AFGHANISTAN: APPEAL TO THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AGAINST THE ATROCITIES OF THE TALIBAN REGIME. THE TRANSNATIONAL RADICAL PARTY ASKS THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS TO SUSPEND ALL AID PROGRAMMES UNTIL THE FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS WILL BE RESPECTED.

Geneva, 14 April, 1999 - Intervening at the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, the Transnational Radical Party strongly criticised the Taleban Government for the continuos and systematic violence perpetrated against women and the entire population. The constant use of cruel, inhuman and degrading practices, the public and the private violence and the abuses perpetrated by the Taleban in prisons, in particular against women, have to be stopped.

Chiara Steindler, on behalf of the TRP, stressed the damage caused by the policy of the UNDCP (United Nations Drug Control Programme) in establishing an agreement with the Taleban authorities on significant financial support, for the eradication of poppy straw by the year 2008. A part from the consideration of the evident failure of such a policy, the responsible of this criminal programme, the Italian Pino Arlacchi, executive director of the UNDCP, clearly provided legitimacy to the Taleban regime in Afghanistan. It is imperative that the international community makes sure that the States who receive its aid and asistence protect the rights of women and all the internationally recognized humanitarian standards.

The Transnational Radical Party asks the suspension of all aid and co-operation programmes until the Taleban Government shows respect for human rights of both men and women in Afghanistan.

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