listing criteria, deciding on requests for exemptions from the measures, and reporting periodically to the Council. The Monitoring Team supports the Committee by, among other things, submitting periodic reports on the implementation of the sanctions measures, making recommendations to assist member states with implementation, and reviewing the sanctions list. Its mandate was last renewed by resolution 2763 of 13 December 2024.
The same Monitoring Team also supports the 1267/1989/2253 Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee. Resolution 2734 of 10 June 2024 extended the team’s mandate to support that Committee until June 2027.
Negotiations on the Draft Resolution
The draft resolution in blue renews the Monitoring Team’s mandate to support the 1988 Afghanistan Sanctions Committee until 17 February 2027. Apart from a change to the expiry date of the Monitoring Team’s mandate, the operative section of the draft is identical to resolution 2763. While no substantive changes were made to the operative part of the draft resolution, there were several amendments to the preambular paragraphs. A new preambular paragraph regarding hostage-taking was added to the draft resolution, as was text regarding the enforcement of the Taliban’s ban on Afghan women working for the UN, the importance of their participation in Afghan society, and their freedom of expression. In addition, language relating to the adverse effects of climate change and gender-based violence was removed from the draft, while the qualifier “religious and ethnic” was added to text regarding the human rights of minority groups.
The negotiations on the draft resolution were relatively smooth, with Council members agreeing that the mandate of the Monitoring Team should be extended without substantive changes from the outset. Following initial discussions among the Council’s permanent members (China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US), the penholder sent an initial draft of the resolution to all Council members on 31 January. After an initial read-through and a round of written comments, on 6 February the US placed a second draft under silence until 9 February. Although silence was not broken, the penholder circulated a third draft with minor amendments on Monday (9 February) and extended the silence period until the following day, apparently indicating that the changes had been made following bilateral discussions with another member. Yesterday (10 February), the US circulated a fourth draft containing a minor amendment, again indicating that the change had been made following bilateral consultations, and extended the silence period until later that same day. Silence was not broken and the draft was then put in blue.
It seems that a group of Council members, including Colombia, the European members (Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, and the UK), and Panama, were in favour of adding new language regarding women’s rights and women, peace, and security (WPS) and retaining previously agreed language on these issues. New text expressing concern regarding the enforcement of the ban on Afghan women accessing UN premises, urging their participation in Afghan society, and referring to restrictions on their freedom of expression was incorporated into the draft in blue, while previously agreed language highlighting the importance of women’s participation in decision-making was ultimately retained after being removed from earlier drafts. It appears that these members also supported keeping language from resolution 2763 expressing concern in relation to gender-based violence, however the penholder did not incorporate this text into the draft in blue. Latvia apparently proposed adding language criticising the criminal code introduced by the Taliban in January and, while this proposal was supported by some other members, it was opposed by Russia and was not incorporated in the draft in blue.
It seems that the revision of the 1988 Afghanistan sanctions regime was also discussed during the negotiations. Pakistan apparently argued that an operative paragraph regarding the review of the regime and possible adjustments should include a specific date by which the review should be completed, however this suggestion was not incorporated in the draft in blue. For their part, China and Russia also highlighted the need to revise the regime without making specific proposals for amendments to the operative text on this issue. It seems that Russia proposed deleting the reference to the independent assessment from a preambular paragraph recognising the need to revise the regime. However, this was resisted by a majority of other Council members and the language was retained in the draft in blue.
Previously agreed language expressing concern regarding the adverse effects of climate change was also an issue. The US removed this text from the first draft, which appears to have prompted other members, including Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, and Liberia, to argue that it should be retained. In an apparent compromise, the draft resolution in blue expresses deep concern regarding natural disasters in Afghanistan.
It seems that a preambular paragraph on hostage-taking was also an issue during the negotiations. Language recalling resolution 2133 of 27 January 2014, strongly condemning incidents of kidnapping and hostage-taking, and expressing determination to prevent such incidents in accordance with applicable international law was added to the first draft by the US, in line with its previously stated position that securing the release of US hostages is one of its top priorities on the Afghanistan file. Some members, including China and Russia, apparently expressed concerns about this text during the negotiations. The reference to resolution 2133 was ultimately removed from the draft resolution in blue, while text calling on member states to prevent kidnappers, hostage-takers, and terrorist groups from benefiting from ransom payments or political concessions and secure the safe release of hostages was added.
The reintroduction of the standing exemption to the travel ban, which was first introduced by the Committee in April 2019 and expired in August 2022, was also discussed during the negotiations. China apparently argued that the standing exemption should be reestablished and proposed operative text on this issue. While this was supported by Russia, it was opposed by a majority of members and was not added to the draft in blue.
Council members also discussed a preambular paragraph expressing concern over the activities of terrorist groups. A reference to Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities was added to this paragraph, apparently following a suggestion from Pakistan.
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**Post-script: On 12 February, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2816, renewing the mandate of the Monitoring Team supporting the 1988 Afghanistan Sanctions Committee until 17 February 2027.
