The United States on Wednesday told the UN Security Council that the Taliban “are not good-faith interlocutors” and that the Council should consider adjusting the mandate of the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) if conditions on the ground prevent it from carrying out its work.
The US envoy to the UNSC said Afghans “continue to endure significant hardships,” citing human rights abuses, poverty, unemployment, limited access to basic services and “unconscionable restrictions on women’s rights.”
She said the Taliban were responsible for these hardships and suffering “because of the policies that they have adopted.”
“They do not care about the well-being of the Afghan people. They impede and manipulate support from the international community,” she added.
The envoy said the Taliban continued to engage in “hostage diplomacy,” impeded the functionality of UNAMA and had shown “little willingness to meet their international commitments,” including in the Doha process.
“As this Council considers the future of UNAMA, it must be skeptical of the Taliban,” she said. She added that if Taliban conditions limit the mission’s ability to carry out its tasks, the Council “should consider realigning its mandate” and focus on core peace and security issues “guided by clear and achievable benchmarks.”
She said the United States’ top priority in Afghanistan remained the protection of US citizens and the homeland, including mitigating terrorist threats and securing the release of those “unjustly detained.”
“The Council must continue to call out the Taliban for its lack of progress against their counterterrorism commitments, engagement in hostage diplomacy, and the disregard for the well-being of the people of Afghanistan,” she said.
