Press Release: Afghanistan’s election stalemate shows no sign of abating amid fraud and recount controversy

 Podcast: Jorrit Kamminga, Director of Policy Research, on ICOS' Poppy for Medicine project

LONDON AND KABUL, 16 September 2009

Afghanistan’s election paralysis shows no sign of ending and a constitutional vacuum, possibly lasting months, looms with no functioning government. The presidential election on August 20 was marked by heavy fraud and widespread manipulation. Nearly a month after the first round of voting, the independent Election Complaints Commission - tasked with investigating the irregularities – has ordered a partial recount and audit, of 2500 polling stations. ICOS believes an interim government is the only workable alternative, with international auditors appointed to enforce government accountability in the interim period.

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The Rome Consensus for a Humanitarian Drug Policy is a framework for dialogue and cooperation that commits 119 National Societies of Red Cross and Red Crescent from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe to promote and implement humanitarian approaches to drug policy.

The Rome Consensus aims at raising the profile of drug policy to the forefront of social concerns, hinging formulation and implementation of drug control on public health concerns.

> Rome Consensus website

 Baghlan Taliban stopping an Afghan police patrol and stealing their equipment in the northern province of Baghlan.

 Taliban at the Gates Kabul is witnessing dire levels of security as the Taliban break through the city's gates.

 Three Doors Shut in Kabul A noticeable increase in suicide attacks has deeply worsened the security situation in Afghanistan.

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LONDON, 07 August 2009

ICOS Election Update

Afghanistan’s presidential elections, to be held on 20 August 2009, will be a critical moment for a country struggling to deal with a violent Taliban insurgency and a crisis of legitimacy. After eight years of working to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorist groups, the international community’s best bet for achieving this goal lies in a stable Afghan government led by a capable, legitimate Afghan president. As such, the success or otherwise of this election will prove crucial. Yet promises of legitimate, transparent elections may prove more difficult to fulfil than had been hoped.

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Based in Rio de Janeiro, the Centre of Excellence on Public Security provides innovative research, advocacy and policy analysis to promote pragmatic responses, supporting states to solve public security crises and pave the way for social and economic development. The Centre facilitates dialogue and innovation on public security between key actors, encouraging a multi-sector approach that incorporates development and social policy with law enforcement strategies.

> New Approaches to Public Security and Drug Policy - Presentations from the International Symposium on Public Security and Drug Policy, Rio de Janeiro 25-27 February 2008

> CEPS

Areas of Taliban presence in Afghanistan, January-August 2009

Locations of violence and levels of Taliban-criminal presence in Kabul, January-November 2008

Somalia - April 2008

Sons of Iraq - Areas of operation, June 2008

> All Maps

LONDON, 8 December 2008

The Taliban now holds a permanent presence in 72% of Afghanistan, up from 54% a year ago. Taliban forces have advanced from their southern heartlands, where they are now the de facto governing power in a number of towns and villages, to Afghanistan's western and north-western provinces, as well as provinces north of Kabul. Within a year, the Taliban's permanent presence in the country has increased by a startling 18%.

Three out of the four main highways into Kabul are now compromised by Taliban activity. The capital city has plummeted to minimum levels of control, with the Taliban and other criminal elements infiltrating the city at will.

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Licensing poppy cultivation for the production of essential medicines

An integrated counter-narcotics, development, and counter-insurgency model for Afghanistan.

> Poppy for Medicine