United Nations Security Council resolution 1333, adopted on 19 December 2000, after recalling all resolutions on the situation in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, including Resolution 1267 (1999), called for a ban of military assistance to the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

, closure of its camps and an end to the provision of sanctuary of the movement. The key drivers behind the resolution were reportedly Russia and the US. During its deliberation and upon its adoption the resolution was criticized for unnecessarily endangering the lives of poverty- and drought-stricken ordinary Afghans and for undermining peace negotiations with the Taliban (see the ''Reactions'' section).

Resolution

Observations

The security council recognised the critical humanitarian needs of the

Afghan people Afghans ( ps, افغانان, translit=afghanan; Persian/ prs, افغان ها, translit=afghānhā; Persian: افغانستانی, romanized: ''Afghanistani'') or Afghan people are nationals or citizens of Afghanistan, or people with ancestry f ...

. It supported the efforts of the secretary-general's Personal Representative to forward the peace process to establish a comprehensive, multi-ethnic and representative government. The training and sheltering of terrorists in areas controlled by the Taliban was condemned. At the same time, the sanctuary provided to

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

was further condemned and an indictment against him by the United States was noted by the council. It was stressed that the kidnapping and murder of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian diplomats and journalists constituted a violation of

international humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by prot ...

. The resolution noted that the Taliban were involved in illegal

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

cultivation and trafficking. There was also concern about human rights violations, particularly against women and girls.

Acts

Acting under

Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military an ...

, the council demanded that the Taliban comply with Resolution 1267, cease support for terrorists, close training camps and end illegal drug activities. All countries were ordered to cease providing assistance,

weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

s and training to the Taliban; those that maintained

diplomatic relations Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

with the Taliban were asked to reconsider their relations and reduce the number of staff at Taliban missions. It was decided that all states were to close the offices of the Taliban and

Ariana Afghan Airlines Ariana Afghan Airlines Co. Ltd. ( ps, د آريانا افغان هوايي شرکت; prs, هواپیمایی آریانا), also known simply as Ariana, is the flag carrier and largest airline of Afghanistan. Founded in 1955, Ariana is the olde ...

; freeze the assets of Osama bin Laden and those associated with him; prevent the supply of

acetic anhydride Acetic anhydride, or ethanoic anhydride, is the chemical compound with the formula (CH3CO)2O. Commonly abbreviated Ac2O, it is the simplest isolable anhydride of a carboxylic acid and is widely used as a reagent in organic synthesis. It is a col ...

; and prohibit aircraft to land, take off or overfly their territory if it had taken off and was to land in Taliban territory. The aircraft restrictions would not apply to humanitarian flights and the Committee of the Security Council was requested to maintain a list of approved humanitarian organisations providing

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

to Afghanistan. A

travel ban A travel ban is one of a variety of mobility restrictions imposed by governments. Bans can be universal or selective. The restrictions can be geographic, imposed by either the originating or destination jurisdiction. They can also be based on indiv ...

was also imposed on senior Taliban officials which would not apply in religious or humanitarian circumstances. The Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...

was requested to report on all aspects of the situation in Afghanistan, including the implementation of sanctions against the Taliban. The committee was asked to establish and maintain lists related to different aspects of the sanctions regime against the Taliban, grant exceptions and report periodically on violations of the measures. In this regard, all countries were urged to co-operate with the committee and in the implementation of the sanctions. The measures would come into effect at 00:01 EST one month following the adoption of the current resolution for a period of 12 months. If the Council determined that the Taliban were complying with previous resolutions, some of the sanctions would be terminated; in the event of non-compliance, further measures would be considered.

Reactions

The

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n- and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-backed resolution was criticised by the Secretary-General

as undermining peace negotiations with the Taliban.

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

abstained Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a Voting, vote either does not go to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrast ...

from the voting on Resolution 1333 after expressing concern that the sanctions would affect the Afghan population. Afghanistan expert

Barnett Rubin Barnett Richard Rubin (born January 10, 1950) is an American political scientist and a leading expert on Afghanistan and South Asia. He is the author of eight books and is currently Senior Fellow and Director at the Center on International Cooper ...

said that the resolution focused on American and Russian interests and had little relevance to Afghanistan's real problems.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

petitioned the UN Security Council not to impose a one-sided arms embargo in a situation where all participating sides were guilty of human rights violations.

References

External links