4. POLICE-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF FIELD OPERATIONS
4.14 Office in Tajikistan
4.14 Office in Tajikistan
Background
According to the Permanent Council decision No. 852 of 19 June 2008, the Mandate of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan (OiT) envisages the following:
- Promote the implementation of the OSCE commitments by contributing to stability and security, to prevent conflicts and take measures for crisis management, as well as in the areas of, inter alia, police-related activities;
- Provide assistance in development of common approaches to address problems and threats to security; and
- Build national capacity and expertise within the OiT’s area of responsibility to facilitate an efficient transfer of tasks to the Republic of Tajikistan.
The first initial steps have been taken towards implementation of police reform. Upon request of the host country, the OSCE OiT has fostered an overall police reform project and supported Tajikistan in addressing threats posed to the country’s security emanating from organized crime, drug trafficking, terrorism, and violent extremism and radicalization leading to terrorism.
The Joint Needs Assessment on Policing, conducted in 2008, has been shared with the SPMU and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Republic of Tajikistan. The MIA is in full support of police reform efforts and The Counter Terrorism and Police Unit (CTPU) was created within the OSCE OiT in November 2008. Extensive research on police reform efforts internationally as well as in the region was conducted. In addition, the OSCE best practice manuals and police reform strategies have been studied and applied in a first draft Police Reform Concept Strategy paper.
Another step forward was the drafting of the MoU on Police Reform. Following the signing of the MoU in 2011 between the Government of Tajikistan and the OSCE, later approved by the Parliament of Tajikistan in 2012, the OiT, together with its main stakeholder, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), achieved the next milestone in their joint efforts when the Police Reform Strategy for 2013-2020 was approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan dated 19 March 2013, under No. 1438. It serves as a basis for further expanding the OiT’s support to Tajikistan in developing policing based on democratic principles and addressing threats posed by organized crime, drugs trafficking and terrorism.
The MIA has remained committed to police reform reinforced by the approval of the Police Reform Strategy. The management structure established in the form of a steering group and working groups on different levels has been active and functional, and co-ordinated the tailored reform process.
The fight against transnational crimes, including illicit drugs, human trafficking, and terrorism, as well as the fight against corruption were the priority tasks of the law enforcement agency.
These issues were considered to be among the most acute problems of the day. A particular matter of deep concern for all has been illicit drug trafficking.
In 2008 2009, the President of Tajikistan mentioned the OSCE among organizations with whom Tajikistan would increase co-operation in counter-terrorism issues. The President requested law enforcement and military agencies to be actively involved in preventive activities addressing global threats such as extremism, terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking and transnational crimes. Considering the willingness of the country in countering global threats like extremism and terrorism, the OiT proposed a “Counter Radicalization Capacity Building” project, which started in March 2010. The project is mainly directed on strengthening capacity of the country in preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization that leads to terrorism. Since May 2013, following a decree of the Prime-Minister of Tajikistan, the OSCE project has been closely co-operating with the Government, law enforcement agencies, Ministries and civil society representatives in a Working Group established mainly with the aim to draft a national strategy on preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization that leads to terrorism.
Police Reform
In order to provide additional support to the efforts of the CTPU UB in implementing the Police Reform Strategy the OiT, in co-ordination with the MIA, has established and launched the Police Reform Phases I (1 January 2012) and II (1 November 2013). The continuous support by the OiT has resulted in improving community policing and co-operation between the MIA and Civil Society on policing issues. In particular the MIA held two “Neighbourhood Watch & Volunteers” conferences in 2013.27
A Police Reform Steering Group in combination with a donor mechanism and the establishment of civil society advisory groups has been introduced. In 2013, secretarial support was provided for all meetings.
In 2013, the MiA and the OiT co-chaired two Police Reform Steering Group (PRSG) meetings at a high political level,28 several Police Reform Working Group meetings at the operational level, as well as meetings with Civil Society Advisory Groups to foster the drafting of a Police Reform (Development) Programme for 2013-2020 and an Action Plan for implementation of the Programme. The Programme serves as a fundamental medium-term programmatic document that identifies strategic objectives, goals and basic directions of police (reform) development; promotes a strategic management approach through training for law enforcement mid-level officials; prepares for and guides police reform implementation combining training and operational needs. These documents were reviewed and finalized by experts of all relevant law enforcement and other state agencies.29 By the end of 2013, the final drafts were submitted to the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan for review, pending approval.
In 2013, the OiT facilitated a needs assessment of the Tajik MIA Academy carried out by representatives from the Croatian Police Academy. The OiT provided capacity building of law enforcement officials through conducting a workshop on “Democratic Policing Principles”, including police ethics; and facilitated the participation of MIA officials at relevant conferences, in order to enhance the skills of the law enforcement strategic management structures to adequately respond to operational needs within police reform. The OiT, jointly
27 Cf. http://police-reform.tj/index.php/en/news/191-national-forum-of-the-neighborhood-watch-and-voluntary-police;
http://police-reform.tj/index.php/en/news/173-speech-by-the-representative-of-the-osce-office-in-the-republican-conference-neighborhood-watch.
28 Cf. http://police-reform.tj/index.php/en/news/190-the-sixth-police-reform-steering-group-meeting-was-conducted-in-dushanbe; http://police-reform.tj/index.php/en/news/176-the-fifth-meeting-of-the-police-reform-steering-group-has-been-conducted.
