12-15-08, 9:39 am
Original source: IRIN News
KABUL, 15 December 2008 (IRIN) - Amid growing concerns about a reported excavation at a mass grave site in northern Afghanistan, a senior UN official has said the organization is committed to help Afghan authorities preserve such sites in order to protect evidence of crimes committed over the past three decades of war in the country.
“The United Nations remains ready to assist all Afghan stakeholders, including victim groups, to take immediate and concerted action to preserve grave sites,” Norah Niland, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Kabul, told IRIN.
“At a minimum, victims have a right to the truth, and the preservation of evidence is a critical element in understanding and addressing the legacy of past atrocities,” said Niland, who also works as head of the human rights unit at the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
The UN has confirmed that at least one grave site in the northern province of Sheberghan, where thousands of men allegedly associated with the Taliban were dumped in late 2001, has recently been disturbed.
