GENEVA - Germany's Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on Tuesday rebuked Afghanistan's Taliban authorities for "completely depriving" women and girls of their rights and for destroying the ancient Buddha statues.
In a speech to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, he called on the 53-member state body to condemn violations committed by the ruling Taliban.
Western diplomats said that Italy was expected to present a strongly-worded resolution during the ongoing six-week session in Geneva which would deplore abuses in Afghanistan.
Fischer also called on China to end what he called political and religious persecution of groups including the banned Falun Gong and Tibetan minority. He accused Russia of failing to fully investigate crimes in Chechnya, where he said both sides were still committing abuses, and called for a peaceful solution.
Dr. Abdullah, spokesman of the opposition northern alliance in Afghanistan, said in a speech that the Afghan people were suffering from "the most barbaric, inhuman and ignominious form of fanaticism."
Abdullah, whose government led by Burhanuddin Rabbani is recognised by many countries and the United Nations, accused the Taliban of carrying out both "sexual apartheid" and "savage vandalism" of the pre-Islamic statues in Bamiyan.
The Taliban, a hardline Islamic movement which captured Kabul in 1996 and now rules more than 90 percent of Afghanistan, on Monday showed off the complete destruction of two colossal statues of the Buddha at Bamiyan.
"HUMAN RIGHTS MERCILESSLY VIOLATED"
Fischer said: "In hardly any other country are women and girls so completely deprived of their rights as they are in Afghanistan today. For many years human rights there have been mercilessly violated and the people have been subjected to war, hardship, torture and humiliation.
"The frenzied destruction of the magnificent statues in Bamiyan horrified us all -- because of the irretrievable cultural loss but above all because of the symbolic destruction of the idea of tolerance and living together in harmony, which is the basis for human rights and peace."
The German foreign minister added: "It is intolerable that the worldwide consensus on values, valid beyond all cultural borders, is being trampled upon in this way. We should therefore utterly condemn the human rights violations committed in Afghanistan here in the Commission on Human Rights."
Abdullah, who spoke as "Afghan foreign minister," said: "The whole world has witnessed the destruction by the Talibans of the pre-Islamic works of art in Afghanistan and in particular the statues of Buddha which were unique in the world.
"This savage vandalism has shocked the entire international community, offended Buddhists throughout the world and aggrieved and revolted the Afghan people...."
Bamiyan had been the historic centre for dialogue between civilisations, according to Abdullah. "It was at Bamiyan that East and West met...The faces and the bodies of those statues of Buddha represented the East, the folds of their tunics symbolised the West.
"The barbarians have killed this dialogue of cultures and civilisations. We mourn today and shall mourn forever."
The overwhelming majority of Moslem countries and scholars had unequivocally condemned the Taliban actions, Abdullah said.
But he singled out Pakistan as an exception and accused it of "supplying the Taliban war machine with men and materials." This had prevented sanctions from yielding results, he added.
11:26 03-27-01
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