WASHINGTON - July 17 -  "The facts gathered in the Dasht-e-Leili mass grave case contradict General Abdul Rashid Dostum's statement of July 17," stated Physicians for Human Rights Deputy Director Susannah Sirkin. "He denies that the alleged massacre of as many as 2,000 surrendered Taliban prisoners ever occurred. By claiming that the allegations are politically motivated, Dostum is clearly trying to distract focus from the substantial documentation collected over seven years of investigation by Physicians for Human Rights, the UN, and award-winning investigative journalists."

"Dostum makes a significant admission by confirming in his statement that Taliban prisoners surrendered jointly to US forces and to US-allied Afghan forces in November 2001 outside Konduz, Afghanistan," stated Nathaniel Raymond, Physicians for Human Rights' lead researcher on the Dasht-e-Leili case.

"Furthermore," said Raymond, "Dostum's blanket denial should be seen in the context of clear indications of evidence-tampering at the Dasht-e-Leili site where bodies are suspected to be buried, and the fact that at least four witnesses in this case have been tortured, killed or disappeared."

"Physicians for Human Rights applauds the US State Department's reported efforts to ensure that Dostum not return from exile in Turkey to assume a position of power in Afghanistan," stated Sirkin. "However, a full, formal and transparent investigation into the allegations against Dostum and the evidence that the Bush Administration impeded at least three federal probes into the case must be launched by the US and Afghanistan. Witnesses must be protected and the Dasht-e-Leili site must be secured."