Prisoner exchange and new excuses

A key part of the agreement concluded in Doha to bring peace to Afghanistan is the launch of intra-Afghan negotiations which have been conditioned with a prisoner exchange process. This exchange process has largely been successfully executed over the past few months despite facing an array of challenges however the Kabul administration has once again begun creating obstacles for its completion.

On Saturday, the acting foreign minister of the Kabul administration Muhammad Hanif Atmar remarked his administration is not releasing hundreds of remaining prisoners because, according to him, the international community opposes their release.

This excuse by Hanif Atmar is the latest in the long line of excuses the officials of Arg have put forward in order to obstruct the prisoner release process. Prior to this they said that these prisoners were foreign nationals or individuals involved in drug trafficking and kidnappings, however, when all of their allegations were proven false and lacking evidence, they turned to a new excuse of ‘opposition by the international community’.

The Kabul administration officials are using this excuse even though no foreign country or organization has yet to publicly declare their opposition to the prisoner exchange process and neither is it ethical for the international community to show opposition to a process that will move our country from conflict towards resolution and peace. The fact of the matter is that the agreement signed in Doha has been welcomed and endorsed by most countries alongside the United Nations and as the resolution of the Afghan issue is in the interest of both Afghanistan and the world, therefore it is imperative that all parties contribute to the success of this process – not to create hurdles.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan once again stresses upon the other side to honor their obligation vis-à-vis implementation of the agreement. The completion of the prisoner exchange process is one of the most fundamental issues of this process on top of which an end must also be put to violations which have seen an uptick in recent days.

If the Kabul administration officials truly seek intra-Afghan negotiations then they must execute their responsibilities related to completion of the prisoner exchange process. Take steps today instead of delaying this same work for tomorrow because useless procrastination and excuses only serve to expose their anti-peace nature and further aggravate the sensitivities of the Afghan nation against them.