1 2 3 4 5 (9) acknowledges the necessity of international efforts to clear the estimated 10,000,000 land mines buried in the Afghan countryside; and (10) calls for the expulsion of all known terror 5 6 ist leaders from Afghanistan and to close down any terrorist training camps operating in the country. AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE TO H. CON. RES. 218 OFFERED BY MR. BEREUTER Strike the preamble and insert the following: Whereas peace and stability has not returned to Afghanistan despite the February 1989 Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan; Whereas the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights for 1997 states: "The overall human rights situation [in Afghanistan] is poor political killings, torture, rape, arbitrary detention, looting, abductions and kidnappings for ransom were committed by armed units, local commanders, and rogue individuals"; Whereas the continuing civil conflict in Afghanistan has had a grievous impact upon the Afghan people, where within its borders occurs the highest rate of infant, child, and maternal mortality in the region; Whereas neighboring countries have provided support in the form of financial assistance and arms to the different groups warring in Afghanistan, thereby extending the length and expanding the destruction of this internal conflict; Whereas another byproduct of this conflict is the harboring of Islamic militants and terrorist leaders in Afghanistan; Whereas due to the tyranny and destruction caused by Taliban rule, Afghanistan is now one of the world's leading producers of opium, and over the past year alone, the production of opiates in Afghanistan has increased and resulted in a growth in the drug trade not only in the 2 Central and South Asian regions but in Russia and the Whereas continuing instability serves as an obstacle to international investment and the establishment of developmental projects inside Afghanistan, so necessary to Afghanistan's rejuvenation from years of conflict, and central to promoting political cooperation among Afghan factions; Whereas the continuing conflict in Afghanistan serves as an impediment to economic prosperity and political development throughout all of South Asia and the newly independent Central Asian nations as well; and Whereas despite repeated efforts by the United Nations to broker an end to continuing warfare among the country's warring factions, the absence of peace has prevented Afghanistan from addressing the numerous problems facing its citizenry: Now, therefore, be it 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the following. That the Congress (1) acknowledges that, through determination, tenacity, and courage, the Afghan people success fully waged a war against Soviet expansionism and greatly assisted in bringing an end to the cold war; (2) calls upon all warring factions and national powers to participate in intra-Afghan dialogue (the "Frankfurt Process") and in the peace process and 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 to actively cooperate in the acceleration of endeavors for peace; (3)(A) deplores continuing human rights violations occurring within Afghanistan, especially against women and female children, who have suffered condoned discrimination and harassment, and the reported widespread execution of prisoners of war and civilians evidenced by the discovery of mass graves which contained an estimated 2,000 corpses; and (B) supports the intention of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to continue their investigation into these re ported killings; (4)(A) welcomes the appointment of Ambassador Lakhbar Brahimi as special envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for Afghanistan and supports his efforts toward attaining a peaceful negotiated settlement with the assistance of the six nations bordering Afghanistan as well as representatives from the United States and Russia; and (B) encourages a role for Afghan leaders of all factions and ethnic groups in the United Nations ne gotiation efforts, based on the fact that peace and 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 national reconciliation cannot be imposed on the Af ghan people by their neighbors; (5) urges the nations of the region to cooperate in the peace process and to end immediately the sup ply of arms, ammunition, military equipment, train ing or any other military support to all parties to the conflict; (6) urges appropriate parties in the United Nations, Afghanistan, and its neighbors to work toward the eradication of the production of opium, especially in southern Afghanistan, and to link such efforts wherever possible to realistic income alternatives; (7) calls upon all parties within Afghanistan to prevent the reoccurrence of actions which impede the ability of humanitarian and international organiza tions to move food shipments and other forms of humanitarian assistance into Afghanistan; (8) acknowledges that due to the death and destruction wrought by the February 4, 1998, earthquake in northeastern Afghanistan, where approximately 5,000 people have died and an estimated 30,000 have been left homeless, there is a continuing need for international emergency aid of food, cloth ing, and shelter; |