AFGHANISTAN: Children's Rights in UN Treaty Body Reports

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Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of all UN Treaty Bodies and their follow-up procedures. This does not include the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child which are available here: http://www.crin.org/resources/treaties/index.asp

Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity.

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UN Human Rights Committee

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UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
 

(E/C.12/AFG/CO/2-4)

Last reported: 12 and 14 May 2010
Concluding Observations adopted: 21 May 2010

Concerns raised:

  • Access to justice. The traditional dispute resolution mechanisms, which absorb more cases of dispute than the formal judicial system, are not compatible with human rights standards, including the Covenant rights. The rights of women and children, as well as those of nomadic tribes and the poorest sectors of society, are particularly affected by the lack of access to formal justice mechanisms. The Committee recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to ensure access for the population to the formal judicial system and to take adequate measures to build the trust of the population in the formal judicial system. (Paragraph 16)
  • The lack of employment opportunities for young people, returnees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), in particular in the agricultural sector. The Committee urges the State party to adopt and implement action plans for employment that will progressively reduce unemployment in the informal sector, in particular in the agricultural sector. (Paragraph 22)
  • Violence against children. The extent of violence against children, including forced and child marriage. There are also a high number of children, with a living parent who remain in care institutions unnecessarily. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) intensify its efforts to combat violence against children and to prohibit corporal punishment of children in all settings; and (b) adopt and implement social protection programmes to enable the most disadvantaged and marginalised families to meet their basic needs and to care for their children. The Committee requests the State party to provide further information in its next periodic report on the system of institutional care for children, regulatory mechanisms, the updated number and qualifications of orphanage staff, and admission policies. The Committee also requests updated information on the results of the implementation of the National Strategy for Children at Risk. (Paragraph 28)
  • Child labour is a serious problem in the State party and many children are vulnerable to all the worst forms of child labour, including forced or bonded child labour and commercial sexual exploitation. The Committee urges the State party to intensify its efforts to combat child labour and protect children from all forms of sexual and economic exploitation, including the worst forms of child labour, inter alia, by: (a) strengthening its national legislation prohibiting child labour in accordance with international standards; (b) increasing the number of labour inspections in order to monitor compliance with its national legislation prohibiting child labour; (c) strictly enforcing the imposition of fines and criminal sanctions against persons making use of illegal child labour; (d) organising mandatory training for law enforcement officials, prosecutors and judges; and (e) adopting appropriate measures to facilitate access to educational opportunities for former child workers. The State party was invited to conduct a comprehensive survey on the extent of child labour, if necessary by seeking international cooperation and assistance. (Paragraph 29)
  • Armed conflict: Children are recruited by armed groups and forces, including by the Afghan National Security Forces. The Committee recommends that the State party take firm measures to put a stop to all recruitment of child soldiers by armed groups and forces. To this end, a monitoring system should be instituted to prevent any further recruitment of minors. The Committee also recommends that the State party step up its efforts to assist and reintegrate children who have been recruited in armed groups and forces. (Paragraph 30)
  • Trafficking: The State party is a source, transit point and destination country for human trafficking and that women and girls are kidnapped, lured by fraudulent marriage or job proposals, or sold into marriage or commercial sexual exploitation, despite the efforts made by the State party. The Committee recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to eradicate human trafficking, including by imposing appropriate sanctions on the perpetrators. (Paragraph 32)
  • Girls' access to education: Although the State party has attempted to improve access to education and reduce gender disparities, the right to education is not guaranteed in the State party without discrimination. The increase in the number of child victims of attacks against schools by insurgents and the throwing of acid to prevent girls and female teachers from going to school. The Committee recommends that the State party, in implementing its National Education Strategy Plan, take into account the Committee's general comments No. 11 (1999) on plans of action for primary education and No. 13 (1999) on the right to education and establish an effective monitoring mechanism for the plan. In particular, the State party should take adequate steps to encourage the school enrolment of girls, by providing facilities in schools (for example separate toilets for girls), and by training and recruiting female teachers, in particular in rural areas. The State party should improve security for children in school as well as on their way to and from school, and increase awareness of the value of girls' education. The State party was also encouraged to continue seeking technical advice and assistance from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for improving access to education. (Paragraph 43)

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UN Committee against Torture

CAT/C/AFG/CO/2

Adopted by Committee: 9-10 May 2017

Published: 9-10 May 2017

Issues Raised:

Ratification and National Policy:

The Committee welcomes the ratification of or accession to the following international instruments by the State party: The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, in 2003 (para. 4).

