UNESCO AND UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEPLORE TALIBAN EDICT ON IDENTIFICATION OF NON-MUSLIMS

HR/01/43
23 May 2001



UNESCO AND UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
DEPLORE TALIBAN EDICT ON IDENTIFICATION OF NON-MUSLIMS


Geneva, Paris - United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura today expressed outrage over reports of a Taliban edict requiring non-Muslims in Afghanistan to wear a distinctive sign on their clothing.

In a joint statement, Mrs. Robinson and Mr. Matsuura denounced the edict, saying it "harks back to the darkest periods of human history".

"Prescribing how certain groups of people should dress or otherwise singling them out so that they can be easily identifiable is at best discriminatory", they said. "Similar practices in the past - from Nazi Germany in the 1930s to Rwanda in the early 1990s - have led to the most horrible crimes", they added.

Mrs. Robinson and Mr. Matsuura said the stated aim of the edict by the Taliban, namely the protection of minority groups, can best be achieved through the strict observance of internationally recognized human rights principles.

In their statement, the two declared that the Taliban edict "brings home in a most forceful way the urgent need to address bias and discrimination, which are at the root of major human rights violations".



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