Amnesty International condemned the United States and Northern Alliance forces of human rights violations for killing prisoners inside the Qila-i-Jangi prison in Mazir-i-Sharif and demanded a fair trial for Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar if he is arrested.

Secretary-General of Amnesty International Irene Khan expressed grave concern over deteriorating conditions for hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees on the Pakistan-Afghan borders and in various camps in Pakistan.

Khan arrived in Pakistan on December 8 for a five-day visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

She said she talked to refugees and said a majority of them were ready to return to their war-torn country, but the major issue for them was their safety and non-availability of jobs in Afghanistan.

Khan said Amnesty has condemned human rights violations by all parties including the United States, Taliban and others, and demanded investigations into the alleged injustices.

She asked the United Nations to investigate and provide justice to the people. She said this was the responsibility of the United Nations.

Khan said the focus of Afghanistan discussions must be on human rights instead of power sharing. Human rights protection is not romantic idealism but hard-nosed pragmatism, she said, and is the key to the future.

She said the United Nations and the United States should insist on human rights guarantees in political settlement talks. She also insists on the inclusion of women in the new Afghan setup. She said in the last 23 years the women of Afghanistan have suffered the most.