The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) announced on Thursday that the cases of a number of Vice-Presidential and Provincial Council candidates registered for the upcoming elections but accused of involvement in war crimes and human rights violations would be forwarded on to the courts before the end of next week.
According to election officials, seven criminal complaints were lodged against members of the Presidential candidate field, which includes 11 tickets in total.
"Complains have been filed against some of the Presidential candidates that have a criminal basis, so from our perspectives, these cases should be investigated by the legal and judicial organs," ECC representative Nader Mohseni said. "The ECC has completed the documents and will refer them to the Attorney General for investigation."
Meanwhile, the former head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) said the ECC decision was move for putting undue pressure on the candidates and claimed it would harm the democratic process.
"If they commit any crime, violation or lawbreaking act during the election, the ECC should follow the case within the limit of its authorities, if not authorized to do so, then refer it to the legal and judicial organs," former IEC Chief Fazel Ahmad Manavi said. "Otherwise, it harms democracy and it could be an anti-candidate campaign, or it could be interpreted as a source of pressure on candidates."
A number of law experts have criticized the timing of the decision, calling it late, but emphasized that if evidence of wrongdoings exists, it should be assessed by the Attorney General.
"It's too late and would damage the identity and personality of the candidates, and it could have negative impacts on the standing of these candidates," university law lecturer Tahir Hashimi said. "But in electoral affairs, they can't be prevented from investigating these complaints."
ECC officials said complaints against Provincial Council candidates were still being processed and reviewed preliminarily.
"We are still working on educational documents of some of the Provincial Council candidates, their are some issues with their backgrounds, so we are working on that," Mohseni said.
This comes after the head of the ECC last week revealed that accused war criminals had found their way into the Presidential race. He did not name the candidates, but said that there were complaints about at least seven candidates involving war crimes, corruption and land grabbing.
There are only about four months between until the vote in April, but preparations have been well underway for months. The elections have been heralded as the most important vote in Afghan history, coming at a time when the NATO coalition is readying its withdraw and President Hamid Karzai has signaled he intends to step down after over a decade at the helm of the Kabul government.