Afghanistan's Obligation to Comply with Customary Rules Governing International Waterways

Afghanistan is a  country that shares four waterways (Hirmand, Kabul, Harirud, Amu) with neighboring countries. These watercourses are an important source of water supply in Afghanistan and its neighboring countries. Except for the Hirmand River which has the 1973 treaty as its governing source of legal regulation, the other three water basins of Afghanistan do not have a treaty exploitation system and are considered subject to the customary rules. Therefore, any use of these waterways is only possible within the framework of the customary rules of international law of the sea. Due to various historical reasons, Afghanistan has not had the opportunity to avail itself of these watercourses. In the last few years, this country has designed and implemented programs to manage and use its water resources. Many of these actions were faced with protests from Afghanistan's neighboring countries. These countries have considered the actions taken by Afghanistan to be in conflict with international law, especially the customary law governing international waterways. According to the practice of states, and the opinions of international judicial and non-judicial institutions, currently, there are rules such as reasonable and equitable utilization, the prohibition of incurring serious harm to other countries, and the responsibility to cooperate, which underly the basic and customary rules of international law of the sea. The customary characteristic makes states legally obliged to comply with these rules regardless of their membership in international treaties. States’ violation of customary obligations will result in international liability. Without a doubt, Afghanistan, as a member of the international community, will not be exempt from this rule.

Research Questions:

 The present research examines the status of the customary obligations regarding the non-navigational use of international waterways in the legal system and the practical practice of the Afghan government. The research seeks to answer these questions: What is the approach of Afghanistan's legal system towards the international customary rules of the sea and do the domestic laws require the government to comply with these obligations or not? What is the practical practice of the government in this case and to what extent are Afghanistan's actions consistent with the international customary rules?

 As an important source of life and livelihood, the subject of waterways has been of interest to humans forever. The greatest human civilizations are built next to water sources. With the formation of nation-states, the discussion of international waterways and their exploitation by countries was raised. In this regard, many researches have been conducted and published by scholars on how to regulate the use of international watercourses around the world.
Although such research was initially centered around the use of navigation, with the increase in population, the climate changes, and the pollution of water resources, non-navigational exploitation and their related topics also attracted the attention of scholars. Regarding the international watercourses of Afghanistan, many researches have been published by different authors both inside and outside of Afghanistan, in different languages.
The common denominator of all of these efforts is the focus on contractual obligations, management, and the protection of water resources. Therefore, an important i.e., international customary obligations of Afghanistan and its practice and performance in this area has been neglected. However, some authors have mentioned some of these obligations in their research. For example, we can refer to works such as the research  of Mr. Jamshid Momtaz titled “The legal system of the middle East watercourses”, “Ali Raghanabi: The legal principles governing the international rivers, with an emphasis on the Hirmand River”, “Nusratullah Afzali: The principles governing the international watercourses with an emphasis on the Harirud river”, and “Mrs. Sara Naqshband: International Practices in the Settlement of International River Disputes”. Within Afghanistan, in the last few years, research has been carried out in the field of Transboundary Rivers. 
The major parts of these research papers have been carried out by the Doran Institute, which is a private research institute. This research center has so far published two articles in this area (Amu and Kabul) and besides these, publishes a journal about the waters of Afghanistan, the first issue of which was published in 2015. This research focuses on the capacities of the mentioned areas, the capabilities and challenges of their use, and the climate risks that threaten these waters; it briefly refers to the legal aspects of using these waters. however, it has not been specifically and comprehensively addressed.

Article 7 of Afghanistan’s Constitution recognizes the government’s responsibility to comply with the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other treaties that Afghanistan has accepted, but it does not make any reference to international customary obligations. Of course, this does not mean that Afghanistan does not accept customary international obligations. the obligation to comply with the UN Charter (based on Articles 1 and 2 and other principles of the Charter) is not limited to treaties, and includes obeying all binding sources of international law. The constitution, especially its seventh article, has stated the obligations that need to be approved by the parliament (National Council) and approved by the president. Customary international obligations are usually entered into national systems through automatically and informally and do not require a special process for ratification and
approval. The study of Afghanistan's legal practice, including the study of the past constitutions (1980 and 1987), in which, in addition to treaties, Afghanistan's obligations to other accepted principles and rules of international law are set out, supports this claim.
This is why the Afghanistan transboundary water policy, which was approved by the Council of Ministers in 2015, mentions Afghanistan's responsibility to comply with the international rules and regulations in the operation of transboundary waters in its sixth chapter. International rules and regulations include contractual and customary rules.
The practice of the Afghan government in the exploitation of common waterways is in line with its responsibility to act by these rules. The signing of a treaty with Iran (in 1973) and an agreement with the Soviet Union in the field of utilization of the Amu River (in 1958 and 1964) indicates that this country considers itself bound to international obligations in this field.

 The Afghan constitution is silent on its international customary obligations. nevertheless, the emphasis on compliance with the United Nations Charter in its seventh chapter also includes complying with the customary rules. The legal and practical practice of the Afghan government shows that this country considers itself obliged to comply with these obligations not only as a  member of the international community; but also according to its domestic laws. However, examining the degree of compliance of this country's actions in the use of international waterways with its international obligations requires examining all the related factors. Without access to the relevant information, it would be very difficult to consider these actions in violation of these obligations. However, the principle of responsibility to cooperate obliges the Afghan government to take appropriate measures to deal with these protests within the framework of international law.