Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA) on Saturday said that the failure of the Ministry of Interior to pursue cases against corrupt officials whose arrest warrant was issued by the Attorney General’s Office has been slowing down efforts to combat corruption in the institutions.

The organization said that the failure to investigate major cases of corruption has also raised serious questions about the fairness of Afghanistan’s legal and judicial institutions and their legal reputation.

“The Ministry of Interior is not acting on the arrest warrants issued by the Attorney General and the courts. This situation has practically paralyzed the anti-corruption campaign,” said Naser Taimoori, a member of IWA.

“This institution (Interior Ministry) is still unable to act against the strongmen--we have examples of strongmen appointed to government positions, this is only day dreaming if you expect an investigation against them (strongmen),” said Abdul Rauf Eshpon, a member of parliament.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has also criticized the impunity of strongmen, who are accused of playing significant roles in major cases of corruption and embezzlement in the country.

“One of the factors is the intervention of the strongmen in legal issues, one of the major examples of this is the issue of the football federation where the interior ministry failed to take action despite persistent demands,” said Shabnam Salehi, a member of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC).

Last month, John Sopko, the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), criticized the Afghan government for not taking practical action on 6,500 cases of corruption that have not been assessed.

“We hope we will see that the arrest, trial and imprisonment of powerful individuals engaging in corruption occurs on a regular basis,” Sopko said.

Ordinary Afghans react:

 “The law is implemented only on the poor, it is not for the strongmen, we never saw a lawmaker, a strongman or a member of provincial council go to trial,” said Omid Wesal, a resident in Kabul.

Another Kabul resident, Shujauddin, said: “The prisons are full of the poor, there is no son of a lawmaker in the cell or the son of a minister---the son of those people accused of embezzlement are enjoying themselves at their homes.”

On June 26, The UN mission in Afghanistan also raised concerns over corruption in Afghanistan.

Deborah Lyons, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, on Thursday briefed the UN Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan and described corruption as a major challenge for the country.

The UN envoy said that the impunity of well-connected political figures remains a major obstacle to fighting corruption in Afghanistan.

“Like so many countries, Afghanistan continues to be plagued by corruption, which corrodes the confidence of the population and the donor community, and fuels the ongoing conflict. In spite of the  progress made in previous years in anti-corruption reforms, this progress has slowed in the past year, with key institutional reforms being neglected, including the establishment of the all-too-important independent anti-corruption commission.

"Apparent impunity of well-connected political figures remains a major issue. Additional progress in the fight against corruption is therefore crucial as the 2020 Pledging Conference on Afghanistan approaches,” she said.

President Ashraf Ghani has repeatedly stated in the past that fighting corruption is among his top priorities.