Loya Jirga Tent, Kabul
The National Consultative Peace Jirga (NCPJ) participated by 1,600 delegates representing the suffering nation of Afghanistan from all walks of life including from both Houses of the Parliament, Provincial Councils, religious scholars, tribal leaders, civil society organizations, Afghan refugees residing in Iran and Pakistan (Invitees had been divided into 13 categories) was held for consultation on seeking ways out for the insecurity and for a lasting peace in the country. Professor Burhanuddin Rabani was selected to chair the Jirga.
Over the past three days, the delegates divided within various smaller working sessions debated proposals and details of each items of agenda and then took the issues to the general session and hereby agreed on the following:
- Recognizing our religious and national obligations and the need for peace as a vital and righteous demand of every Afghan citizen, we, the participants of the NCPJ fully support President Hamid Karzai’s commitment and initiative to consult the nation to reach through peaceful means to a lasting peace and end to the conflict and bloodshed.
- We recognize and thank the Muslim people of Afghanistan for the resilience, tolerance, patience and sacrifices they have made for a sustainable peace and public prosperity.
- The People of Afghanistan highly value the support by the international community and the United States in particular and for their help to rebuild our state institutions and infrastructure and call for their continued effective and institutional support and assistance.
- We express our gratitude for the sincere efforts by the Muslim countries especially by Saudi King (the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques) and Republic of Turkey to help ensure peace in our war stricken country and want that the efforts continue, speed up and expand.
- We the participants of the NCPJ have taken the following decisions and call on the government of Afghanistan and the parties in conflict to take all sincere, immediate and practical measures for its implementation:
Understanding, Negotiation and Agreement for Sustainable Peace
1. We, the participants of the NCPJ demand from all the parties engaged in conflict to act and comply by the teachings of Islam and respect the aspiration of the people of Afghanistan for lasting peace and ending war and fratricide through understanding and negotiations. The peace and reconciliation initiative shall be for and among Afghans only and does not include in anyway foreign extremist elements and international terrorist networks.
2. The government should develop a comprehensive program to follow up the peace process based on decisions by the NCPJ and change it into a national and standing strategy.
3. No peace efforts should bring to question the achievements made so far and its legal values and should not lead to a new crisis in the country.
4. For a sustainable peace to be ensured, strong and sincere commitments by all the parties concerned is a must. We, the participants seriously request that the aspiration of the people and of the Jirga members and their decisions be respected and put to practice, any action otherwise would be a major harm to the traditional value of the Jirga.
5. We call on all the parties involved to avoid setting such conditions that can make it impossible for the understanding and negotiations to start, but rather express their goodwill by taking constructive and flexible approaches for the dialogue to begin.
6. Avoiding any issues that can inflame ethnical, regional, linguistic, party, religious and political sensitivities and can strain the national unity must be placed as top working priorities for all parties concerned.
7. Providing for investment that can lead to economic, human resources and infrastructure development aimed at creating employment, poverty reduction and building capacity for Islamic and general education should be placed as top government programs.
Framework for Talks with the Disaffected
8. We call upon the government of Afghanistan and the international troops stationed in the country:
- as a gesture of a goodwill, to take immediate and solid action in freeing from various prisons those detained based on inaccurate information or unsubstantiated allegations;
- The government in agreement with the international community should take serious action in getting the names of those in opposition removed from the consolidated blacklist;
- The government and the international forces should guarantee security and safety for those who join the peace process and should provide for a safe return of those in armed opposition;
- International and Afghan forces are strongly requested to seriously avoid any unnecessary arrests and arbitrary searches of houses as well as aerial bombardment of residential areas that lead to civilian casualties;
- The government should take all required measures to be able to lead military operations and coordination among international forces operating in Afghanistan;
- The disaffected in armed opposition should renounce violence and all other activities that result in killing our people and destroying the infrastructure and should dissociate themselves from Alqaeda and other terrorist groups;
- The international community is suggested to expedite the process of equipping, training and strengthening Afghan national security forces, so they can get the capability in taking responsibility to provide security for their own country and people;
- We want and urge for a long-term international commitment, so Afghanistan does not become again a playground for regional conflicts, and that external interferences can be averted and thus space for stronger regional cooperation can be provided;
- We call on the international community to support the peace process led by the government of Afghanistan;
- The government with public support should take every necessary step to deliver good governance, make sure appointments are made on the basis of merits, and fight administrative and moral corruption as well as illegal property possession at national and provincial level. This is the key in boosting public confidence to the government and for a successful peace process;
- People of Afghanistan demand a just peace which can guarantee the rights of its all citizens including women and children. For the purpose of social justice, the Jirga urges that laws be applied equally on all citizens of the country;
9. we the participants of the Jirga call on scholars and clerics in mosques and the mass media including audio visual and print to fulfill their duties in promoting peace and preaching against violence;
10. We, the participants of the Jirga call upon our Muslim nation to join hands with the Government to bring an end to the current insecurity and instability and help make the process a success. The Government with cooperation from the people should take all required measures to ensure security and prevent destructive terrorist acts.
Developing Mechanism for Negotiation with the Disaffected
11. A high Peace Council or Commission should be created to follow up on the recommendations made by the Jirga and the Peace Process. The Commission would create by the passage of time its local offices at district and provincial levels and would be represented by different people including our patriotic brothers and sisters, religious scholars, tribal elders, a representative from each House of the parliament, and a person to represent the militants who have given up violence. The Commission shall form a special committee to handle the issues related to the release and return to normal life of the prisoners.
12. We, the participants of the Jirga commit ourselves to act as messengers of peace and take the message of the Jirga to our communities and our people in our areas and to cooperate with the local authorities, tribal elders, youth and the women for the objective of ensuring peace.
13. To win the international community’s support to the Jirga decisions, the Government of Afghanistan should include the Resolution in the agenda for the Kabul Conference.
14. The Government is responsible to continuously and transparently communicate to public any progress achieved in the peace process through a mechanism to be established.
15. The recommendations by the 28 Committees of the Jirga are attached to this resolution to be used in developing the Action Plan and Peace Strategy.
16. In conclusion, the Peace Jirga on behalf of the Muslim nation of Afghanistan strongly denounce the latest brutal raid by Israeli forces on a flotilla of humanitarian aid in the international waters aimed at breaking the blockade in Gaza for the oppressed Palestinians and express its heartfelt condolences and deep sympathies to the families of the victims and to the wounded. We call on the United Nations and the international community to end the oppressing blockade of Gaza.
