Daily Times

In recent two e-mails I received from the parents of two teenager girls who were forcefully married to wealthy and powerful Tajik war criminals in northern Afghanistan, a painful story of torture, humiliation and imprisonment of their daughters reminds us of the era of Arab ignorance where women were buried alive. Sajida and Rashida were barely 12-years-old at the time of their marriage. The story, though interesting, is ignominious.

The recent sale of some Afghan teenager girls in separate incidents to Uzbek war criminals sparked concern about the protection of young girls in northern Afghanistan. Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission receives hundreds of complaints about the sale of teenager girls in Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kundoz, Jaozjan, Shiberghan, Baghlan, Samangan and Takhar provinces every month. Recently, in Takhar province, a nine-year-old girl was sold for just $ 200 while in Baghlan, an 11-year-old girl was sold to a Tajik warlord for only $ 400. In Paktika province, a young girl was sold for one million rupees to an illiterate man three months ago.

Sex trade and male prostitution has brought disgrace and shame to Afghanistan. The custom of sex trade has taken deep roots in the country after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. The Persian word, bacha bazi means ‘boy play’ or ‘boy for play’. As per its conservative nature, in Afghan society, women, either prostitute or professional performers, are not allowed to perform dance in the male parties. Therefore, in all parties arranged by warlords and their cronies, young boys are lured to dance all the night.

This is an established fact that a good-looking boy without beard normally becomes a status symbol for his master. Mohammad Zaher Zafari, head of the northern branch of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, hopelessly says; “Sexual abuse and even the sale of boys has been going on for years. The boys involved are usually poor, underage or orphans, and they are forced into it by their economic circumstances.” Another senior official, Hafizullah Khaliqyar, head of the prosecutor’s office for Baghlan province, complains that teenage boys are forced to dance. “They are sexually abused, and they are even bought and sold. Fights take place over these bacha bereesh [boys without beard]. It is increasing day by day, and it’s catastrophic,” he said. A local Afghan reporter, Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, recently interviewed some warlords saying they play with dogs, boys and love teenage girls. “Some men enjoy playing with dogs, some with women. I enjoy playing with boys,” warlord Allah Daad told Ibrahimi.

In the past, the Afghans used to be ashamed of it and tried to hide it, but nowadays nobody feel shame and they openly confess to indulging this shameless business. Religious scholars condemn the custom, which they count as one of the most sinful acts possible. Afghan ulema (Islamic scholars) are of the opinion that making boys dance and their sexual abuse is not allowed in Islam. Maulana Ghulam Rabbani of Takhar province understands that those involved in it needs to be punished.

Afghan police officers are deeply involved in male prostitution while the interior ministry in Kabul has recently received thousands of complaints from locals regarding the police sexual attacks on young boys. WikiLeaks recently released a cable from Afghanistan revealing US government contractor DynCorp’s involvement in the boy play business. DynCorp is a company of private militia training Afghan police force. According to recent reports, more than 95 percent budget of the militia comes from the US and part of that is being spent on child abuse parties and sex trafficking in northern Afghanistan.

To meet the sexual needs of Afghan police officers, in December 2010, as WikiLeaks cable reported, DynCorp purchased many young boys for Afghan policemen. The boys were later on used for sexual purposes. This shameless practice has also prompted the Defence Department of the US to hire a social scientist, Anna Maria, to investigate the problem.

DynCorp members and officers have already been alleged to engage in sex with 12 to 15 year old children and selling them to each other as slaves in Bosnia. After the WikiLeaks revelations about DynCorp’s involvement in sex trade in northern Afghanistan, Afghan interior ministry carried out a thorough investigation against this private militia company. The investigation resulted in the arrest of two Afghan police officials and nine other Afghans for the crime of “purchasing a service from a child”. The US State Department began its own investigation whether DynCorp had ignored signs of drug abuse among employees in Afghanistan or not, but inspector general of the State Department in its report concluded that dancing boy incident is no criminal activity in Afghanistan.

Reuters, in its November 19, 2007 report and Revolutionary Association of Women in Afghanistan in its recent report quoted a 42-year-old landowner, Inayatullah, of Baghlan province saying, “Having a boy has become a custom for us. Whoever wants to show off should have a boy.” In his short interview with Reuter’s reporter, Mr Inayatullah said, “I was married to a woman 20 years ago, she left me because of my boy. I was playing with my boy every night and was away from home, eventually my wife decided to leave me. I am happy with my decision, because I am used to sleeping and entertaining with my young boy,” he told Reuters.

A recent State Department report assessed the situation, saying that it amounts to a “widespread, culturally sanctioned form of male rape”. A majority of Afghans have no knowledge of their country’s law about male prostitution. Bacha bazi and all other kinds of prostitution are illegal under the Afghan law. In Afghan society, the victims of rape and assault — both male and female — are sometimes persecuted rather than the criminals who abuse them.

According to estimates thousands of young boys have been subjected to this form of abuse, but the actual numbers of these vulnerable boys is not known. In Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kundoz, Takhar, Baghlan, Samangan, Pangsher and Herat bazaars bacha bazi CDs and DVDs are widely circulated serving an audience who cannot afford the real thing.

The writer is the author of Afghanistan Beyond 2014 and Punjabi Taliban. He can be reached at zai.musakhan222@gmail.com