KABUL - The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Sunday expressed its worries about the possible participation of some candidates who according to the people's perspectives have been involved in cases related to human rights violations in the past and were not prosecuted by the courts. The IEC stressed that it cannot prevent such candidates from contesting the elections due to some Constitutional restrictions.
The IEC blamed the legal and judicial organs of the country for not being able to undertake adequate measures for preserving social justice and parity.
Elaborating on the topic, Noor Muhammad Noor, spokesman of the IEC said that failure of the legal and judicial organs in implementing the law has paved the way for the human rights violators to participate in the upcoming elections.
"We can expect nomination of some people who have a bad name in the society and have several cases of human rights violation pending against them. Unfortunately, we cannot take any action against them because they have not been convicted by any of the courts. It is a matter of great concern for the Commission," said Mr. Noor.
Meanwhile, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has said that people and human rights protection institutions are fully aware about the violators, but in the Constitution it has been stated that no one can be considered as a violator of human rights until he is convicted by the court for committing a crime.
"The list which has been prepared by the AIHRC with respect to war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country, would help the government in implementing justice and prevent those elements from contesting the elections, who have been found guilty of human rights violation," said Dr. Bidar, head of the AIHRC.
The Attorney General's office has also assured that it will help the IEC to find out those candidates who have criminal cases or are being tried in any of the courts.
"The IEC had asked for the list of those who were involved in cases related to human rights violation. It is also the desire of the Attorney General that the IEC sends the list of candidates so that we can do a profile check and find out if they have been booked for any offence," said Basir Azizi, spokesman of the Attorney General's office.
The comments from the IEC came in at a time when the AIHRC had prepared a documentary on the number of cases related to human rights which revealed some of the faces. But, it seems that lack of government support to the AIHRC is preventing the report from going public. (Tolo News)