PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR TAJIKISTAN

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR TAJIKISTAN

Having successfully implemented its mandate, the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) had come to a close after seven years of United Nations involvement there, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Tajikistan, Ivo Petrov, told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

Last Friday, 12 May, the Security Council had held its last meeting on Tajikistan, deciding to end the Mission as of 15 May, he said. The Mission should be considered "a success story of United Nations peacekeeping". The reasons for the success were the early United Nations involvement at the very beginning of the civil war in Tajikistan; the contribution of neighbouring States, all of which had provided their good offices; and the willingness of the two warring parties -- the Government and the United Tajik Opposition -- to reach an agreement.

Following four years of negotiations, on 27 June 1997, the parties had signed a General Agreement on Peace and National Reconciliation in Moscow, which envisioned a transitional period of 12 to 18 months for its implementation. In fact, it took 32 months, but in the aftermath of the civil war, that could be considered speedy progress. After the general multi-party elections of February- March this year, the country now had a functioning Government, a Parliament and the basic infrastructure.

The success of the peace process in Tajikistan did not mean that the country was free of problems, he continued. Afghanistan was a "constant generator of instability" in the south, and unless the Afghan problem was resolved, there would always be reason to be careful when stating that the situation in Tajikistan was irreversible. One of the main concerns of the Tajik Government now was also the dire economic situation of the country. With income of less than $10 per capita per month, Tajikistan was the poorest country among the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The international community had been helpful in overcoming the humanitarian crisis in the country, he said. Now it was necessary to provide economic assistance to Tajikistan in order to underpin the achievements of the peace process and to stabilize the situation in the country. Compared with other countries in a similar situation, Tajikistan had not received enough material assistance from the outside. The new period of stabilization of the peace process could become a good opportunity for the international community to help stabilize the situation in Tajikistan, which was vital for the stability of Central Asia as a whole.

Asked if the United Tajik Opposition could be described as a right-wing Muslim group, Mr. Petrov said that it consisted of different political forces, some of which were not religious at all. The Democratic Party of Tajikistan was a secular party; and the movement of Lali Badashon was not a religious one. However, the Islamic Revival Party -- one of the main components of the opposition -- was, indeed, religious.

Tajikistan Briefing - 2 - 16 May 2000

What role should the United Nations play in Tajikistan now? A correspondent asked. Mr. Petrov replied that the Organization had to act through all its specialized agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO) and other bodies present on the ground. The United Nations could also play a political role in the country. Tajikistan had a high rate of unemployment, and both its social safety net and the health system had collapsed. Through international assistance, the country was getting more than 60 per cent of the medications it needed. Political assistance should support the achievements of the peace process. It would be essential in the next one or one-and-a-half years.

Asked whether lessons could be learned from the success in Tajikistan and whether the same approach could be applied to Afghanistan, Mr. Petrov said “yes, for other areas, and for Afghanistan – maybe”. He reiterated that among the factors which had contributed to the success of the Mission in Tajikistan were early United Nations involvement; the contribution of neighbouring States, which acted in concert with the United Nations; and the political will of the parties to the conflict. The model of guarantor States had had a very positive impact in Tajikistan. The Contact Group of Guarantor States and International Organizations, which had functioned for two-and-a-half years and held more than 130 meetings, was very instrumental in advising the Government and providing expertise in dealing with periodic crises during the implementation of the General Agreement. If such a mechanism could be established for Afghanistan, it could be useful. However, he was not sure if it was feasible.

Responding to a question regarding “a number of successful hostage negotiations” in Tajikistan, Mr. Petrov said that two major hostage situations had taken place involving United Nations personnel. Both of them were managed successfully. There was also another hostage-taking, where the United Nations staff were not involved, which ended with the killing of one of the hostages. There were several lessons emanating from those crises, and there were proposals for holding an international conference later this year on the seven years of United Nations involvement in Tajikistan. It could shed light on what might be used in other peacekeeping operations. There was also a panel of experts on peacekeeping, to which a concise document on the lessons learned had been presented.

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