- KABUL (Reuters) - Factional
fighting last month claimed the lives of 38 civilians, including women
and children, as well as 26 soldiers executed in a remote province of northwestern
Afghanistan, the United Nations said on Sunday.
-
- The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission said abuses
in the village of Akazi in Badghis province bordering Turkmenistan also
included the rape of women by factional fighters.
-
- It called the violations, which came after fighting broke
out on March 24, the gravest since the overthrow of the fundamentalist
Taliban regime in late 2001.
-
- David Singh, a spokesman for the U.N. and the rights
body, told a briefing the fighting appeared to have aimed to win control
of territory rather than being provoked by tribal, ethnic or religious
rivalry.
-
- "According to reports, during the recent conflict
in Akazi village, 38 civilians died, while 761 homes and 21 shops were
looted," he said. "Among the persons who died were 3 women and
12 children who drowned in a river.
-
- "Some reports say they threw themselves in the river
to escape the gunfire. Others said the women jumped to avoid being abused
by soldiers."
-
- He said the bodies of 26 fighters of a local commander,
Juma Khan, had been found executed, with their hands tied behind their
backs.
-
- Juma Khan is believed to belong to the Pashtun ethnic
group.
-
- Singh said the U.N. and Afghan rights groups were demanding
that the perpetrators of the abuses be brought to trial, adding that a
fact-finding mission, that also included central government officials,
visited the area ten days ago to verify the violence.
-
- "Information gathered from Akazi elders and from
local human rights activists point to extremely serious violations of human
rights before and during the recent armed conflict," he said.
-
- ARRESTS URGED
-
- "We urge the governor of Badghis and the local police
to exercise all possible influence to end these violations, to arrest the
perpetrators and bring them to justice, as well as take all other necessary
measures to prevent similar events."
-
- Badghis is one of Afghanistan's most remote and poorest
regions. Singh said the Bala Murghab district, where Akazi is located,
had seen a pattern of rights violations before the recent fighting which
may have triggered the latest conflict.
-
- Pashtuns are in the minority in the north and have suffered
various abuses at the hands of local commanders seeking revenge against
the mainly Pashtun Taliban regime.
-
- Most of the Pastuns in Badghis are poor nomadic herders.
-
- Singh called the violations a serious threat to peace
and reconciliation in Afghanistan, which the government of Hamid Karzai
is struggling to unify after 23 years of foreign interference and civil
war.
-
- Most Afghan factions have been guilty of serious rights
violations during the war and many Afghans have continued to complain about
abuses by soldiers of factional militias allied with the U.S.-led coalition
pursuing remnants of the Taliban.
-
-
-
- Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable
for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
|
