[House Document 106-268]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 106-
268
SIX MONTH PERIODIC REPORT WITH RESPECT TO THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH
RESPECT TO TALIBAN
__________
MESSAGE
FROM
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
TRANSMITTING
HIS PERIODIC REPORT ON THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO THE
TALIBAN IN AFGHANISTAN
July 18, 2000.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the
Committee on International Relations and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
As required by section 401(c) of the National Emergencies
Act, 50 U.S.C 1641(c), and section 204(c) of the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. 1703(c), I
transmit herewith a 6-month periodic report on the national
emergency with respect to the Taliban (Afghanistan) that was
declared in Executive Order 13129 of July 4, 1999.
William J. Clinton.
The White House, July 17, 2000.
President's Periodic Report on the National Emergency With Respect to
the Taliban in Afghanistan
I hereby report to the Congress on the developments
concerning the national emergency with respect to the actions
and policies of the Taliban in Afghanistan that was declared in
Executive Order 13129 of July 4, 1999. This report is submitted
pursuant to section 410(c) of the National Emergencies Act, 50
U.S.C. 1641(c), and section 204(c) of the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act (``IEEPA''), 50 U.S.C. 1703(c).
1. On July 4, 1999, I signed Executive Order 13129,
``Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With the
Taliban'' (the ``Order'') (64 Fed. Reg. 36759, July 7, 1999).
The Order blocks all property subject to U.S. jurisdiction in
which there is any interest of the Taliban. The Order also
blocks the property and interests in property subject to U.S.
jurisdiction of persons determined by the Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the
Attorney General, (1) to be owned or controlled by or to act
for or on behalf of the Taliban, or (2) to provide financial,
material, or technological support for, or services in support
of, any of the foregoing.
The Order further prohibits (1) any transaction or dealing
by a U.S. person or within the United States in property or
interests in property blocked by the Order, including the
making or receiving of any contribution of funds, goods, or
services to or for the benefit of the Taliban or persons
designated pursuant to the Order; (2) the exportation,
reexportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, from
the United States, or by a U.S. person, wherever located, to
the territory of Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban or to
the Taliban or persons designated pursuant to the Order of any
goods, software, technology (including technical data), or
services; and (3) the importation into the United States of any
goods, software, technology, or services owned or controlled by
the Taliban or persons designated pursuant to the Order or from
the territory of Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban. The
Order also prohibits any transaction by a U.S. person that
evades or avoids, or has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or
attempts to violate, any of the prohibitions of the Order, and
any conspiracy formed to violate the prohibitions of the Order.
The Order also directs the Secretary of the Treasury, in
consultation with the Secretary of State, to authorize
commercial sales of agricultural commodities and products,
medicine, and medical equipment for civilian end-use in the
territory of Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban under
appropriate safeguards to prevent diversion to military,
paramilitary, or terrorist or political end-use.
The term ``the Taliban'' is defined in the Order to mean
the political/military entity headquartered in Kandahar,
Afghanistan, that exercises de facto control over the territory
of Afghanistan described in Section 4(d) of the Order, its
agencies and instrumentalities, and the Taliban leaders listed
in the Annex to the Order or designated by the Secretary of
State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and
the Attorney General. The Annex to the Order lists one Taliban
leader: Mohammed Omar (Amir al-Mumineed [Commander of the
Faithful]). The Taliban is also known as the ``Taleban,''
``Islamic Movement of Taliban,'' ``the Taliban Islamic
Movement,'' ``Talibano Islami Tahrik,'' and ``Tahrike Islami'a
Taliban.''
Section 4(d) of the Order defines the term ``territory of
Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban'' to include 18 provinces
of the country of Afghanistan: Kandahar, Farah, Helmund,
Nimruz, Herat, Badghis, Ghowr, Oruzghon, Zabol, Paktiha,
Ghazni, Nangarhar, Lowgar, Vardan, Faryab, Jowlan, Balkh, and
Paktika. The Secretary of State, in consultation with the
Secretary of the Treasury, has since added the City of Kabul to
the list of territory of Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban
(64 Fed. Reg. 58879, November 1, 1999). The territory of
Afghanistan controlled by the Taliban is also known as the
``Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,'' in Pashtun as ``de
Afghanistan Islami Emarat'' and in Dari as ``Emarat Islami-e
Afghanistan.''
