Afghan Biographies

Anti-corruption Judicial Center (ACJC)


Name Anti-corruption Judicial Center (ACJC)
Ethnic backgr.
Date of birth
Function/Grade Background
History and Biodata

Anti-corruption judicial center Anti-Corruption Justice Center (ACJC)

ACJC-Chef:
Mohammed Alif Urfani (20171016)

News about ACJC:
Two Anti-Corruption Criminal Justice Centre (ACJC) employees have been shot dead by an unidentified gunman early Monday morning in Kabul. The killed servants were on their way to office when a gunman opened fire on them in Charahi Qambar, located in the western part of Kabul on the daily light.(20170410)

A police officer of the Anti-Corruption Justice Center (ACJC) was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Kabul city.(20171016)
 

Attorney General Office (AGO) spokesman Jamshid Rasouli said that two prosecutors of the Anti-Corruption Criminal Justice Center (ACJC) came under attack on their way to office in Kamapni area at around 7am in the morning of July 06, 2019. The slain prosecutor was identified as Abdul Qadir and his injured colleague as Karimullah who had been taken to hospital.



Background:
To fight corruption in the country, the National Unity Government had inaugurated the ACJC on June 30, 2016, aimed at eliminating corruption and to trigger government servants accused of corruption into justice. The centre has representation from police, prosecutors, and judges from the ministry of interior, Attorney General Office and courts. Police has to detect corruption, prosecutors prosecute criminals and judges pass verdicts. On November 12, 2016, the ACJC held its first two trials.

More Background:
Sayed Ghulam Hussain Fakhri, chairman of High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption said July 16, 2016 that the government seems to be reluctant to start the work of the recently established anti-corruption justice center. But, Afghanistan's Attorney General Office (AGO) has said that staff recruitment for the anti-corruption justice center is in the final stages. The center will be operational as soon as the recruitment process is completed. "The recruitment of attorneys and other officials for the center has started and will be completed within a week, where after it will formally start its task," AGO spokesman Basir Azizi said.

Before signing off to NATO Summit in Warsaw, Afghan leaders officially announced the opening of anti-corruption center. Critics say that the government is now silent over the work of the center that was founded to bring corrupt officials to justice.

The High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption believes that if anti-corruption justice center started its work with complete independence and without influence from the politicians, there is a hope for a robust action against corruption. "Now it is the time to take practical steps. The government should do more to help the center start its work," Fakhri said. "The center must start its operations by holding corrupt officials accountable," political analyst Najib Mahajir said. Back in June 2016, the Afghan government officially announced the inauguration of Anti-corruption justice center in an attempt to bring corrupt government officials to justice

AGO spokesman Basir Azizi said all cases against former and incumbent government officials will be investigated thoroughly at the anti-corruption judicial center. The head of High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption (HOOAC), Sayed Ghulam Hussain Fakhri, said there would be no hope in the fight against state corruption for as long as the anti-corruption judicial center failed to start its work. "The center should be independent and no one should be able to interfere in its activities. The center should investigate important corruption cases in a transparent manner," he added.

Sayed Akram Afzali, head of Integrity Watch Afghanistan, said incumbent government officials who are charged with corruption should face judicial process by the center. "We expected the center to start its activities as soon as possible. We also expected that the best officials be appointed to the center," Afzali added.(20160719)

The Head of the Afghanistan Supreme Court has stated that the center for justice and anti-corruption will begin practical work in the coming week (01.8.16-07.08.16) after its policy is launched.Some of the government officials in charge of fighting against corruption were themselves heavily involved in corruption. Many top level government officials were immune from prosecution over the past several years.  In addition, there were some legal problems to prosecute senior government officials including government ministers.  The lack of an authorized organization was an obstacle to prosecute senior government officials including the ministers.

Recently, President Ghani has delegated authority to Major Crime Task Force to arrest anyone involved in corruption including governors, deputy ministers and ministers.  He also promised to double the size of this organization to effectively fight corruption. With the establishment of Anti-Corruption Criminal Justice Center, dozens of cases of corruption belong to senior government officials will be investigated and these people will be prosecuted soon.

The establishment of National Procurement Authority and the dismissal of a number of senior government officials from their positions are some of the other major steps taken in this regard.  Millions of dollars has been restored because of transparency in the contracting process by National Procurement Authority.  This authority prevented the waste of money and brought transparency and justice in contracts. (20160727)

There are concerns the allegations against Abdul Ghafar Dawi and others were mostly related to differences between business partners. Major corruption cases in which   powerful political figures are involved should be prioritized in the Anti-Corruption Justice Center. Cases of business differences do not relate to the center. There are rumors, that the ACJC was also misused for political and economic gains.(20170404)

see also: Anti-Corruption Criminal Justice Center ACJC

Court cases:
Three ex-senior officials of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (MUDH) will be tried in the Appellate Court by the Anti-Corruption Justice Center (ACJC).
This comes as the special tribunal formed to try the officials in corruption cases jailed four Afghan officials for 20 and 7 years each and a total fine of 1.86 billion Afghanis on charges of embezzlement during the preliminary court hearing late in March this year.
According to the court hearing, Mohammad Aminullah Qani, Head of Apartments Cohesion and Syed Aman Sadat, Manager Finance Apartments Cohesion were jailed for 20 years each on charges of the embezzlement and misuse of the authority. The two former officials of the Ministry of the Urban Development and Housing were also fined 150 million Afghanis each.
The two other officials, Ahmad Nawaz Bakhtyar, Director of Housing Enterprise and Mohammad Yaqub Ibrahimi, the Deputy Director for Housing Enterprise, were jailed for seven years each. The special tribunal also awarded a fine of 443 million for each of the former officials on charges of the embezzlement and misuse of the authority.
The three officials except Mohammad Yaqoob Ibrahimi are serving in Jail. Ibrahimi is on the run and the verdict during the trial was announced in his absence as efforts are underway for his arrest.(20170620)

Last Modified 2019-07-06
Established 2016-07-19