IRIN
AFGHANISTAN: Child kidnapping alarming in the south - rights activist
10 March 2005


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]

KANDAHAR, 10 March (IRIN) - Government officials and human rights
activists have been alarmed at the increasing number of child
kidnappings in the southern Kandahar province after several kidnapped
children were allegedly killed when their parents failed to meet ransom
demands.

Thousands of people rallied in Kandahar on Sunday calling for action to
arrest and prosecute the kidnappers.

"We are deeply concerned about an increase in child kidnapping in the
southern region," Shamsuddin Tanweer, the head of child rights in the
Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) southern region
office, told IRIN in Kandahar. According to local media reports in
Kandahar, one child is kidnapped per week in the region on average.
There are fears that the actual number of kidnappings is higher, as many
parents do not report the disappearance of their children, fearing
reprisals.

Sunday's protest turned violent when protesters tried to approach the
governor's residence and stoned police who tried to prevent them doing
so.

"At least five Afghan policemen and one protester were injured when the
demonstrators became violent," Gen. Mohammad Salim Ihsas, chief of
security in the province, told IRIN. Protesters threw stones, but when
they tried to climb over police vehicles to approach the governor's
residence police fired into the air, Ihsas added.

Protesters IRIN interviewed were angry no measures had been taken
against child abductions in the Kandahar region. "They kidnap our
children and send us their body parts and we are just watching it," an
unidentified protester told IRIN. He said the kidnappers demanded large
amounts of money and sent the chopped fingers of a kidnapped child to
show they were serious. "No child has so far been returned," he noted.

Child kidnapping is still a serious issue in many parts of Afghanistan.
According to officials at the interior ministry in Kabul, at least 200
children were kidnapped during 2004. The problem existed in the northern
province of Mazar-e Sharif, the northeastern province of Kunduz, Takhar
and Badakhshan and now it is becoming an issue in the south, government
officials said in Kabul after Sunday's protest.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai also expressed serious concern on the
issue of child kidnapping on Tuesday as he addressed a gathering on
International Women's Day.

The president said terrorists and anti-government elements were behind
these acts. Karzai assigned Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali to
Kandahar to look into the issue closely. "One horrible method that
terrorists have used is to kidnap our children from the streets. This is
a heinous crime and it is the government's responsibility to fight this
crime and ensure the safety of its people," said Karzai.

The UN's children's agency UNICEF said it was also working to eradicate
the problem. "UNICEF shares the concerns of ordinary Afghan people at
every reported case of child abduction, kidnapping or trafficking,"
Edward Carwardine, a UNICEF spokesman, told IRIN in the capital Kabul.

Recognising that much work remains to be done in fostering the rule of
law in Afghanistan, and in introducing the necessary legal protection
for children, UNICEF is working closely with the government and other
partners as part of a National Plan of Action to combat child
trafficking, he added.

A recent Afghanistan national human development report recognised that
children made up the most vulnerable sector of society. The report noted
that 20 percent of children die before the age of five and that more
than 300,000 children may have perished during the conflict.


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
2005


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