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UN:
TOP UN ENVOY SPEAKS OUT AGAINST DEATH PENALTY FOLLOWING AFGHAN EXECUTIONS:
08/10/2007 (MaximsNews Network)
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UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network /
- 08 October 2007 -
The top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan
today expressed concern at the recent execution of 15 prisoners in the capital,
Kabul – the first time the death penalty has been used in three years.
“The
UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has been a staunch supporter of the
moratorium on executions observed in Afghanistan in recent years,” said UNAMA
chief Tom Koenigs, recalling that the UN had previously stated its concern over
the use of the death penalty.
In a
statement, he acknowledged the sovereign right of the Afghan people and their
Government to decide how to carry out their own laws, but called for Afghanistan
to “continue working towards attaining highest human rights standards and
ensuring that due process of law and the rights of all citizens are
respected.”
“It is
my personal view that the death penalty should be abolished worldwide,” he
added.
Also
today, UNAMA reported that more than 353,000 Afghans have returned to their
homes so far this year – nearly 348,000 of them from Pakistan and more than
5,000 from Iran – with the assistance of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR).
Over
16,000 Afghans returned to their home country from Pakistan and Iran last month,
UNAMA’s Nazifullah Salarzai told reporters in Kabul, adding that the pace of
returns is slowing down as winter approaches.
“We’re
now seeing return numbers averaging 200 per day – down from a peak of over
12,000 assisted returns per day in April,” Mr. Salarzai stated.
While
UNHCR’s voluntary repatriation operation from Iran will continue throughout
the winter, its operation from Pakistan will take a “winter break” at the
end of October and then resume next March.
Since
2002, some 5 million Afghan refugees have returned to their battle-scarred
homeland, mostly from Pakistan and Iran, a majority aided by UNHCR. Most of the
3 million registered Afghans remaining in neighbouring countries have been
abroad for more than two decades.
Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
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