Following are a series of summaries on research recently produced by AI and HRW.

THE FALL OF KABUL AND AFTERMATH

• AI, citing reports of executions and the Northern Alliance's overall human rights record, expressed displeasure with the fall of Kabul to the Northern Alliance. The group said Afghanistan's population "has again been put at risk by the failure of the international community to protect them"[sic].

• HRW, on the other hand, appeared to be neutral on the fall of Kabul and expressed skepticism regarding alleged mass violations of human rights. "There is a lack of clarity in many of the reports now coming out of Afghanistan as to when, by whom, and even whether human rights violations took place," said HRW.

• Marking a clear policy shift, HRW called on governments to condition military or financial support to individual factions within the Northern Alliance on their commitments to respect international human rights. In addition, the rights group omitted reference to the Northern Alliance in a list of coalitions to which aid should be "actively discouraged" or "refused," and instead singled out individual groups within the Alliance whose commanders have allegedly committed human rights violations. The new policy differs from a recommendation HRW made this summer that calls for a total ban on aid to all warring parties in Afghanistan, including the entire Northern Alliance and the Taliban.

• AI, on the other hand, continues to call for a complete ban on aid to the Northern Alliance and other warring factions until strict human rights conditions can be met.

• Nearly 5,000 unexploded cluster bomblets may be strewn across areas of Afghanistan targeted by U.S. warplanes, calculated HRW, using data obtained from sources within the U.S. military. "These unexploded bomblets have in effect become antipersonnel land mines. They pose an extreme hazard to civilians, not just now but for years to come," said Mark Hiznay, a senior researcher at the rights group.

• HRW called on the Pakistani government to halt plans to set up refugee camps in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas close to the Afghan border. In similar fashion, AI called the plans "a risky strategy." The camps' assigned locations are within a few kilometers of the border with Afghanistan, which, according to the rights groups, is contrary to international standards and insufficient to protect refugees and aid workers from cross-border attacks or military incursions.

• AI says it has received reports from the Chaman temporary refugee camp in Pakistan that suggest that members of the Taliban have been present there. The group expressed concern about the location of the camp, which lies a few hundred meters from the border area with Afghanistan.

• Between 25 and 35 civilians died on October 22 when U.S. fire hit the Afghan village of Chowkar-Karez, reported HRW. None of the witnesses interviewed by HRW knew of military targets in the area of the attack.

• HRW said it has received credible reports of attacks on humanitarian aid agencies located in all of the major Taliban-controlled cities within the past month. While most of those responsible for the attacks appear to be Taliban fighters, non-Afghan fighters and rogue elements have also been involved, said HRW.

• AI and HRW urged the United States to use its influence with the Northern Alliance to ensure that their forces do not engage in reprisal killings and indiscriminate shelling, particularly in Mazar-e-Sharif. Mazar, which fell to the Northern Alliance earlier this month, has been the site of previous atrocities by both Taliban and Northern Alliance forces.

• AI expressed concern for instances in which those detained in the United States in the wake of the September 11 attacks were held under poor conditions, denied prompt access to lawyers, denied the right to exercise, and given foods they could not eat on religious grounds. In some cases there were delays in gaining information on the whereabouts of detainees, said AI.

• AI said it was "deeply troubled" by the Military Order signed by President Bush on November 13 that permits non-U.S. citizens suspected of involvement in international terrorism to be tried by special military commissions. HRW called upon President Bush to rescind the order. The groups argue that the military order violates the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and creates a lower standard of justice for non-U.S. citizens, particularly in cases involving the death penalty.

• AI and HRW criticized a number of countries, including China, India, Russia, and Israel for using the campaign against terrorism to justify internal crackdowns or policy initiatives. In late September, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao linked Chinese support for the global campaign against terrorism to U.S. support for China's campaign against Uighur separatists in China's northwest, said HRW.