UN survey finds “opium cultivation in Afghanistan drops by a fifth”

The cultivation of opium in Afghanistan has gone down by a fifth as compared to last year, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported Wednesday, attributing the decrease to good local leadership coupled with bad weather.

The Afghanistan Opium Survey 2008 showed a 19 per cent decrease in opium cultivation to 157,000 hectares, down from a record harvest of 193,000 in 2007, according to a news release issued by UNODC.

“Last year the world got hit by a heroin tsunami, almost 700 tons,” noted UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa. “This year the opium flood waters have started to recede.”

The survey also found that 18 of the country’s 34 provinces are now opium-free - up from 13 last year. In addition, cultivation now takes place “almost exclusively” in provinces affected by insurgency. Some 98 per cent of Afghanistan’s opium is grown in seven provinces in the southwest of the country - Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Farah, Nimroz, Daykundi and Zabul.

Helmand alone accounted for two thirds of the national total. “If Helmand were a country, it would once again be the world’s biggest producer of illicit drugs,” stated Mr. Costa.

“There is now a perfect overlap between zones of high risk and regions of high opium cultivation,” said Mr. Costa. “Since drugs are funding insurgency, and insurgency enables drug cultivation, insurgency and narcotics must be fought together,” he said.

At the other end of the spectrum is Nangarhar, which in 2007 was the country’s second highest opium-producing province and this year is opium-free.

UNODC attributed the drop in cultivation to good local leadership and the drought which has affected the north and northwest of the country. It said that strong leadership by some governors discouraged farmers from planting opium through campaigns against its cultivation, peer pressure and the promotion of alternative development.

While lauding the recent gains, UNODC is urging that everything be done to help the country continue to reduce opium cultivation, from providing farmers with viable alternatives to opium and closing heroin labs to going after drug traffickers and cracking down on corruption.

“Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the latest food crisis has made farmers even more vulnerable,” noted Mr. Costa. “Opium is a seasonal plant. “It may be gone today, but back again tomorrow.”

(Source: UN)

UNODC: “Major stride of Afghan lawyers group for young democracy”

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has welcomed the newly-established Afghan Independent Bar Association, which it called an important step in promoting justice and due process in the fledgling democracy.

The UNODC Representative in Afghanistan, Christina Gynna Oguz, congratulated the authorities, in particular the Ministry of Justice, and the Afghan people for taking a major stride towards “promoting meaningful access to legal representation and justice for all persons regardless of their ethnic, economic or social condition.”

Ms. Oguz also urged the representatives of the newly-established body “to increase public understanding of and respect for the law, the legal process, and the role of the legal profession and to preserve the independence of the legal profession and the judiciary, which is fundamental to a democratic society.”

The Afghan Independent Bar Association has the distinction of being one of the only bar associations in the world with mandatory pro bono requirements for criminal cases and a quota for women on the leadership and all committees.

UNODC, in cooperation with the International Bar Association (IBA) and with the financial support of the Government of Italy, assisted the Afghan Ministry of Justice in organizing and hosting the group’s first General Assembly meeting in late July.

According to a statement of the UN, “the gathering brought together registered lawyers and advocates from all over the country and was tasked with adopting the by-laws and electing the President as well as other representatives of the Association.”

UNODC has also developed a database that will contain relevant information about registered lawyers in Afghanistan, and plans to conduct a training course on its use for the Association’s administrative staff.