KABUL – Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has again expressed major concern over the rise in child marriages in the country.
The commission on Sunday strongly criticized the absence of a political will to combat the growing trend and called on the government to serve justice on those guilty of the practice.
On Sunday, a joint seminar between the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs, the AIHRC and ministry of labor and social affairs was held in Kabul where the participants discussed strategies to overcome on the problem of child marriages.
Seminar participants said that insecurity; some traditions that dominate society; absence of rule of law; evasion of the law; and a culture of impunity were the main causes of the surge in child marriages.
According to the AIHRC report, 226 cases of child marriages were recorded in 1392, in 1393 225 cases reported and 235 cases were recorded in 1364.
"The cases which have been resolved by the intervention of the commission, only involved the cancellation of the marriage contracts. The main unresolved issue is that parties who sell the girl, those that buy the girl as well as the persons who endorse the marriage contract, need to be investigated. The problem is that organs probing these transactions do not have the ability to do so," AIHRC chairperson Sima Samar said.
"Beyond the eight international human rights conventions thus far, we have also signed the children rights convention. We have to performing our tasks to protect our children," said Wasil Noor Mohmand, deputy minister of labor and social affairs.
The participants also asked religious scholars to do their part in discouraging child marriages and to grow awareness among the people about the matter.
"It is the responsibility of the government to coordinate with the ministry of hajj and religious affairs to establish how the scholars can contribute. Unfortunately, the government's involvement in this respect has been feeble," said Abdul Aziz Mushawir, advisor to ministry of hajj and religious affairs.
The AIHRC recommended that effective rule of law, enhancing awareness among the public, access of children to legal and judicial organs and bringing an end to the culture of impunity will help to reduce the growing trend.(Tolonews)