The increasing violence in Afghanistan has caused a "disturbing rise in civilian casualties" while shrinking the very areas humanitarian workers can operate into assist the victims, said a report from UN officials released on Thursday.

A reversal was feared of recent advancement against traditional discrimination of woman and minority groups because of the lack of access to assistance, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

They cautioned impunity was prevalent, a political will to solve human rights problems including poverty absent and a purely military solution to the conflict impossible.

The report was released at UN Headquarters in New York and in Geneva, home of the Office of the High Commissioner and focused on human rights and related assistance.

"The escalation of the armed conflict in Afghanistan has had a significant impact on civilians in conflict-affected areas, in particular on those who are already vulnerable," the 19-page document said.

Only last month U.S. President Barack Obama ordered 17,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan because of the deteriorating situation. There already are 38,000 U.S. soldiers and about 30,000 other NATO troops trying to stabilize the landlocked Asian nation.

"The intensifying conflict has also resulted in a disturbing rise in civilian casualties and has contracted the space for humanitarian action," the UN report said. "Long-standing discrimination against women and minority groups is manifest in their lack of access to justice and other basic services."

The report said 2,014 civilian casualties were tallied between Jan. 1, 2008, and Nov. 30, 2008, a 41 percent increase over the same period in 2007. The number killed by insurgents was put at 1,206 people, or 55 percent, and the number killed by "pro-government forces" was tallied at 795, or 39 percent. Responsibility for the remaining 113, or 6 percent, could not be ascertained.

"This makes the 2008 civilian death toll the highest of any year since the end of major hostilities after the fall of the Taliban regime at the end of 2001," it said, adding civilians also suffered from injury, property destruction, loss of livelihood, displacement and disruption of access to education, health care and other essential services."

But, another casualty was women's rights.

Because of the conflict, important gains made recently by women in the public sphere "are in danger of receding," it said.

"Mounting attacks on the freedom to express views that challenge existing power structures as well as social and religious norms that usually marginalize women cast doubts on the government's ability to ensure a free and democratic space where human rights are fully respected," the report said. "This is especially vital in an elections period," slated for later this year.

The UN report said that while important initiatives for reforming the courts were launched last year, "the judicial system remains weak, corrupt and dysfunctional, and at times does not comply with international human rights obligations."

"Compounded by a surge in criminal violence and decline of public law enforcement authorities control over parts of the country, a culture of impunity prevails as demonstrated by the failure to prosecute perpetrators for past and contemporary human rights violations and abuses," the report said.

Efforts to transform Afghan society last year "were seriously undermined by the intensification of the armed conflict, growing lawlessness, widespread abuse of power, violence against women and their persistent marginalization, and a significant clampdown on freedom of expression," the report said in its conclusion.

"These worrying trends are exacerbated by the lack of political will to address these deeply engrained problems," it said. "Impunity prevails. Abusive structures of society and the leeway given to traditional power brokers have further limited prospects for the realization of human rights, in particular for vulnerable groups.

"It is widely recognized that the conflict cannot be overcome by military means alone," the conclusion said. "But the call for an integrated civilian-led strategy to ensure Afghanistan's long-term peace and security, opening the way to development, has yet to yield concrete results."

The report said delivering basic services "cannot be dissociated from the imperative to hold accountable those in positions of power who violate human rights; the deep-rooted discrimination against and marginalization of women and girls and of minorities cannot be separated from alleviating the appalling levels of poverty."

It's ultimately the responsibility of the Kabul government, it said, "but, in the Afghan context, the international community has particular responsibility to assist."

The authors recommended efforts should be made to integrate a human rights perspective into poverty reduction and development strategies.

Implementation of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy, a poverty reduction strategy paper adopted at the International Conference in Support of Afghanistan in June 2008, should follow Afghanistan's national and international human rights obligations, the report said.

"These obligations must be expressly referred to in implementing and monitoring the strategy and budgeting for it, she said, "to ensure that groups marginalized by discriminatory practices are prioritized."

The report called on both anti-government and pro-government "elements" to protect civilians.

"Investigations and, where appropriate, prosecutions should be carried out swiftly and independently," the high commissioner and secretary-general said in the report. "Efforts should be made to influence insurgents to cease attacks against civilian targets and to enable the humanitarian community to regain and maintain critical humanitarian space."

Source:Xinhua