A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING CRIME IN THE CRIMINAL LAW OF AFGHANISTAN AND IRAN

Human trafficking, as one of the crimes against human dignity and security (when organized), threatens all political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions of countries. To combat this perilous phenomenon, numerous international documents have been contracted, one of which is the Protocol on Human Trafficking. This protocol asks countries to criminalize this crime in their domestic laws. Accordingly, the lawmakers of Afghanistan and Iran inspired by the human trafficking protocol, have criminalized this crime. The background of criminalizing human trafficking in Afghanistan criminal law dates back to 2008 in the law of Combating Abduction and Human Trafficking, followed by the Law on Combating Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling in 2016 and the Afghanistan Penal Code in 2017. The background of criminalizing human trafficking in Iran criminal law dates back to 2002 with the enactment of the Law on Combating Human Trafficking, which is still in effect. This law predicts the crime of human trafficking and the actions related to human trafficking. In the definition of human trafficking as stated in Afghanistan's Anti-Human Trafficking Law, the material behaviors differ from those outlined in Iran's Anti-Human Trafficking Law, as noted in Articles 1 and 2 of the law. In Article 3 of the Law on Combating Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling, the methods of commission are largely similar to those in Iran's Human Trafficking Law; however, regarding the mental element of this crime, Afghan criminal law encompasses a broader scope compared to Iran criminal law. The definition provided for this crime in Iran law regarding the material and mental elements is somewhat different from the protocol on human trafficking, but it is completely aligned with the methods of commission. In Afghanistan criminal law, the material element and the means of commission are in accordance with the protocol, but its mental element has a broader scope compared to the protocol. In the criminal law of Afghanistan and Iran, there is a similarity in terms of imprisonment and fines; however, in the discussion of armed rebellion and corruption on earth, the initiation of a crime and complicity in a crime the laws of Afghanistan diverge from those of Iran. Regarding the responses derived from civil and administrative law, there are many similarities in the criminal laws of both countries.