Statement of principles

Statement of principles

Two years since the forceful overthrow of the legitimate Afghan government, the Taliban-Haqqani regime in Afghanistan remains opposed to democratic principles and human rights for all Afghans. This regime has discarded the constitution and targeted women, girls, media, ethnic and religious groups, and anyone they regard as their opposition.

The people of Afghanistan, like people everywhere, deserve a stable, peaceful, and prosperous country with a representative government that is willing and able to address political, economic and development challenges within the framework of fundamental laws, international norms, and responsible statehood.

The Taliban-Haqqani regime, through its affiliation with international terrorism and its violence against the people of Afghanistan, poses a grave threat to peace in Afghanistan and the rest of the world.

Only as a free and democratic country can Afghanistan be a responsible state that contributes positively to regional and global stability and security, through peaceful relations under international law. 

The people of Afghanistan, by participating in successive elections over the past two decades, have shown their support for a system of popular sovereignty, often at the cost of their lives.

The men and women of Afghanistan continue to aspire to democratic values, as they fight for their human rights, inclusion in the decision-making process, and representation at every level of their government and society.

Achieving these goals is only possible when the violent imposition of the Taliban-Haqqani regime gives way to a system freely chosen by the people of Afghanistan.

We, the undersigned, are an alliance of Afghans, global citizens, international institutions and non-governmental organizations who support the Afghan people’s aspiration for the restoration of democracy. We are committed to the principle that all human beings have the right to choose their political future in an inclusive, consultative and peaceful manner.

As such, we commit ourselves to:

  • Support, promote and advocate for the democratic aspirations of the Afghan people in all their diversity and their wish to live in an internationally-recognized and responsible state that respects the human rights of all its citizens;

  • Call for a political process that offers genuine space for open and inclusive debate by all the people of Afghanistan, including women equally with men, about their future political system;

  • Take strategic action to ensure that women play a central role in bringing about political dialogue and, once such a process is established, that they continue to hold central roles in all informal and formal meetings and discussions to bring about a political settlement to restore democracy;

  • Oppose the continuation of the violently-imposed Taliban regime that sees itself as unanswerable to the people of Afghanistan and unconstrained by fundamental laws and norms of international law;

  • Prevent and where necessary reverse the erosion of civil society, free media, the rights of women and people of all ethnicities and religious beliefs; the principle of open political participation; and hard-won development gains;

  • Preserve and promote all aspects of historical heritage, culture, art and expertise in Afghanistan; and

  • Restore a constitutional, democratic, inclusive and rights-respecting political order in Afghanistan that is a recognized and constructive participant in the community of nations.

Read our Statement of Principles in پښتو | دری

Endorsers of our Statement of Principles

  • Rex Brynen, McGill University

    Malaiz Daud

    Homeira Qaderi

    Dr Marissa Quie, Cambridge University

    Prof. Tony Lemieux

  • Horia Mosadeq, director of Conflict Analysis Network (CAN)

    Hazrat Wahriz, Former Director of Strategic Studies at MoFA, Founder and In Charge of Daricha School

    Mariam Attahi, human rights activist

    Zubaida Akbar, human rights activist

    Durkhanai Ayubi, writer, restaurateur and cultural advocate

    Jamal Naser Farahmand, journalist

    Hangama Anwari, former commissioner of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission

    Dr Nadia Hashimi, pediatrician and novelist

    Zohra Saed, Distinguished Lecturer, Macaulay Honors College, The City University of New York, Distinguished Lecturer, Macaulay Honors College, The City University of New York

    Syed Shah Saqeem, founder of Sarkhat Daily

    Mohammad Yar Yar, author

    Prof. Tony Lemieux, Georgia State

    Homeira Qaderi, independent writer; Harvard Radcliffe Institute

    Malaz Daud, academic

  • Elizabeth Cafferty, Founding Head at UN Women (UNW) D.C. Liaison Office

    Tom Niblock, former Deputy Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR)

    Husain Haqqani, former Pakistani ambassador to the US

    Afrasiab Khattak, former Pakistani senator

    Said Tayeb Jawad, Former Afghan Ambassador to Washington, London and Moscow

    Major General (Retired) Professor Adam Findlay AO, Professor of Practice, Griffith University

    Gen. (ret.) Michael V. Hayden, founder of the Michael Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy and International Security at the Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University; former director of the CIA and the NSA.

    Sir Nick Kay, former British ambassador to Afghanistan and former NATO Senior Civilian Representative to Afghanistan

    Lisa Curtis, Senior Fellow and Director, Indo-Pacific Security Program at Centre for a New American Security and former deputy assistant to the president and NSC senior director for South and Central Asia

    Megan Minnion, security and defence analyst; veteran

    Jason Howk, writer; veteran; director, Global Friends of Afghanistan

  • Global Friends of Afghanistan

    Afghan American Foundation