Afghan authorities must do more to tackle violence against women in the Islamic nation and improve condition's in the country's prisons, a United Nations human rights monitor said Thursday. Cherif Bassiouni said he also was worried by allegations of abuse of detainees held by U.S.-led forces operating in Afghanistan. "Greater efforts should be made toward better respect of international human rights standards," said Bassiouni, who reports to the U.N. Human Rights Commission _ the world body's top rights watchdog. Bassiouni visited Afghanistan earlier this month at the government's invitation, meeting with senior officials, Afghan human rights campaigners, as well as foreign diplomats and aid groups. In a statement Thursday, he said he welcomed steps taken by Afghan authorities since his last visit in August 2004, including a shake-up at a detention facility at Pol-e-Charkhi near Kabul. "But the treatment (of detainees) and conditions of detention fall well below international standards," he said. "Other concerns relate to the rights of women, the abduction of children and child trafficking," said Bassiouni, noting that he was worried "about women's and other vulnerable groups' access to justice, as well as at the potential for human rights abuses to be committed in the context of the so-called customary system of justice." "Continuing violence against women, especially in the domestic context, must be addressed," Bassiouni added. --more 1414 Local Time 1114 GMT
