U.N. human rights chief calls for women in future Afghan government

By NIRMALA GEORGE
Associated Press Writer

NEW DELHI, India – The U.N. human rights chief urged a prominent role for women when a new government is formed in Afghanistan.

"It is crucial that strong governmental institutions be established with full participation of women, which will have the capacity to promote and protect all human rights in a nondiscriminatory and effective manner," Mary Robinson, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Monday.

Robinson, who is a former president of Ireland, spoke in India after accepting the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development.

She said Afghanistan's new rulers need to strengthen the rule of law and human rights if they hope to found a stable government.

"Afghanistan needs to break the pattern of human rights abuse, establish a safe environment for its women, men and children and ensure judicial accountability for criminal acts," Robinson said.

Since 1996, Afghanistan's Taliban rulers prohibited schooling for girls over 8, forced women to quit their jobs and restricted them from moving about freely.

Robinson said she disagreed with some people who felt that in the current international crisis, human rights is of a lesser priority.

"It is sometimes claimed that concern with human rights gets in the way of winning the peace or defeating terrorism. This is wrong thinking," she said.

"We must condemn and combat terrorism. But there can be no stable peace, not true human security, without human rights."

The Indira Gandhi prize was awarded to Robinson at New Delhi's ornate sandstone presidential palace in a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, his Cabinet and diplomats.

Earlier recipients of the prize, instituted in the memory of the former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, include World Health Organization chief Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev and Czech President Vaclav Havel.

APNP-11-19-01 0717CST