LONDON, Nov 30: Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights, on Thursday stepped up the pressure on the United States and Britain over the massacre of Taliban prisoners at Qala-i-Jangi when she called for an inquiry into the deaths.

And, in an unprecedented move, Ms Robinson also joined forces with leading international human rights monitors to criticize Britain and the US for tightening their anti-terrorism laws in the wake of the New York and Washington bombings.

Echoing a call from Amnesty International, the former Irish president said during a visit to Helsinki that there were many unanswered questions about the bloodbath which left hundreds of Taliban prisoners dead.

Ms Robinson’s spokesman added that the UN was particularly concerned about reports that many of the prisoners were killed even though they had been tied up by Northern Alliance troops.

But British ministers, who will face further pressure from Ms Robinson when she voices her disquiet at a London press conference, rejected calls for an inquiry. The British foreign office minister Peter Hain told BBC radio: “These things happen in war. Just remember that these people in the prison were Al-Qaida fighters ... We do not see a need for an inquiry. Nasty things happen in war.”

However, momentum for an inquiry was building after the Northern Alliance said that it would allow human rights groups to investigate the treatment of Taliban prisoners.

At least 600 prisoners died at the fortress between Sunday and Wednesday by the Northern Alliance fighters and by US warplanes directed by special forces.

Saeed Hasan Muslim, a representative of the Harakat-i-Islami within the Northern Alliance, said: “We are waiting for the delegation of Amnesty International to start their investigation.” “We have 5,000 prisoners still in Mazar-i-Sharif jails and in Jowzjan province. They are not being held in one or two places but in several different jails.”

Amnesty said it was prepared to consider sending an observer to monitor an inquiry. But it said that responsibility for an inquiry lay with Britain and the US. Kamal Samari, an Amnesty spokesman, said: “It’s the responsibility of the three parties involved to carry out the investigation. We are prepared to help.”

The investigation would have to be “fair, thorough and in line with international standards”, Amnesty said. Evidence at the prison would have to be preserved and any surviving prisoners protected.

Amid the growing international pressure for an inquiry into the killings, Ms Robinson published a statement with Walter Schwimmer, the secretary of the Council of Europe, and Gerard Stoudmann, a director of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The statement said: “In pursuing the objective of eradicating terrorism it is essential that states strictly adhere to their commitment to uphold human rights and fundamental freedoms. While we recognize that the threat of terrorism may require specific measures, we call on all governments to refrain from any excessive steps which would violate fundamental freedoms.”

The statement was seen as a sharp rebuke to Washington and London. David Blunkett, the British home secretary, has faced a storm of protests over plans to detain suspected foreign terrorists without trial. The UK government has faced opposition from its own supporters since its election in June this year over the emergency anti-terrorism bill which would allow Britain to opt out of the European convention on human rights to allow for detention without trial. — Dawn-Guardian News Service