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U.N. Condemns Reports of Executions in Afghanistan
Friday, November 16, 2001
(1:20 PM ET)
Reuters

NEW DELHI, India
U.N. human rights commissioner Mary Robinson voiced concern Monday about reports of summary executions of surrendered Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and said such acts violated the Geneva Convention on Human Rights.

"I'm hearing reports from Kabul, Mazir-i-Sharif of summary executions of people who have laid down their arms," she said, as U.S.-backed anti-Taliban fighters from the Northern Alliance consolidated their grip on Afghanistan.

"This is contrary to international humanitarian law, contrary to the Geneva Convention," Robinson told a news conference in the Indian capital where she attended a human rights meeting.

"Those conventions apply in Afghanistan and must be upheld."

Robinson said she had discussed a controversial new Indian anti-terrorism decree with government leaders, and added that it was important for countries to combat terrorism following the September 11 attacks on the United States.

But they should not lose sight of human rights, she said.

If anti-terror measures were regarded as repressive, it could have the counter-effect of "breeding resentful youngsters who might be manipulated to become future terrorists," she said.

(More: iWon.com News Source)
2001 © Reuters.

Dan