(MENAFN- Daily Outlook Afghanistan) KABUL - Afghanistan wasdowngraded to Tier 2 Watch List for not making significant effort to eliminatetrafficking, but is making significant efforts to do so, the US StateDepartment said in its annual report on Trafficking in Person (TIP) on Sunday.
These efforts includeinvestigating some allegations of official complicity in trafficking andestablishing five new Child Protection Units (CPUs) to prevent the recruitmentof children into the Afghan National Police (ANP), the report said.
It added other efforts of theAfghan government were partnering with an international organization tofinalize and publish standard operating procedures (SOPs) for victimidentification and referral to care.
However, the Afghan governmentdid not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared to the previousreporting period, the report said, adding Afghan security forces continued tounlawfully recruit and use child soldiers and exploit boys in bacha bazi withimpunity.
Members of the Afghan NationalArmy (ANA) and Afghan Local Police (ALP) reportedly recruited boys specificallyfor bacha bazi by enticing them and by promising food and money.
Authorities continued to referthe majority of trafficking cases to mediation in lieu of criminal prosecutionand penalized sex trafficking victims for 'moral crimes.
Sex trafficking victimsreported prosecutors and judges solicited sexual favors from them whileinvestigating their cases.
Officials conflated traffickingand smuggling, could not confidently identify trafficking victims, and reliedon NGOs and foreign donors for nearly all victim assistance. ThereforeAfghanistan was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.
Recommendations:
Cease the unlawful recruitmentand use of children by Afghan security forces and demobilize children from allarmed groups with adequate protection and reintegration support.
• Issue a directive to lawenforcement to pursue criminal investigations in cases of human trafficking,including bacha bazi.
• Increase criminalinvestigations an
prosecutions oftrafficking—especially of law enforcement and military officials allegedlycomplicit in trafficking—and convict and adequately sentence perpetrators.
• Cease support to non-statearmed groups that recruit and use child soldiers.
• Cease penalization of victimsfor unlawful acts their traffickers forced them to commit, including 'moralcrimes.
• Significantly increasetraining for judicial officials on the anti-trafficking provisions in the newpenal code, the prohibition on mediation to settle sex trafficking cases perthe 2009 Elimination of Violence Against Women Act, and ensure judges havesufficient copies of the penal code.
• Disseminate, and conductwidespread training on, the SOPs for victim identification and referral toservices.
• Strengthen law enforcement'scapacity to address trafficking, including increased training and resources forthe Ministry of Interior (MOI)'s provincial anti- trafficking/smuggling units.
• Dedicate resources fortrafficking victim shelters and services, including for male victims.
• Amend Chapter 5 of the penalcode to increase the penalties for bacha bazi in line with penalties prescribedfor other forms of trafficking.
• Raise awareness oftrafficking at the local level, including its definition, law enforcement andsocial service resources available, and community prevention efforts.
• Ensure all ministries supportthe High Commission for Combating Crimes of Abduction and HumanTrafficking/Smuggling (high commission) and its sub-committee and contribute todata collection efforts.(Pajhwok)
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