Resolution 2615, voted up unanimously by the United Nations Security Council yesterday, rules “that humanitarian assistance and other activities that support basic human needs in Afghanistan are not a violation” of the sanctions imposed under the still-operative UN Security Council Resolution 2255 of 2015 which bans financial or economic transactions with any person or institution associated with the Taliban.
A first draft resolution presented by the United States on Monday was vetoed by China and Russia, because it proposed to lift sanctions for humanitarian aid only on a case-by-case basis, included a list of approved aid providers, and imposed an onerous reporting mechanism. After negotiations, the U.S. submitted a text on which all agreed, which declares that “processing and payment of funds, other financial assets or economic resources, and the provision of goods and services necessary to ensure the timely delivery of such assistance or to support such [humanitarian] activities are permitted,” without further qualification. Humanitarian sanction relief is granted for one year, after which its functioning will be reviewed before renewal.
To make the UN sanctions “carve-out” for humanitarian assistance credible, the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions-enforcing hit squad, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), issued new guidelines the same day, which specify that the U.S. will allow humanitarian relief to be coordinated through Afghan ministries even though they are headed by members of the Taliban or Haqqani networks. The U.S. has claimed since September that it was not blocking humanitarian assistance, but banks, NGOs, and aid agencies, experienced in U.S. deployment of sanctions on third parties, were hesitant to accept mere verbal promises, given the well-known U.S. practice of slapping sanctions on third parties who deal with any sanctioned entity or individual. The new guidelines allow humanitarian work with ministries which are headed by sanctioned individuals without fear of prosecution. Yesterday Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo hosted a roundtable with over 100 representatives from more than 50 NGOs to reassure them that they would call off the dogs against those sending in aid.
