New York, 13 August 2004

In an official press release issued on 8 August last, Mohammad Reza Amirkhizi, Country Representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for Afghanistan, welcomed the issuance of a religious decree condemning narcotics and related activities. The fatwa signed by Afghani Council of Ulemas at the beginning of August is in Mr. Reza Amirkhizi's view a "clear message that opium poppy cultivation - even if it is not consumed by Muslims or if it is done out of poverty - is illegal." The religious decree apparently stresses to the Government and Afghan people that cultivation, processing, trafficking and consumption of drugs must be prevented.

Statement by Marco Perduca, Executive Director of the International Antiprohibitionist League:

“According to wikipedia.org a 'Fatwa (Arabic: فتوى) plural 'fataawa', is a legal pronouncement in Islam, issued by a religious law specialist on a specific issue. Usually a fatwa is issued at the request of an individual or a judge to settle a question where fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence, is unclear. A scholar capable of issuing fataawa is known as a Mufti.'

“It is difficult to understand how the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime can consider a Mufti, just like a priest, a specialist on the issue of “drug control”; moreover, it should come as a worrying sign of lack of democratic progress the fact that, in a country where a group of religious fundamentalists, known as the Talibans, destroyed human dignity and its civil developments in the name of a perverse interpretation of the Koran, there are still deep influences between religion and politics.

“A sincere and forward looking reconstruction of Afghanistan should have paid particular attention also to sensitive issues such as the development of ways to separate political and religious affairs, finding checks and balances to fully legitimize them in their own spheres of activity, but keeping separated and accountable in their own rights.

“Having the UN praise a fatwa that declares a holy war on drugs in a country that is still busy fighting guerrillas and terrorist groups is a worrying unwise decision, especially in a time when intimidated Afghanis are struggling to register to vote for their first free elections.

“ Mr. Reza Amirkhizi's statement comes at the end of his tenure, one can only hope that Doris Buddenburg, his replacement, will ponder more her public statements concerning religious decrees and “drug control” policy recommendations.”