The society we dwell in is solely based on aristocratic and autocratic temperament –meritocracy finds no space instead is pushed to state of absolute denial. If you belong to an inferior gender, class, ethnicity and sectarian group, you are left underprivileged and denied access to fundamental rights to life, equality, liberty and happiness. You are frequently subjected to grave discriminations; given you are ethnic minorities, presumed inferior sex, religious minority or a teenaged youth. The fallacious and duplicitous trend pursued reads human dignity and values on the basis of flawed social and economic status, meant to earn personal gains at the cost of execution of talents and human capabilities. These social injustices constitute principle reason behind many political and social problems we face.
Similar qualms are unearthed by World Justice Project (WJP) which advances the rule of law around the world –placed Afghanistan the second-worst country in rule of law following Venezuela that has topped the list of 102 countries ranked in the report. The WJP is U.S.-based non-profit association – earlier released the report which was prepared based on responses from 1,000 people in each country and a total of 2,400 experts on how ordinary people see rule of law in their country. Also in the regional-level ranking, Afghanistan is placed in the last position, report reads. How would the rule of law be ensured when the law in a state finds the least application?
The survey conducted by WJP based on 44 indicators divided in eight categories which are: constraints on government power; absence of corruption; open government; fundamental rights; order and security; regulatory enforcement; civil justice; criminal justice and informal justice. Going through these indicators we do make an identical assessment about the government falling short to mainstream its affairs.
The worsened condition of law and order and frequent activities of ISIS and Taliban reflects as if insurgents are running a parallel government. On the other hand the former arbitrary release of large number of Taliban inmates seems to be strengthening their might and they are signaling their presence by carrying out attacks. What is clear is that the insurgents are expanding the range of their operations. The insurgents are operating at will and quite rapidly expanding operations to parts of the country where it previously appeared to have little ability to act. It also seems that the militants are familiar with important installations, and their attacks are meticulously staged.
Converse to statute of declaration of human rights, Afghanistan shows a dismal picture of law and order accompanied with rampant human right violation. Insecurity, crimes against humanity, increasing violence against women and children, lack of access to education, torture and killing of the innocent people are just some of the human rights violations happening in our country. The earlier torturing and burning to death of a guiltless lady on flawed accusation of torching the pages of holy book, depicts the gravity of social injustices, prevalent in Afghan society.
The role of the Afghan state justice institutions in maintaining rule of law and social orders is relatively weak. This particularly applies to rural Afghanistan, where almost 80% of the Afghan population lives in. Traditional justice system is active by default in many parts the country, being more powerful in southern, eastern and central parts of the country where state justice institutions have nominal existence.
Due to the weakness of the formal justice system in Afghanistan, however, in many communities traditional justice systems operate by default as the only justice system. Community leaders are sometimes uncertain about how certain practices have come to be accepted in their communities elders will say that the values are religious values, and religious leaders identify the same values as cultural, coming from the elders. This can occur particularly with harmful cultural practices, such as forced marriage, or payment of a girl as compensation or restitution. Responding to certain aired reservations, earlier the President had called on several lawyers for inspection over having forged degrees or being irrelevant in the field. Unlikely the president could not get them in line with the need of the country.
Hence, the delayed, denied or plagued legal justice system has left people with a single option of consulting traditional justice system. Many people view the formal justice system as foreign, corrupt, ineffective, expensive or geographically difficult to access. The system is composed of customary/tribal institutions of decision-making and dispute resolutions that incorporate the prevalent local customary law, institutionalized ritual and remediation. The members of these entities are village elders, influential leaders and religious leaders. The decisions are mostly exercised on flawed ground of certain biases.
In the absence of an effective national judicial system, the right to judicial protection has been compromised as uneven local standards have prevailed in criminal trials. Fair trial principles are enshrined in the Afghan constitution and the criminal procedure but frequently violated for various reasons, including the lack of well-educated, professional staff (especially defense lawyers), lack of material resources, corruption and unlawful interference by warlords and politicians. In order to stop this cycle of violence, states must institute policies aimed at human rights protection.
The rampant mishandling of resources, misuse of public office, and position of trust, veiled methods for sanctioning or rewarding those who hold positions of public trust through a system of checks and balances among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches and short of efficient systems of internal control of government including civil service standards and incentives, ethical codes, and administrative reviews are evident to partial system of accountability and poor governance.
It is likely the WJP report ranked Afghanistan at 102, the worst country. The judicial sector of Afghanistan is shown as the second-worst sector, ranked 101 followed by criminal justice which is ranked 100 in the list. "The rule of law is not the rule of lawyers and judges; all elements of society are stakeholders," the report said. "It is our hope that, over time, this diagnostic tool will help identify strengths and weaknesses in each country under review and encourage policy choices that strength the rule of law." The rule of law certainly is the exercise of fair trial to every individual irrespective of his social background, gender or racial group.
We have to mind it that apprehending militants followed by subjecting them to a fair trial is a crucial for maintenance of law and order. Long lasting peace can only be installed in Afghanistan provided the anti-state elements are brought to book through fair trial, holding the right culprit accountable for his deeds. In doing so the government should too consider the wages and authority of public officials serving this department, so that they should not be misled by any attractive offers. One of the central of element of good governance is proper regulation of law and order. Regulation makes it possible for men to live together peaceably in a community given the law rule than nuisance.