An investigative report prepared by TOLOnews reveals that 44 paragraphs from 33 articles of the Afghan Constitution either failed to implement, or violated, the nation's Constitution since it was ratified in  2004.
 
The report is being prepared through an assessment of the Constitution with views gathered from law experts and legal institutions, including the Constitution oversight institutions.
 
Meanwhile, the Independent Commission for overseeing the implementation of the Constitution (ICOIC) has also confirmed that many Constitutional provisions have been violated over the past sixteen years.
 
The findings of the report indicate that at least 44 paragraphs from 33 articles of the Constitution have either not been implemented, or they were violated by various governments over the past sixteen years.
 
“The national sovereignty of Afghanistan has been reflected in Article 4 of the Constitution of Afghanistan. Election is one of the sources to determine the national sovereignty of the country, however, so far we have not been able to determine this in various areas and in various places,” said Abdul Rauf Herawi, member of ICOIC.
 
The National Unity Government (NUG) under President Ashraf Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah and the National Assembly of Afghanistan are accused of lack of protection of mines, forests and the environment, mistreatment of citizens and deprivation of the people from their basic citizen rights and these are among the key factors which have been undermining implementation of some of the articles and paragraphs of the Constitution of Afghanistan,  say legal experts.
 
“One of the provisions of Article 7 of the Constitution obliges the government to ensure the prevention of cultivation and use of illicit drugs and intoxicants,” said legal expert Wahid Farzayee.
 
“Article 97, Article 58, Article 116 and Article 134 of the Constitution have defined the parameters for issues such as the budget, the sovereignty of the institutions and the three pillars of the government, but this has been violated by the Chief Executive and the President,” said Naser Taimoori, a researcher from Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA).
 
What do the Afghans have to say?
 
“I feel pride that we have the laws here, we have the Constitution, but I feel very sad when I see that those who are supposed to be the legislators violate the Constitution,” said Masooma Sadat, a resident in Kabul.
 
“They call themselves the lawmakers, they call themselves ministers, but they never bothered to focus on the implementation of the law,” said Shekiba Andarabi, a defense lawyer in Kabul.
 
What does the government says?
 
“Based on paragraph 1 of Article 64 of the Constitution, protecting the implementation of the Constitution is one of the duties of the president. The president is committed to protect the guidelines of the Constitution and the rest of the prevailing laws of the country,” said Latif Mahmoud, deputy spokesman to President Ashraf Ghani.