A/HRC/43/74 28. The task force also verified seven incidents of sexual violence, including rape, against four girls and 13 boys. Four incidents were attributed to the Taliban, two to the Afghan National Police and one to both the Afghan National Police and the Afghan Local Police. These include two incidents of bacha bazi4 involving two boys. The task force also received allegations of 16 incidents of sexual violence against children that could not be verified due to the sensitivities involved and concerns for the protection of the victims. The figures most likely do not reflect the full extent of incidents of sexual violence affecting children. 29. The task force verified 19 incidents of denial of humanitarian access, involving abductions, threats and intimidation, killing and injuring of humanitarian personnel and the looting of humanitarian goods. It attributed 18 of those incidents to anti-government elements (13 to the Taliban, 3 to ISIL-Khorasan Province and 2 to undetermined anti-government elements) and one to pro-government forces. 30. In all provinces, the task force noted further progress by the Ministry of Interior Affairs on the prevention of recruitment and use of children through the Child Protection Units in Afghan National Police recruitment centres. UNAMA/OHCHR and UNICEF have been providing technical support to the child protection units, which prevented the enlistment of 401 boys in the ranks of the Afghan National Police during the period under review. 31. On 5 March, the Child Rights Protection Law (Child Act) was enacted by Presidential Decree. The law defines a child as a person who has not “completed” the age of 18 years. The law constituted one of the priorities of the road map to compliance agreed in 2014, which details measures to fully implement the 2011 action plan to end recruitment and use of children in Afghan national security forces. The law includes provisions prohibiting bacha bazi and the recruitment and use of children, which are also reflected in the 2018 revised Penal Code. UNAMA/OHCHR had actively engaged with the Government to ensure the incorporation of such provisions. 32. The Child Act also established a national commission on the protection of children’s rights, chaired by the second Vice President, mandated to observe and protect children’s rights, to oversee and evaluate the implementation of the provisions of the law, and to ensure coordination among ministries and relevant governmental and non-governmental organizations. On 22 October, a national technical committee established under the commission met for the first time to develop a national plan of action for the implementation of the Child Act, and to establish a monitoring mechanism to ensure proper implementation of the law. 33. UNAMA/OHCHR continued to sensitize and train key stakeholders on the protection of children in armed conflict, specifically on the prevention of sexual violence (such as bacha bazi). This included a training session for 30 teachers in Logar province, and two training sessions for 83 judges, prosecutors and personnel of the Afghan National Defence Security Forces in Kandahar province. 34. In mid-November, a civil society organization in Logar province, amplified by media reports, brought to the attention of the public allegations of widespread sexual abuse of children in schools. UNAMA/OHCHR held a series of advocacy meetings, including with the Attorney General, and through the Group of Friends of Children and Armed Conflict, called for a prompt, independent, transparent and impartial investigation into the allegations. 5 V. Prevention of torture and respect for procedural safeguards 35. On 17 April, UNAMA/OHCHR issued its regular biennial report on the treatment of conflict-related detainees, covering the period from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018. The analysis presented in the report was based on interviews with 618 detainees held in 77 detention facilities run by the Government in 28 provinces. In the report, UNAMA/OHCHR 4 5 6 A harmful practice whereby boys are exploited by wealthy or powerful men for entertainment, particularly for dancing and sexual activities. It is criminalized in the revised Penal Code, which came into effect in February 2018. See https://unama.unmissions.org/children-and-armed-conflict.