In a joint gathering, the representatives of civil society and media came together in the capital to discuss and express their concerns by issuing a resolution at the end.
In this gathering, representatives of over 400 civil society organizations (CSOs), media, and other local agencies participated. The participants, which reached to 170 individuals, included 40 journalists from 33 provinces.
The participants discussed various issues related to peace talks within 12 working groups and issued a resolution. The resolution was later shared with the president, and CEO.
It is also planned to share the resolution with the United Nations (UN), as well as the representatives of European Union (EU). As well as some of the embassies of countries involved in peace talks, it might include the U.S., Russian federation, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, India, China, and gulf countries.
This is the first national gathering in its type to share public concerns over peace talks with the relevant authorities.
Resolution of “National gathering of media and civil society over peace talks”
April 2, 2019,
Kabul, Afghanistan
A one-day session of National gathering of media and civil society over peace talks with 400 representatives from the capital and provinces conducted in the capital.
The main reason for conducting this event is to share the public concerns in peace talks with the relevant authorities and respective stakeholders.
The participants, discussed the issue in a perception that peace talks and resettlement meetings carried out by all stakeholders at national, reginal, and international level ignores the demands, expectations, and concerns of local Afghan population. The discussions were lengthy and serious in nature.
The participants carried their discussions through 12 working groups based on the following themes;
1.Presidential polls,
2.Current peace and resettlement talks,
3.The role of High Peace Council (HPC),
4.A comprehensive model of peace and resettlement talks,
5.Political system,
6.The families and remaining’s of war victims,
7.Civil causalities and ceasefire,
8.Pre-conditions of peace talks,
9.Constitution,
10.Free press,
11.Guarantors of implementation of peace agreement,
12.The role of international stakeholders,
At the end, all items discussed were brought together in a resolution which is elaborated through 19 articles. The details of the contents will be shared lately in the form of joint press statements of media and civil society with the national and international stakeholders of peace talks.
The Resolution;
We, the participants, on behalf of Afghan media and civil society declare the following articles to be considering while conducting peace talks;
1.The constitution, should remain unchanged and/or unmodified, until a final peace agreement is reached and signed. And based on the agreement, any revisions should be applied based on the mechanisms and frameworks forecasted in the constitutions itself.
2.Change in regime and/or political system, is not accepted as the cost of peace talks.
3.Presidential poll should be conducted by the Independent Elections Commission (IEC) based on the constitutional timeline. And if the Taliban is ready to take part in the race, they must facilitate the process of registration in their areas of control.
4.Establishing interim government, or elite’s council, and/or any other temporary structure is rejected due to the lack of its capacity and/or guarantee to conduct presidential race, lack of constitutional legitimacy, and lack of competency to apply a comprehensive ceasefire and peace plan.
5.Announcing ceasefire to avoid further civil causality, insecurity, and to ensure mutual trust.
6.Until reaching final agreement, both parties avoid attacks and/or counter attacks which causes civil casualty.
7.Taliban should cut their ties and/or any kind of relationships with other terror groups and should remain ready for disarmament.
8.The delegation to handle such inter-Afghan peace talks should consist the required capacity, popularity, commitment, honesty, and a sound framework of pluralism.
9.Any Afghan citizen participating in the peace talks, should consider the public interest of Afghans the top priority and this should not be dealt at the cost of achievements the country seen in the last 18 years.
10.The women’s’ involvement and role should be ensured during the peace talks, as well as after the final agreement in all forces of the government, and in social, political, economic, security, and other areas.
11.All sects of civil society including women, youth, scholars, tribal leaders, war victims, families and remaining’s of martyrs, tribal and religious minorities should perform their roles in peace talks. The role of women should reach at most 40 to 50 percent.
12.Afghan female journalists are not the cost of peace talks.
13.Free press is not the cost of peace talks. Also, a clear guarantee should be provided by all stakeholders to support and empower free press in the country, during and after the talks.
14.Access to information is a key element and basic right of Afghan public and the media is committed to provide accurate information. Both parties during and after the talks, should ensure this right to the public.
15.The role of all stakeholders in peace talks, including regional and international counties should be transparent.
16.Involved states in peace talks, should provide clear and practical guarantee for continuation of the agreement and design a logical platform for this purpose.
17.No country is expected to provide necessary guarantee for implementation of final agreement only, thus, the role of involved countries with legitimate interest should be clear and transparent.
18.The role of international community and international organizations, i.e. United Nations (UN), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), European Union (EU), Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASAN), and Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) should be considered seriously. Representatives from all these organizations should perform their roles properly.
19.The role of high peace council in current peace talks is extremely vague and ambiguous, thus, this role should be redefined and/or the council should be abolished at once.
End
