10 kangaroo court incidents happen in north this year

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok):  Ten incidents of kangaroo courts took place in northern Afghanistan during the first half of the current year, UN officials said on Sunday.

This was told to a gathering titled “factors of violence and its impact on women” in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of northern Balkh province. The event took place at the United Nations Assistance Mission (UNAMA)’s regional office.

Women’s affairs official at UNAMA-north, Salma Osoli, told the gathering that they had registered some cases of violence against women involving militants this year.

She said during the first half of 2016, armed militants conducted 10 kangaroo court incidents. She did not provide further detail.

But human rights commission head in the north, Syed Ahmad Sami, told Pajhwok Afghan News they had registered six kangaroo court incidents all against women in Sari Pul and Jawzjan provinces.

He also expressed concern at increasing incidents of domestic violence against women in the four northern provinces – Samangan., Balkh, Jawzjan and Sar-i-Pul.

He said so far 380 incidents of violence against women had been registered with the human rights commission in the four provinces this year.

Balkh women’s affairs director Shehla, who attended the gathering, said a campaign should be launched against violence against women in the province.

She said her department had so far registered 281 incidents of violence against women in Balkh this year. She believed civil society activists, religious scholars, and the media could help curb crimes against the gender.

She listed reasons behind the violence against women as illiteracy, poverty and non-enforcement of law.

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