Gli osservatori delle elezioni lasciano l’Afghanistan dopo l’attacco all’albergo di Kabul

theguardian.com – 23 MARZO 2014

Due missioni estere di osservazione elettorale e di supporto hanno ritirato lo staff dall’Afghanistan dopo un attacco dei talebani in un hotel di Kabul; decisione che potrebbe minare la fiducia nel risultato del voto del mese prossimo.
Giovedi ‘ i talebani hanno attaccato il fortificato hotel Serena  nel centro di Kabul, dove la maggior parte degli osservatori stranieri alloggiavano. Un osservatore del National Democratic Institute (NDI), Luis Maria Duarte, è stato tra le nove persone uccise e molti dei suoi colleghi erano nell’edificio al momento dell’attentato.

[…] Il National Democratic Institute (NDI), ha detto di aver ritirato i suoi osservatori dal paese, mentre un alto diplomatico europeo ha detto che gli osservatori dell’Organizzazione per la Sicurezza e la Cooperazione in Europa (OSCE) sono stati ritirati e inviati in Turchia. La Missione di monitoraggio internazionale dell’Unione europea è l’unica grande a restare in Afghanistan.

[…] L’OSCE ha dichiarato che stava valutando l’annullamento della sua missione di sostegno alle elezioni, nonostante alcune fonti dicono che il personale straniero era già partito per la Turchia. “I nostri esperti di sicurezza stanno valutando la situazione della sicurezza a Kabul per il nostro team che era al Serena la notte dell’attacco”, ha detto un portavoce , Thomas Rymer .
[…] L’Ue ha detto che i suoi piani per la sua missione di monitoraggio non sono cambiati. Tuttavia, molti collaboratori dello staff sono stati portati fuori dal paese dopo l’attacco secondo un osservatore sullo stesso volo.

Election monitors leave Afghanistan after Kabul hotel attack

Two foreign observer and missions pull staff out of Afghanistan less than two weeks before presidential election

Two foreign election observer and support missions have pulled staff out of Afghanistan after a Taliban attack on a hotel in Kabul, in a move that could undermine confidence in the outcome of next month’s vote.

The presidential election on 5 April could mark the country’s first democratic transfer of power. Many fear a repeat of the widespread fraud that discredited the poll in 2009 when about 20% of votes were thrown out.

“It’s really bad news,” said Jandad Spingar, director at the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan, the largest Afghan monitoring group. “Having international observers in the election is really, really important … [to] give legitimacy to the process.”

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) said it had pulled its observers from the country, while a senior European diplomat said observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) had been withdrawn to Turkey. The European Union’s international monitoring mission is the only major one to remain in Afghanistan.

On Thursday the Taliban attacked the heavily fortified Serena hotel in central Kabul, where most foreign observers were staying. An NDI observer, Luis Maria Duarte, was among the nine people killed, and many of his colleagues were in the building at the time.

Kathy Gest, public affairs director at NDI, said: “We have withdrawn our staff that were staying at the Serena, and we are assessing our election monitoring activities.”

The OSCE said it had yet to make a final call on whether it would cancel its election support mission, despite sources saying foreign staff had already left for Turkey. “Our security experts are currently assessing the security situation in Kabul for our team, who were at the Serena the night of the attack,” said a spokesman, Thomas Rymer.

Although violence and insecurity across Afghanistan was always likely to confine foreign observers mostly to compounds in major cities, their presence and expertise was to have served as a vital form of reassurance to their Afghan colleagues.

The Serena hotel had been attacked before, but has since been increasingly fortified and was considered safe enough to accommodate foreign observers during the election. It was also one of few places foreign officials were still permitted to go after the Taliban attacked a popular Lebanese restaurant killing 21 people in January.

The EU said its plans for its monitoring mission had not changed. However, several of its staff were flown out of the country after the attack, according to an observer on the same flight.

“We are safe at the EU compound and for us there is no reason to change anything in our plans,” said the EU’s chief observer, Thijs Bernam.

The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, is barred from serving a third term. His brothers have publicly backed the former foreign minister Zalmai Rassoul. Critics say the campaign reflects a desire by Karzai and his family to stay in power, but the president says he will remain impartial and is looking forward to retirement.