THE DANCING BOYS OF THE NORTH
Wealthy strongmen recruit adolescent boys for entertainment and sex,
with the local authorities powerless to stop the practice.
By Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi in Mazar-e-Sharif
"Some men enjoy playing with dogs, some with women. I enjoy playing
with boys," said Allah Daad, a one-time mujahedin commander in the
northern Afghan province of Kunduz.
He is one of a growing number of men involved in what is known
as "bacha baazi"— literally, "boy-play" — a time-honoured tradition,
deplored by human rights activists and clerics, that is seeing a
revival in the relatively secure north of Afghanistan.
The boys are kept by powerful older men, made to dance at special
parties, and often sexually abused afterwards. Known as "bacha
bereesh" - literally, "beardless boys", they are under 18, with 14
the preferred age.
"When I was young, I had a bacha bereesh who was the best in the
region," recalled Allah Daad, 44. "He danced like a flying
pigeon.... Nobody could take his place afterwards. I kept him for
three years, then left him when he matured."
Allah Daad has kept many boys over the years, and says he enjoys
his "hobby". "I am married, but I prefer boys to women," he
said. "You can't take women with you to parties in this region, and
you can't make them dance. These boys are our [mark of] prestige."
Large halls known as "qush-khana" provide the venues for bacha baazi
parties where the boys' "owners" or "kaatah" invite their friends to
watch them dancing. Late in the night, when the dancing is over, the
boys are often shared with close friends, for sexual abuse.
Allah Daad explained how the boys are enticed into the
arrangement. "First we select boys in the village and later on we
try to trick them into coming with us," he said. "Some of them stay
with us for money; they get a monthly allowance, and in return we
can have them any time we want. They don't stay with us all the
time - they can do their own jobs and then just come to parties with
us."
If a boy refuses to become a bacha bereesh, he said, there is little
a man can do to make him. "We can't force them," he insisted. "Only
the very powerful can have boys with them all the time."
The owner will take his boy to wedding parties to show him off to
other men.
"When the party starts, the boys are dressed in special clothes,
called `jaaman'," continued Allah Daad. "Then Mazari dancing bells
are tied to their feet and they dance in time to the music."
Several different types of dances are popular, he explained, each
with its own beat. If the boy refuses to dance or performs badly,
his master beats him with a long stick.
"We have to do that," said Allah Daad. "We spend money on these
boys, so they have to dance."
Allah Dad's current bacha, who is 16, refused to be interviewed.
Another owner forced his 14-year-old boy to speak, although he would
not give his name.
"I was dancing last night," he said, looking exhausted. "I have been
doing this for the past year. I have no choice - I'm poor. My father
is dead, and this is the only source of income for me and my family.
I try to dance well, especially at huge parties. The men throw money
at me, and then I gather it up. Sometimes they take me to the market
and buy me nice clothes."
The tradition of older men maintaining adolescent boys is by no
means restricted to the north of Afghanistan, but the custom is in
abeyance in the south, where the Taleban and their strict moral code
act as a deterrent.
In the north, no such curbs exist, and bacha baazi has seen a
massive resurgence in the past few years.
"Bacha baazi has increased tremendously lately and is still on the
rise," said Baz Gul, a resident of Kunduz. "In the past, people were
ashamed of it, and tried to hide it. Now nobody is shy about it, and
they participate openly in these parties."
He explained that there were several reasons why the practice had
become more common, one of which was the growing influence of local
strongmen, who regard bacha baazi as status symbols.
These militia commanders are supposed to have demobilised their
forces and handed over their weapons, but many still rule the roost
on the ground and retain the power to intimidate the local
population.
Baz Gul said poverty was another reason why boys could find
themselves ensnared, while the government had failed to do much
about the problem and its police force enjoyed little public
confidence.
"It used to be that only a few people had boys. Now everyone owns
one and the authorities don't care about it at all," he said. "It's
got to the point where almost no party takes place without dancing
boys. It's seen as a disgrace if you don't have dancing boys at your
wedding. This has led to a rise in immoral behaviour among boys, and
if nothing is done about it, this trend will continue."
For some, a bacha bereesh is a status symbol.
"I am not really rich, but I am just as good as the wealthy," said
Nasruddin, known as Nasro Bay, who lives in Baghlan province. "I
want as many bacha bereesh as possible, so that when I go to parties
I am no worse than anybody else."
