MoJ Convenes Conference on Justice for Children

November 27^th 2018

The Ministry of Justice of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan held a conference under the title of “Justice Conference for Children” to explain the situation of the delinquent children in the rehabilitation centers for the officials of the members departments of the rehabilitation centers.

In this conference, H. E. Mohammad Qasim Haleemi, the Deputy Minster (technical affairs) of the Ministry of Justice of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Deputy Minister of Education and the Deputy Minister of Information and Culture, the Deputy Head of UNICEF, representatives of the relevant government departments and the international aid agencies, participated.

In this ceremony, the problems of Juvenile Rehabilitation Centers were shared with the responsible governmental and international agencies in order to address them with a better coordination. The Deputy Minister of Justice considered children as the most vulnerable stratum of the society and emphasized on their rehabilitation and re-correction. He called upon the representatives of the responsible agencies to scrutinize the discussed problems and find out solutions in this conference.  He said, “After group work and finding out the solutions, a resolution shall be issued by the member agencies of this conference, so that the responsible agencies, according to their responsibilities, address the problems of these children.”

The deputy head of the UNICEF, the Deputy Minister of Education and the Deputy Minister of Information and Culture also spoke in this occasion. They too, stressed on correction and education of the delinquent children kept in these rehabilitation centers. Mr. Shafeeq Sameem the Deputy Education Minister (Islamic Affairs), promised to provide further teachers and other learning materials for the better education of the delinquent in JRCs.

Mr. Mir Fayazuddin Ameeni, the head of JRC Kabul, too spoke on the situation of the delinquent children and added, “Apart from the existing challenges, this center has tried its best in correction and education of the juveniles in these centers”.

During the conference, the representatives were divided into four groups and they discussed the proposed problems. The participants suggested solutions for the existing problems. The suggestion/proposals will be compiled under a resolution and forwarded for the signature of the senior officials of the departments, so that practical steps be taken for implementation.

Based on the law, keeping, and correcting/rehabilitating of the suspect, accused and convicted delinquent children, is one of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice, in order to better correct/rehabilitate children, has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with some of the government agencies, in the past. Based on the law and the relevant MoUs, some of the responsible government agencies have been obliged to cooperate in providing healthcare, cultural, religious, educational, vocational and physical exercise services to the juveniles of rehabilitation centers.