Mrs Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, crossed swords with the British government yesterday over her demand for an inquiry into the killing of hundreds of Taliban prisoners in Mazar-e-Sharif.
Mrs Robinson insisted that prisoners in Afghanistan must be treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention. She said an inquiry was "important in the context of Afghanistan because there has been a culture of violence and a culture of impunity" there. She also suggested that any side responsible for massacres in Afghanistan "should not be eligible" for inclusion in any broad-based successor government.
However, the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, hailed the continuing progress in the Bonn talks and dismissed the possibility of a judicial inquiry into the circumstances of Mazar-e-Sharif amid reports - reflected by Mrs Robinson - that as many as 600 prisoners may have been killed in Qalai Janghi.
"The situation there was absolutely terrible, everybody accepts that, and there was this slaughter of prisoners," he told the BBC's Today programme. However, he continued: "But this is not some easy Western circumstance, this was in the middle of a terrible situation where law and order has broken down." Mr Straw said the Taliban prisoners had broken free and "re-started military action" with their Northern Alliance guards. "The idea that at this moment we could have a judicial inquiry into the difficult circumstances of Mazar-e-Sharif is frankly not on."
At her London press conference, Mrs Robinson declined to say specifically who she felt should undertake an inquiry. She noted that Amnesty International had expressed an interest in being involved and said it might be possible to include several non-governmental organisations.
However she was adamant it was vital to establish "the sequence of events, what happened and who was there". Mrs Robinson acknowledged that the circumstances were contested and that she did not know the full story, adding that the very lack of clarity underlined the argument for an inquiry. In answer to a question about Mr Straw's remarks, Mrs Robinson insisted that "the international standards" did apply in the unfolding situation in Afghanistan and asked if people could have forgotten how important the Geneva Convention was during the second World War.
She said: "If we don't respect and abide by the Geneva Convention then we are eroding the very standards of democracy . . . and letting the terrorists have that victory."
The Labour MEP, Mrs Glenys Kinnock, backed Mrs Robinson's call for an inquiry, telling the BBC that many of those who died had had their hands tied behind their backs and that the Northern Alliance had breached the Geneva Convention.
The Liberal Democrats say a deal is possible with the Conservatives and the government following its defeat on a key aspect of its anti-terror Bill in the Lords on Thursday night.
The successful Conservative amendment struck out the government's proposed distinction between domestic and international terrorism. In effect this would restore to government powers it does not seek to intern Irish Republican dissidents as well as foreign nationals concerned with international terrorism who are being targeted in the aftermath of September 11th.
