‘Afghanistan Justice System Completely Dominates by Men’

The United States ambassador to Kabul says the structure of Afghanistan justice system is completely dominated by men that the only way a woman can access it is through a male family member.

U.S. ambassador to Kabul, Hugo Llorens said, ” in 2013 women made up only eight percent of the countries judges. Six percent of prosecutors and less in one fifth of lawyers and as we know the success combined with the shortage of females in the legal sector means it women find it very difficult to report abuse or injustices because they are fearful and intimidated by a justice system completely dominated by men.”

In Afghanistan, there are essentially two legal systems that exist in parallel. One is the Kabul central government’s justice system which, despite years of funding from the US and the international coalition, is rife with corruption, widely discredited and virtually disregarded by the populace.

The other track is built around traditional legal practices, including ba’ad, and the cases are heard by local, tribal courts.

Afghan general attorney declared that nearly $ 25 million have been seized by the corrupted people in the past six months.

General attorney, Farid Hamidi said, “we have unstoppable efforts in providing justice and we strongly are standing to provide justice.’

The United States and the international community have begun working with tribal courts after multiple surveys indicated that up to 90 percent of criminal and civil complaints end up in this informal justice system.

Much has been made of the progress in women’s rights over the past decade in Afghanistan. Following five years of harsh Taliban rule, even the slightest improvement was initially hailed as a great leap forward for Afghan women, who had been largely closeted at home, with no access to education, jobs, even medical care in many instances.

By: Muhammad ZackArya