The Committee welcomes the State party’s initiatives to revise its legislation in areas of relevance to the Convention, including: The adoption in 2005 of the Juvenile Code (para. 5).

Death Penalty:

While welcoming the delegation’s information that a separate committee has been established to review death penalty sentences and discuss a plan to declare a moratorium on death penalty, the Committee remains concerned at the high number of prisoners on death row which currently amounts to 600, the tremendous length of time before the sentences’ execution and at their conditions of detention while awaiting execution. The Committee is also deeply concerned at the recent cases of executions of minors (arts. 2 and 16) (para. 33).

The State party should: Promptly consider taking measures for an immediate moratorium on executions and a commutation of sentences; Respect international standards that provide safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty; and Immediately end the execution of minors and commute all existing death sentences for offenders on death row who had committed a crime while under the age of 18 (para 34).

Harmful Practices:

The Committee is concerned at the widespread phenomenon of forced and early marriages of girls. While welcoming the delegation’s affirmations that a new law is nearing adoption prohibiting bacha baazi, a practice that facilitates sexual violence against and sexual slavery of boys, the Committee remains deeply concerned that despite these new legal frameworks, the practice may remain widespread in Afghanistan, including among State officials, as evidenced by the involvement of Shah Mirza Panjsheri in a bacha baazi case. The Committee recalls its General Comment No. 2 which notes that indifference or inaction by the State with respect to serious violence committed by private actors, including against women and children, can suggest a failure to prevent or official consent or acquiescence to such violence in violation of the State party’s obligations under the Convention (arts. 2, 4 and 16) (para. 35).

The State party should: Take all measures to ensure that forced and early marriages are prohibited, the responsible prosecuted and punished and the victims rehabilitated; and Take all measures to adopt promptly and enforce the new bacha baazi prohibition law and eradicate this practice, including by ensuring that all cases of sexual violence of boys, including those involving officials, are promptly and impartially investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted (para. 36).

 

(CAT/C/5/Add.31)

Last reported: 10 November 1992

No mention of children's rights in this report

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UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

CEDAW/C/AFG/CO/1-2
Last reported: 10 July 2013
Concluding Observations issued: 23 July 2013

 

Issues raised:

 

Legal complaints mechanism: The Committee notes the efforts of the State party to make the formal justice system accessible for its population, in particular for women, through the establishment of Courts in remote areas, Family Courts, a Prosecution Office on violence against women and through training of women judges. It is concerned that despite these efforts, the police and the prosecutors continuously refer cases related to violence against women, including domestic violence, to informal justice mechanisms (jirgas and shuras) for advice or resolution; despite the fact that many of these cases should be formally prosecuted and that decisions of informal justice mechanisms are discriminatory against women and undermine the implementation of existing legislation. It is further concerned that women are often prevented by their family members from filing complaints. Paragraph 14.

15. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a)     Develop guidelines for the police and prosecutors clarifying the type of cases which must be formally prosecuted;

(b)     Ensure the implementation of the policy on traditional justice and inform women about the possibility to challenge decisions of informal justice mechanisms in the formal justice system;

(c)      Ensure that any law defining the relationship between the formal justice system and informal justice mechanisms improves compliance with all national laws, including the EVAW law and prohibits jirgas and shuras from addressing serious violations of human rights, as previously recommended by the international community;

(d)     Sensitize the police, prosecutors, judges and the general public on the importance of addressing violations of women’s rights, including domestic violence, through the formal justice system rather than jirgas and shuras; and increase the awareness of women and girls about their rights and available legal remedies;

(e)      Raise awareness amongst religious and community leaders about the principle of equality between women and men, contained in the Constitution and in the Convention; and

       (f)            Enhance women’s accessibility to the formal justice system; increase the number of female police officers and judges; and, provide systematic training to the police, judges, prosecutors and lawyers on the application of domestic legislation on women’s rights, in line with the Convention.

Harmful practices: The Committee expresses its deep concern at the high prevalence of violence against women in the State party, in particular domestic violence, rape, battery and laceration. It is also concerned at cases of stoning of women. It is deeply concerned at the persistence of adverse cultural norms, practices and traditions which are harmful to women such as child marriage, baad (settlement of disputes by giving away girls), badal (exchange marriages), and forced marriages, including forced marriages of widows. It is further concerned at cases of self-immolation and running away from home, as a response to harmful practices and violence against women. It is concerned that despite the concrete efforts to implement the Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women, incidents of violence and harmful practices remain under-reported due to the subordinate role of women in Afghan society, cultural beliefs and the victims’ fear of retaliation by their family and of being stigmatized by their communities. It is concerned at the sustainability of the shelters for women victims of violence as well as about the need to increase their number. (Paragraph 22).

