The purported policy has made headlines as the military attempts to kick out a Special Forces Commander accused shoving an official of a Afghan Local Police unit that reportedly had raped a young Afghan boy and chained him to his bed, and then physically assaulted the boy’s mother when he was confronted about it.
Green Beret Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland admits to shoving the alleged pedophile Afghan police commander, whom he had trained, but maintains the Afghan official had raped a young boy, and was keeping the child chained to a bed as a sex slave. And when the boy’s mother attempted to report the incident the Afghan commander beat the woman up.
That incident took place in 2011. Child sexual abuse prevails among American-backed local police officials in Afghanistan, as part of an Afghani-cultural norm known as bacha bazi, which translates literally as “boy play.”
The Department of Defense is being accused of openly looking the other way at the practice, even in the face of reports that children are victimized on U.S. military bases.
U.S. commanders in Afghanistan are reportedly permitted to lecture Afghan police officials on human rights, but any formal reprimand is to come from local Afghanistan courts. Typically the commander will get nothing more than a day in jail.
According to at least one published report, a girl raped by an Afghan military official was forced to marry her attacker.
In 2011, Afghanistan acknowledged in a pact with the United Nations it’s country military abused children in its ranks, and vowed to curb the problem.
Still, members of the U.S. military report hearing children screaming during acts of sexual abuse.
The U.S. Department of Defense pushes back against the notion soldiers are encouraged to ignore acts of abuse, but concedes there’s no obligation for military personnel to report any human rights violation.
Such atrocities are expected to be reported, “up the chain of command,” the DOD spokesman said.
