October 26, 2001	Friday	Shaba'an 8, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 25: The United Nations on Thursday expressed fears of massacres and human rights violations in a post-Taliban Afghanistan, and called for taking steps to preclude the likely catastrophe.

UN special rapporteur for human rights in Afghanistan Dr Kamal Hossain told a press conference here that the UN was holding talks with many countries to address the issue of power vacuum in the post-Taliban scenario.

Dr Kamal, a former foreign minister of Bangladesh, is on his fifth visit to the region to assess the human rights situation in Afghanistan since his appointment as special rapporteur.

He said that UN secretary-general’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, was due to arrive in Pakistan on Sunday.

Dr Kamal said that any breach of humanitarian law would be strictly brought to justice.

In reply to a question about violations of international humanitarian law during US attacks on Afghanistan, the special rapporteur said: “Those engaged in military operations should abide by the international conventions and take maximum care to avoid targeting the innocent civilians.”

In reply to another question, he said: “The military operations by coalition forces in Afghanistan are sanctioned under Article 51 of the UN charter. As the UN special rapporteur for human rights I would not make a judgment whether the coalition actions are justified or not.”