23. In line with its general recommendation No. 19 (1992) on violence against women, the Committee urges the State party to:

(a)     Establish measures, as a priority, to effectively combat impunity and comply with its due diligence obligation to prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish violence perpetrated against women by State and non-State actors;  

(b)     Ensure the proper implementation of the Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women by, for example, providing systematic training on the EVAW law for all police officers working in Family Response Units, issuing guidelines to the courts on the application of the EVAW law, including its mandatory application in conjunction with other relevant national legislation; and developing a strategy to ensure the recruitment and retention of female police officers;

(c)      Ensure that shelters for women victims of violence are properly resourced and that the quality of services offered is regularly monitored; increase the number of shelters so as to strengthen support services for victims, such as counseling and rehabilitation services, both medical and psychological; and develop a strategy to ensure their financial support in the framework of the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework.

(d)     Adopt a comprehensive policy and strategy to eliminate all harmful practices against women and girls, which includes the sensitization of religious and community leaders with the aim to prevent misinterpretations of Sharia Law and Islamic principles; as well as  awareness-raising efforts targeting the general public and the media, in collaboration with civil society and women’s organizations; and

(e)      Ensure the proper registration of cases of violence and the standardized collection of disaggregated data on all forms of violence against women.
 

Moral crimes: he Committee deplores the practice of arresting and prosecuting run away women and girls for “moral crimes” and charging them with the aggravating intention to commit zina (sexual intercourse outside of wedlock) or pre-emptive zina, despite the fact that running away is not a crime under Afghan law. It also regrets that due to the lack of a definition of rape in the Penal Code, rape victims are charged with zina and are further re-victimized as some of them are forced to get married to their rapists. It is deeply concerned that rape and run away victims are forced to undergo virginity tests. It is equally concerned at the increase of so-called honour killings and at the discriminatory provision in the Penal Code which allows presenting the defence of honour as a mitigating circumstance for perpetrators of such crimes (art. 398). Paragraph 24

25. The Committee urges the State party to:

(a)     Re-issue and implement without delay the directive of the Attorney General of April 2012 stating that running away is not a crime under Afghan law and emphasize that no charges of attempted or pre-emptive zina should be brought; and

(b)     Repeal article 398 of the Penal Code to ensure that perpetrators of so-called honour killings are not given legal concessions; and include a definition of rape in the Penal Code, in line with international standards.   

Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution: The Committee notes the adoption of the Anti-Human Trafficking and Abduction Law (2008) and is concerned about its lack of implementation. It is concerned at information indicating that victims of trafficking are sometimes prosecuted for having committed zina. It is further concerned at the lack of information about the extent of trafficking and exploitation of prostitution in the State party as well as about the lack of protection measures for those victims of trafficking who decide to testify as witnesses. (Paragraph 26).

27. The Committee urges the State party to:

(a)     Conduct research on the prevalence of internal and international trafficking, including on its scope, extent, causes, consequences and purposes, as well as its potential link with child marriage and baad;

(b)     Ensure the adequate implementation of the Anti-Human Trafficking and Abduction Law (2008) in order to ensure that victims of trafficking are not prosecuted for having committed zina;

(c)      Strengthen mechanisms for the investigation, prosecution and punishment of traffickers and support services for victims of trafficking and forced prostitution as well as measures for witness protection; and

(d)     Ratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Protocol) and the SAARC Convention on the Prevention and Combatting the Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution.

 

Education: The Committee highly appreciates the efforts to increase the enrolment of girls at all levels of education and it commends the demonstrated political will to continue pursuing this goal through global mobilization. It considers that sustainable development calls for an educated population with equal opportunities for women and men and fully supports the high priority given to this issue. However, it is concerned at the high illiteracy rate among women, the low enrolment of girls, particularly at the secondary level, and their high dropout rate, especially in rural areas, mainly due to a lack of security to and from school. It is further concerned about the negative attitudes in society with respect to girls’ education, as well as at the lack of qualified female teachers and the poor school infrastructure and long distances to school. It expresses its deep concern at the increased number of attacks on girls’ schools and written threats warning girls to stop going to school by non-State armed groups, as well as at incidents where girls became ill at school under the suspicion of being poisoned. It is also concerned about the marked underrepresentation of women in higher education which is a major impediment to their appointment in public offices and their engagement in public affairs. Paragraph 32.

