Kabul: Afghan Government and its international backers have largely failed to meet the benchmarks on improving human rights situation and fulfilling basic needs of the people of the war-ravaged country, Human Rights Watch claimed yesterday (Jan 30,2007).

The Afghanistan Compact, agreed at an international conference held in London in January last year, identified benchmarks in three major areas security, governance, and economic development.

None of the performance benchmarks have been met by the government and the international donors, the New York-Based rights group claimed ahead of a meeting in Berlin to assess the implementation of the Compact.

In a statement, the HRW said more than 1,000 civilians were killed in 2006 as a result of attacks by the Taliban and other anti-government forces, most of them in southern Afghanistan.

"Afghanistan hasn't really met any of the benchmarks, particularly those addressing the well-being of the Afghan people," said Sam Zarifi, Asia research director at Human Rights Watch.

"Kabul and its international backers have made little progress in providing basic needs like security, food, electricity, water, and health care," he said.

 The United States, the European Union and other donors should provide greater economic, political, and military assistance necessary to protect the human rights of Afghans.

"Security is the first pillar of the compact, but tens of thousands of Afghans don't feel safe enough to lead normal lives," Zarifi said.

The rights body voiced concern over the slow progress on the programme to disband illegal militias as stipulated in the Afghanistan Compact.