This is in response to Robert Riva's letter to the editor, "Human rights groups should not help the Taliban."

As a member of the human rights organization Amnesty International I would have to say that I disagree with Mr. Riva. Groups such as Amnesty that condemn the United States for the treatment of Taliban soldiers adhere to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I would like to remind the United States government that we signed this document when it was drafted after World War II. Like the name implies, the declaration applies to people all over the world. Unlike the United States, groups such as Amnesty International don't discriminate who gets these rights. Even if they are vicious murderers.

If anyone is wondering why international human rights groups aren't condemning the Taliban they should check their facts. Groups such as Amnesty International released statements after Sept. 11 condemning the attacks as a human rights violation. Furthermore, Amnesty had been writing to Presidents Bush and Clinton asking them to take action against the Taliban well before the attacks on the World Trade Center.

No one in their right mind would think that Mr. Roberts' death wasn't a violation of human rights. No one is allowing violations such as this to go without justice. One needs only to look at the mass destruction in Afghanistan to see that.