The Security Council today extended for 14 months the mandate of the team monitoring sanctions against the Taliban and associated individuals and entities that threaten Afghanistan’s peace, stability and security, as delegates highlighted the experts’ vital work.
Unanimously adopting resolution 2763 (2024) (to be issued as document S/RES/2763(2024) ), the 15-member organ decided that the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team will continue to support the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) – a subsidiary body overseeing the implementation of sanctions regime on the Taliban. It also directed the Monitoring Team to gather information on instances of non-compliance with measures, that include the freezing of funds and assets, prevention of travel and supply or transfer of arms and related equipment – established by resolution 2255 (2015) – and to facilitate capacity-building upon Member States’ request.
“With today’s adoption, the Security Council has affirmed the continuing importance of the 1988 sanctions regime to supporting peace and stability in Afghanistan,” stressed the representative of the United States, which led negotiations on the text. He underscored the essential role of the Monitoring Team’s reporting in assessing the Taliban’s actions and conditions for humanitarian assistance. “The Monitoring Team’s work is particularly salient given the Taliban’s increasing restrictions on the rights of women, girls and persons belonging to minority groups,” he said, expressing concern over the movement’s recent decision to suspend women and girls’ access to medical education.
While welcoming the unanimous adoption, China’s delegate stressed that the 1988 sanctions regime was established to combat terrorism and is not an appropriate platform for addressing human rights issues. Afghanistan’s territory cannot be used to support terrorism or threaten other countries’ security, he said, urging the Afghan authorities to intensify their counter-terrorism efforts. However, more than three years since the Taliban took over, the situation in that country has remained “generally stable” with contacts between the outside world and the Afghan authorities gradually expanding, he observed, calling for a timely adjustment to the sanctions regime. Further, he called on concerned States to unfreeze and return Afghanistan’s overseas assets and stop imposing unilateral sanctions.
His counterpart from the Russian Federation also cautioned against attempts to shift the focus to human rights issues in Afghanistan, stating that they are “at variance with the reasons why sanctions against the Taliban were introduced”. However, she highlighted her delegation’s “constructive approach” to negotiating today’s draft, which focused on the “practicability of what was proposed by the penholders”. This was a “swift, operational technical roll-over”, which would allow the experts to smoothly continue their work, she said. The text’s other important elements include its reference to reviewing the relevant sanctions regime and its mention of the need to eradicate the threat posed by Da’esh. “Ultimately, peace and stability in Afghanistan hinges on stability in the region and beyond,” she emphasized.
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