Geneva, Feb 10, SPA -- Afghan authorities must do more to tackleviolence against women in the Islamic nation and improvecondition's in the country's prisons, a United Nationshuman rights monitor said Thursday. Cherif Bassiouni said he also was worried by allegationsof abuse of detainees held by U.S.-led forces operating inAfghanistan. "Greater efforts should be made toward better respect ofinternational human rights standards," said Bassiouni, whoreports to the U.N. Human Rights Commission _ the worldbody's top rights watchdog. Bassiouni visited Afghanistan earlier this month at thegovernment's invitation, meeting with senior officials,Afghan human rights campaigners, as well as foreigndiplomats and aid groups. In a statement Thursday, he said he welcomed steps takenby Afghan authorities since his last visit in August 2004,including a shake-up at a detention facility atPol-e-Charkhi near Kabul. "But the treatment (of detainees) and conditions ofdetention fall well below international standards," hesaid. "Other concerns relate to the rights of women, theabduction of children and child trafficking," saidBassiouni, noting that he was worried "about women's andother vulnerable groups' access to justice, as well as atthe potential for human rights abuses to be committed inthe context of the so-called customary system of justice." "Continuing violence against women, especially in thedomestic context, must be addressed," Bassiouni added.--more1414 Local Time 1114 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/238489