Nasro Bay insisted that the dancing boy tradition was a good one.
"It's a good thing," he said. "We have our own culture. In foreign
countries, the women dance. We have our own dances which don't exist
anywhere else in the world."
Militia commanders and other men of substance buy and sell good-
looking boys, using the bacha baazi parties as marketplaces.
"Commanders and wealthy men arrange parties in order to select a
bacha bereesh," said Nek Mohammad, a resident of Baghlan's Andarab
district who frequently attends dance parties, although he does not
own a bacha bereesh himself. "Many of the men make their boys dance
at these parties, and other men choose one and pay for him. By the
end of the party, the boy has acquired a new owner."
He said substantial amounts of money changes hands in these
transactions.
Like Nasro Bay, Nek Mohammad sees public ostentation as part of the
bacha baazi tradition.
"Commanders often take their boys to a market and buy them beautiful
clothes, as a challenge to other commanders. Sometimes they even
give them cars. That gives them a very big reputation," he said.
Religious scholars condemn the custom, which they count as one of
the most sinful acts possible.
"Making boys dance and sexually abusing them is strictly prohibited
by Islam," said Mawlawi Ghulam Rabbani, a religious leader in Takhar
province. "Those who engage in it should be punished. They should be
thrown off a mountain and stoned to death."
Local officials admit the practice is prevalent but are at a loss as
to how to combat it.
"Yes, bacha baazi is practiced a great deal, especially in the Khost-
o-Fering and Andarab districts," said Hafizullah Khaliqyar, head of
the prosecutor's office for Baghlan province. "Boys are forced to
dance, they are sexually abused, and they are even bought and sold.
Fights take place over these bacha bereesh. It's increasing day by
day, and it's catastrophic."
Khaliqyar said there was little that prosecutors could do. "The
police and district heads won't cooperate with us," he
complained. "They don't send us their files, so we can't take
action."
He said the paramilitary commanders involved were so powerful that
no one – not even the police – would raise a hand against them.
"Regional commanders engage in this practice and support it," he
said. "They have money, power and weapons, and neither the district
heads nor the local population dares to tell us about this."
However, Khaliqyar said he is committed to fighting the practice and
had had some successes.
"We treat this matter very seriously. It's against the law, and the
perpetrators should be punished," he said.
Police in Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of Baghlan, recently raided a
bacha-baazi hall and arrested 30 men. "Their case is currently with
the Supreme Court. We have sent several men to prison on these types
of charges," said Khaliqyar.
In Takhar province, the head of the local security agencies, General
Sayed Ahmad Saame, also complained about lack of cooperation from
the public.
"We have closed every bacha baazi centre we have found," he
said. "We have forwarded seven cases to the prosecutor's office so
far this year."
But there is only so much the police can do. "This practice has such
a long history in this province that local people treat it as a
respected custom, and won't cooperate with us. This is a serious
obstacle to our work," said Saame.
General Asadullah Amarkhail, the security chief in Kunduz, agreed
that public cooperation was needed if the practice was to be curbed,
although to date 27 people had been arrested in his province.
Mohammad Zaher Zafari, head of the northern branch of the Afghan
Independent Human Rights Commission, bemoaned the government's
inability to take action.
"Unfortunately I have to say that this type of dancing, sexual abuse
and even the sale of boys has been going on for years," he said. "It
is a despicable culture. The boys involved are usually poor,
underage or orphans, and they are forced into it by their economic
circumstances.
"It's shocking from both a humanitarian and a legal point of view.
The boys who do this have a very dark future ahead of them – they
will always be ashamed and they grow into frustrated human beings,
and, pose a threat to community. The government has taken no action
on this issue, and child abuse is still being practiced."
Khaliqyar took a similar view of the damage done to the bacha
bereesh, saying it destroys their identity.
"If the United Nations and the government don't take this issue as
seriously as they do child-trafficking and drug-smuggling, and
punish the offenders, it's going to be almost impossible to prevent
it," he said.
Marre des eurosceptiques réactionnaires, marre des pessimistes nostalgiques. Désolé, je suis encore jeune et ai encore foi dans l'avenir. Le futur peut être bleu. L'Europe a converti la France à l'écologie. 
Alors c'est un vieux qui tient une droguerie. Il essaie d'apprendre à son neveu Kévin comment le business fonctionne pour pouvoir enfin prendre sa retraite. Entre une cliente : 
