{"id":2186,"date":"2022-02-12T00:00:08","date_gmt":"2022-02-12T05:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whia.us\/2186\/"},"modified":"2022-03-07T02:01:33","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T07:01:33","slug":"%d8%a3%d9%85%d8%b1-%d8%aa%d9%86%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%b0%d9%8a-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%ad%d9%81%d9%91%d8%b8-%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a8%d8%b9%d8%b6-%d8%a3%d8%b5%d9%88%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a8%d9%86%d9%83","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whia.us\/en\/2186\/","title":{"rendered":"Executive Order to Preserve Certain Afghanistan Central Bank Assets for the People of Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

OR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/em>
\nFebruary 11, 2022<\/em>
\nFACT SHEET<\/em><\/p>\n

As part of our ongoing work to address the humanitarian and economic crisis in Afghanistan, President Biden signed an Executive Order (E.O.) to help enable certain U.S.-based assets belonging to Afghanistan\u2019s central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank (\u201cDAB\u201d), to be used to benefit the Afghan people. The E.O. will block property of DAB held in the United States by U.S. financial institutions and require U.S. financial institutions to transfer this property into a consolidated account held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The Administration will seek to facilitate access to $3.5 billion of those assets for the benefit of the Afghan people and for Afghanistan\u2019s future pending a judicial decision.<\/p>\n

Many U.S. victims of terrorism, including relatives of victims who died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, have brought claims against the Taliban and are pursuing DAB assets in federal court. Because some of these plaintiffs currently have writs of execution against the DAB assets, the court will need to issue a further decision regarding the scope of those writs. Even if funds are transferred for the benefit of the Afghan people, more than $3.5 billion in DAB assets would remain in the United States and are subject to ongoing litigation by U.S. victims of terrorism. Plaintiffs will have a full opportunity to have their claims heard in court.<\/p>\n

This is one step forward in the United States\u2019 effort to authorize the transfer of a significant portion of the funds to meet the needs of the Afghan people. The E.O. is designed to provide a path for the funds to reach the people of Afghanistan, while keeping them out of the hands of the Taliban and malicious actors. The United States has sanctions in place against the Taliban and the Haqqani network, including for activities that threaten the safety of Americans such as holding our citizens hostage.<\/p>\n

While this E.O. will help preserve a substantial portion of Afghanistan\u2019s reserves to benefit the Afghan people, we understand there are no easy solutions for Afghanistan\u2019s economic challenges, which have been exacerbated by the Taliban\u2019s forced takeover of the country:<\/p>\n