U.N. says Taleban proposal would violate human rights

By From Ronni Berke
CNN United Nations Producer

UNITED NATIONS (CNN ) -- A Taleban proposal to force non-Muslims to wear identity labels would constitute "a grave violation of human rights" reminiscent of some of the most deplorable acts of discrimination in history, a U.N. spokesman said Wednesday.

"The Secretary-General appeals to the Taleban leadership to reject this proposal and to focus their efforts on alleviating the suffering of their people who yearn for peace and security," spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

When asked if the U.N. was putting any pressure on the Taleban to rescind the edict, Eckhard said, "There's a limit to what we can do."

Eckhard said the Ministry of Information has informed the U.N.'s Afghanistan representative, Fransesc Vendrell, that the proposal still had to be approved by Mullah Omar before becoming law.

"Our comments today are aimed at the leadership, asking them not to take this final step, reminding them of our collective historical memory where actions like this are often linked to persecution of minorities. And so we ask them to refrain," Eckhard added.

In a separate statement, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and UNESCO Director-General Koichira Matsuura expressed outrage at reports about the Taleban edict.

Robinson and Matsuura denounced the decree, 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.