33. In light of the commitments of the State party under the Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework, the Committee recommends that the State party:

(a)     Set specific targets and adopt a plan of action to improve the literacy rates of women and girls, increasing school enrolment and attendance of girls with specific time-bound targets, and monitor achievement of these targets;

(b)     Continue its efforts to increase the recruitment of female teachers with the pre-requisite qualifications and provide incentives to ensure their presence throughout the country, in particular in remote areas; improve and standardize the quality of education, including by continuously training teachers and by conducting periodic revisions of the curriculum and textbooks to remove gender stereotypes;

(c)      Develop a strategy to ensure that essential education services for women and girls are sufficiently funded, in light of the decline of external assistance;

(d)     Ensure that the Safety and Protection Directorate effectively fulfills its mandate to provide recommendations on how to prevent attacks on girls’ schools; and ensure that perpetrators of such acts of violence are promptly prosecuted and punished; take measures to address the fear that such security incidents creates among girls and their families and thereby preventing girls access to education; and

(e)      Review procedures related to the university entrance examination and remove biases that effectively limit women’s access to this level of education.

 

Displacement: The Committee is concerned at the increasing number of internally displaced persons in the State party, particularly women and girls and at the need of a long term intervention to ensure, inter alia, their access to basic services and protection. It is further concerned at the situation of Afghan refugee returnees many of whom become displaced or are forced into economic migration due to the lack of income generating opportunities and access to basic services. (Paragraph 40).

41. The Committee urges the State party to:

(a)     Endorse the National Internally Displaced Persons Policy and ensure its full implementation and provide long term interventions to address the needs of internally displaced persons, in particular women and girls;

(b)     Ensure that Afghan refugee returnees, in particular women and girls, have adequate access to health services, education, food, shelter, free movement and opportunities to secure justice and durable solutions; and

(c)      Accede to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

 

Child marriage: The Committee is concerned about the existence of multiple legal systems with regard to marriage and family relations in the State party and their discriminatory impact on women. It is concerned that despite the amendments to the Shia Personal Status Law, discriminatory provisions remain, such as the requirement of the husband’s authorization for his wife to leave home. It is also concerned about discriminatory provisions under civil law and customary practices, such as the husband’s legal right to authority over his wife and children. It is also concerned at unequal and limited rights for women to divorce and obtain guardianship of children under the Civil Law. It is concerned that women are deprived of their inheritance rights due to their subordinate role in society and domination by their male relatives. It is concerned at the low registration of marriages and divorces which prevents women from claiming their legal rights. The Committee is concerned at the persistence of child and forced marriages and that the minimum age of marriage for girls is set at 16. It is also concerned that polygamy is permitted under certain circumstances. Paragraph 42.

43. In line with its general recommendations No. 21 (1994) and No. 29 (2013) on article 16 of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party:

(a)     Repeal discriminatory provisions against women in the Shia Personal Status Law and the Civil law; and amend relevant legislation to raise the minimum age of marriage for girls to 18;

(b)     Ensure that the draft Family Law provides equal rights for women and men in all matters related to marriage and family relations, in particular with respect to their responsibilities within the family, property and inheritance, divorce and custody of children;

(c)      Conduct awareness raising campaigns targeting women to make them aware of their rights with respect to family relations and marriage;

(d)     Take measures to facilitate the procedure to register marriages and divorces; ensure that marriage and family law cases are adequately handled and heard by civil or family courts; and

(e)      Take the necessary legislative and policy measures to abolish polygamous marriages.

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UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

(CERD/C/SR.1189)

Last reported: 5 March 1997

The Committee notes with regret that no report had been submitted to the Committee since 1984.

The Committee decided that a communication should be sent to the Government of Afghanistan setting out its reporting obligations under the Convention and urging that the dialogue with the Committee should be resumed as soon as possible.

The Committee suggests that the Government of Afghanistan avail itself of the technical assistance offered under the advisory services and technical assistance programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights/ Centre for Human Rights, with the aim of drawing up and submitting as soon as possible an updated report drafted in accordance with the reporting guidelines. (paras 55 and 56)

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UN Committee on Migrant Workers

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UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

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UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance

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