2. The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign
Assets Control (``OFAC''), in consultation with the Departments
of State and Justice, has added three entities to the list of
those whose assets are blocked pursuant to Executive Order
13129. On August 18, 1999, OFAC added Ariana Afghan Airlines
(f.k.a. Bakhtar Afghan Airlines). On October 22, 1999, OFAC
added Banke Millie Afghan (a.k.a. Afghan National Bank; a.k.a.
Bank E. Millie Afghan), and Da Afghanistan Bank (a.k.a. Bank of
Afghanistan; a.k.a. Central Bank of Afghanistan; a.k.a. The
Afghan State Bank). These entities have been found to be
controlled by the Taliban, and to be entities in which the
Taliban has an interest.
Additional designations may be made by the Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with Secretary of State and the
Attorney General. Designations of persons blocked pursuant to
the Order are effective upon the date of determination by
theSecretary of the Treasury. Public notice of blocking is effective
upon the date of filing with the Federal Register, or upon prior actual
notice.
On October 15, 1999, the United Nations Security Council
issued Resolution 1267 that, inter alia, directs member States
to freeze funds and other financial resources of the Taliban,
and to prohibit landings and take-offs by Taliban-associated
flights, effective November 14, 1999.
3. Since the issuance of Executive Order 13129 OFAC has
authorized 21 nongovernmental organizations to continue their
humanitarian relief operations in the territory of Afghanistan
controlled by the Taliban. In addition, OFAC issued three
licenses to authorize completion of certain financial
transactions initiated prior to issuance of the Order,
completion of certain imports predating the national emergency,
and certain administrative transactions.
Since the inception of the program OFAC has continued to
emphasize to the international banking community in the United
States the importance of identifying and blocking payments made
by or on behalf of the Taliban and has worked closely with the
banks to assure the effectiveness of interdiction software
systems used to identify such payments. During the current six-
month period 18 transactions that appeared to involve the
Taliban, totaling nearly $665,000, were interdicted, bringing
total assets blocked since the inception of the program to
nearly $250 million. In addition, since the inception of the
program, 15 funds transfers in which the Taliban has an
interest have been blocked totaling more than $1.6 million.
Various enforcement actions and investigations are being
aggressively pursued. Reports of new violations are being
scrutinized.
4. The expenses incurred by the federal government in the
six-month period from January 4 through July 3, 2000, that are
directly attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities
conferred by the declaration of the national emergency with
respect to the Taliban in Afghanistan are estimated at
approximately $260,000. Personnel costs were largely centered
in the Department of the Treasury (particularly in the Office
of Foreign Assets Control, the Office of the General Counsel,
and the U.S. Customs Service), the Department of State, and
components of the Department of Justice.
5. The Taliban continues to provide Usama bin Ladin and his
organization, Al-Qaida, with safe haven and security allowing
him the necessary freedom to operate, despite repeated efforts
by the United States to persuade the Taliban to expel bin Ladin
to a third country where he can be brought to justice. The
Taliban also allows Usama bin Ladin to make repeated public
threats against the United States, to operate a network of
terrorist training camps, and to use Afghanistan as a base from
which to sponsor terrorist acts abroad. For these reasons, the
Taliban actions pose an unusual threat to international
security.
Our information confirms that bin Ladin's organization,
working with other terrorist groups, continues actively to plan
attacks on Americans and others. We also have reliable evidence
that the bin Ladin network seeks to acquire weapons of mass
destruction, including chemical weapons.
The international community recognized the need to take
action against the Taliban for its harboring of Usama bin Ladin
in the unanimous adoption of UN Security Council Resolution
1267 which freezes funds and other financial resources of the
Taliban and prohibits Taliban-associated flights.
I shall continue to exercise the powers at my disposal to
apply economic sanctions against the Taliban in Afghanistan as
long as these measures are appropriate, and will continue to
report periodically to the Congress on significant developments
pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1703(c).