Afghanistan: UN experts call on US Government to unblock foreign assets of central bank to ease humanitarian impact

GENEVA (25 April 2022) – Alarmed by the critical humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, UN human rights experts call on the Government of the United States to unblock the foreign assets of Da Afghanistan Bank of more than US $7 billion to enable the unimpeded provision of humanitarian assistance to cover the basic needs of tens of millions of people in the country. They issue the following statement:

“We are gravely concerned about the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, which puts at serious risk the lives of more than half of the country’s population, with disproportionate impact on women and children. While gender-based violence has been a long-standing and severe threat to women and girls, it has been exacerbated by the measures imposed by the US, together with the drought and widening gender-based discrimination adopted by the de facto authorities.

We echo the words of the UN Secretary-General qualifying it as an ‘epic humanitarian crisis on the verge of a development catastrophe’, and we call on States to re-assess any adopted unilateral measure and lift all obstacles in the provision of the necessary financial and humanitarian aid.

According to international assessments, Afghanistan has now the highest number of people in emergency food insecurity in the world, with more than 23 million in need of food assistance, and with approximately 95 percent of the population having insufficient food consumption. Of particular concern is the vulnerability of more than 4 million internally displaced, including people belonging to minorities and more than 3.5 million seeking refuge in neighbouring countries.

Since the adoption, in December 2021, of the UN Security Council resolution 2651 and the establishment of humanitarian exemptions to the existing sanctions regime, mentioned in our past statement, there has been, unfortunately, no significant progress in the financial and commercial flows by States and international financial institutions for development and humanitarian purposes in Afghanistan. Humanitarian actors face serious operational challenges due to the uncertainty caused by banks' zero-risk policies and over-compliance with sanctions.

In particular, we note with regret the recent decision by the US Government (Executive Order no. 14064) to renew the blocking of Afghanistan central bank’s foreign assets amounting to over US $7 billion, and to reportedly use part of it for other purposes within the US, instead of the immediate and longer-term humanitarian needs in Afghanistan.

We note with concern the provisions in Section 3 of the Presidential Executive Order no. 14064, which prohibits ‘any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions’ and ‘any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order’.

Such overly broad formulations may exacerbate the climate of uncertainty among relevant actors, including banks, businesses and humanitarian donors, resulting in over-zealous compliance with sanctions thus preventing people of Afghanistan from any access to basic humanitarian goods.

We call on the US Government to take into serious consideration the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and to re-assess its decision to block the Da Afghanistan Bank’s foreign assets.

We recall that States have an obligation under international human rights law to guarantee that any activity under their jurisdiction or control does not result in human rights violations, and in this regard, we urge the US authorities to take all appropriate action, in line with its international human rights obligations, to reverse this unilateral measure and to decisively contribute to the international efforts in addressing the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

Prior to the issuance of this press release, we communicated our concerns and recommendations to the US Government, which has, to this day, much to our regret, not responded.”

ENDS

*The experts: Alena Douhan, Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights; Saad Alfarargi, Special Rapporteur on the right to development; Obiora C. Okafor, Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity; Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences; Attiya Waris, Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights; Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food; Livingstone Sewanyana, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; Melissa Upreti (Chair),Dorothy Estrada Tanck (Vice-Chair), Elizabeth Broderick, Ivana Radačić, and Meskerem Geset Techane, Working Group on discrimination against women and girls; Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right to physical and mental health; Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.