Memorandum from the Afghan Drugs Inter-Departmental
Unit (ADIDU)
AFGHANISTAN COUNTER
NARCOTICS STRATEGY
1. Drugs are one of the gravest threats
to the long term security, development and effective governance
of Afghanistan. The threat from drugs to Afghanistan's reconstruction
and development ranks alongside the threat from the Taleban. The
opium trade accounts for more than 30% of Afghanistan's total
economy and drug related crime and corruption are rife and permeate
all levels of society.
2. The UK supports the implementation of
the Afghan government's National Drug Control Strategy (NDCS)
and its four priorities (targeting the trafficker, strengthening
and diversifying legal rural livelihoods; reducing demand and
developing state institutions). There are already signs of decreasing
cultivation in areas where there is access to governance, security
and development, such as parts of the north and the centre of
the country. Progress is also being made in other areas:
— The last 18 months has seen: Vital
counter narcotics (CN) legislation passed; over 350 traffickers
convicted; and increased drugs related seizures.
— Over 22,000 community projects financed
and over 16,000 community development councils established.
— $283 million community grants dispersed,
9,000 km roads reconstructed, and micro-finance loans given to
over 300,000 Afghans.
— Drug treatment centres operating
in several provinces including Helmand and Kandahar.
— $87.1 million committed to the CN
Trust Fund and efforts to build Afghan institutions continue.
3. But in the South, security challenges,
insurgent activity and the lack of extension of rule of law continue
to present serious obstacles toward poppy elimination. Both the
drug traffickers and the Taleban have a common interest in resisting
Afghan government authority and international forces. There are
indications of extensive financial and logistical links between
Taleban and traffickers at all levels. A recent raid by Afghan
counter narcotics forces on a laboratory found an insurgent training
manual and weapons.
MILITARY ROLE
IN CN
4. The drugs trade feeds on and contributes
to insecurity in Afghanistan and the region. ISAF support to CN
is outlined in the CN Annex to the NATO Operational Plan. ISAF
can provide support to CN operations, such as training of Afghan
counter narcotics forces and in extremis support (eg medical)
to their operations within means and capabilities. They can also
help the Afghan government explain their polices to the population.
But they do not play a direct role on CN or take part in eradication.
ERADICATION
5. Eradication is one of the eight pillars
of the NDCS. The NDCS recognises that eradication plays an important
role in injecting risk into the system and acting as a deterrent
to planting poppy. The NDCS also makes clear, as has President
Karzai, that eradication is a job for the Afghan government, should
be ground based and targeted where there is access to legal livelihoods.
Eradication on its own will not solve the problem. It needs to
be balanced with measures to interdict drugs, bring criminals
to justice, build institutions and encourage development of rural
communities to provide alternatives for poppy farmers.
6. The UK provides support to the planning,
monitoring and targeting work of Afghan eradication forces. The
UK has helped the Afghan authorities map those areas where people
have access to legal rural livelihoods. These target areas are
determined by a set of criteria that take into account a wide
range of factors. In addition to rural livelihoods projects, the
criteria include: distance to markets, water availability, agricultural
diversity, population density, extension of government, access
to non-farm income and credit. They also include local security
conditions, based on ISAF assessments.
7. There has been some resistance to eradication
efforts. But in Helmand, there is no evidence to suggest that
the resistance met by the Centrally Directed Afghan Eradication
Force (AEF) came as a result of them being mistaken for ISAF forces.
Neither do we know of any incidents in which it is believed that
ISAF troops were attacked because they were mistaken for the AEF.
The eradication campaign is accompanied by a carefully worded
information operation, which explains who the AEF are and what
they are there to do.
BRITISH EMBASSY
DRUGS TEAM
8. The Committee was briefed on the Afghan
Drugs Inter-departmental Unit on 7 March 2006. The British Embassy
Drugs Team (BEDT) was established in 2003. It had approximately
20 staff by the end of 2006. As part of the enhancement of the
Embassy in Kabul, the BEDT has been split into two teams—a
CN Team and a Rule of Law Team. Both are overseen by a Counsellor
who reports to the Ambassador.
9. The Counter Narcotics Team is responsible
for co-ordinating the UK's work to support the NDCS, in particular
the delivery under three of the four key priorities—institution
building, strengthening and diversifying rural livelihoods and
demand reduction. The team works closely with DFID (it has DFID
staff within it) and supports the wider counter narcotics information
effort. It also supports the Afghan government on the targeting
and planning of eradication and plays a key liaison role with
the wider international community, especially ISAF. A key element
of the team's work is to support the Afghan National Development
Strategy and ensure that counter narcotics is mainstreamed throughout.
10. The creation of the Rule of Law team
recognised the need for the UK to play an active role in not only
the counter narcotics law enforcement and criminal justice system,
but also the wider rule of law system in Afghanistan. For Counter
Narcotics, this team supports delivery of the NDCS" key priority
of targeting the traffickers, which includes support for the Counter
Narcotics Police of Afghanistan, working closely with SOCA and
international partners. HMRC have also deployed a team of trainers
and mentors to support this work. The concept is to support the
Afghan Criminal Justice Task Force by training and mentoring investigators,
prosecutors, judges and prison staff and providing them with the
necessary facilities. The team will also work on the wider rule
of law agenda.
2 May 2007
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