29 Cf.
http://police-reform.tj/index.php/en/news/193-experts-meeting-to-discuss-the-draft-police-reform-program-and-with the OSCE TNTD, UNODC and the Tajik MIA Academy conducted and supported international, regional and local conferences on combating terrorism, cybercrime and drug trafficking.
The OiT, together with the MIA co-organized and co-chaired two High Political level Police Reform Steering Group meetings30 with involvement of local and International organizations and some embassies for further police reform promotion and the drafting of the Police Reform Action Plan. This has resulted in the establishment of a sub-working group tasked to draft the Police Reform Programme and Action Plan.
On 27-29 November, the OiT facilitated a three-day expert operational meeting with the aim of aligning the Police Reform Programme and Action Plan with the National Police Reform Strategy. The meeting took place in Khodzha-Obi-Garm and brought together some 45 experts from the MIA, Civil Society, NGOs, International Organizations and Embassies as well as international independent experts to finalize the documents before sending them for final inter-governmental procedures and further presidential approval.31
In order to enhance the capacities of the Police Management for implementing police reform, and to facilitate the envisaged changes in the police structure according to democratic policing principles, the activities have entailed a multi-year series of training on “Leadership and Management” with specific topics and modules. In order to ensure gradual change, the OiT provided a training on “The Role of Law Enforcement Officers in the Process of Police Reform” to deepen senior managers attitude of responsibility in policing.
From 15-19 April, the OiT facilitated a coherent one-week “Leadership and Management”
training addressing basic elements such as organizational culture; co-operative management;
co-operative leading system; and law enforcement challenges. The course was developed and delivered by an external expert from Germany. A total of 20 participants representing senior and mid-level management of the MIA from all regions of Tajikistan attended the training.
From 1-9 April, a joint delegation from the MIA and the OiT went on a study trip to the USA.
Organized by the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of the US Embassy in Tajikistan and The Emergence Group (TEG), the study visit focused on the topic of Community Policing.
From 13-19 April, the OiT facilitated the participation of two MIA representatives at the second International Conference of the International Association of Police Academies (INTERPA) on “Contemporary Issues in Education, Training and Scientific Research in Security Fields” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
From 4-6 September, the OiT facilitated the participation of two MIA officials at the “Third Meeting of the Heads of Police Organizations and Agencies” in Istanbul, Turkey.
On 10 September, the OiT facilitated the participation of two MIA officials at the 41st “Regular Meeting of Council of Ministers of Internal Affairs of CIS Participating-States” in Astana, Kazakhstan.
On 24 to 25 October, the OiT facilitated the participation of two MIA officials at the “OSCE Annual Police Experts Meeting” on "Improving the Role of the OSCE in Police-related
30 Cf. http://police-reform.tj/index.php/en/news/190-the-sixth-police-reform-steering-group-meeting-was-conducted-in-dushanbe; http://police-reform.tj/index.php/en/news/176-the-fifth-meeting-of-the-police-reform-steering-group-has-been-conducted.
31 Cf. http://police-reform.tj/index.php/en/news/193-experts-meeting-to-discuss-the-draft-police-reform-program-and-action-plan-for-its-implementation.
Activities: Experiences and Lessons Learned", organized by the TNTD/SPMU in Vienna (see also chapter 2.2)
On 18 November, the OiT facilitated the participation of two senior managers of the Police Academy of the Republic of Tajikistan at the “5th Meeting of the International Association of Police Academies (INTERPA) Executive Board Meeting” in Ankara.
Throughout 2013, the OiT thus facilitated the participation of some 14 mid and senior level law enforcement managers in different international conferences and workshops.
In order to assess the real crime situation in Tajikistan, the OiT conducted a nation-wide survey on “Latent crime” from November to December 2013. The assessment findings provided the platform for police planning to respond with the right amount of human resources and equipment to mitigate the crime situation in Tajikistan. The latent crime survey was carried all over Tajikistan and covered some 1,300 respondents. The respondents comprised of randomly selected citizens and law enforcement officers. It revealed a lack of confidence and trust in the police by civil society. More than half of the respondents noted a lack of confidence in their personal security and in the security of property interests.
Moreover when looking for security most of them relied on themselves and on their relatives.
The survey also noted that a high number of criminal acts were not registered. In addition to identifying shortcomings that require focus and efforts to be addressed, the survey also served as a first milestone to trace the change within the Police Reform process in 2013-2020.
Counter-Terrorism
On 16 January, the OiT, in partnership with the United Nations Institute for Crime and Justice Research (UNICRI), conducted a roundtable on rehabilitation of prisoners’ issues in Tajikistan, where law enforcement agencies of Tajikistan discussed good practices in the prevention of extremism and radicalization in prisons.
On 30 April, the OiT facilitated a workshop on the “Role of Mosques in the Prevention of VERLT”.
From 14-15 May, the OiT facilitated the participation of one MIA official and one representative from the General Prosecutor’s Office at the International Conference on “The Use of Special Investigation Techniques to Combat Terrorism and Other Forms of Organized Crime,” which took place in Strasbourg, France.
From 1-10 June, the OiT, in compliance with the MIA’s request and the Police Reform Programme relating to actions against terrorism for the period of 2013-2020, organized a ToT on “VIP Security and Close Protection Techniques with Human Rights Elements” in Garm, Rasht Valley. Three experts from a French VIP Protection Unit delivered the training to some 50 members of the special police unit (OMON). Participants came from different regions, including the Republican OMON (Dushanbe); the OMON of Soghd Regional Centre;
the OMON of Khatlon; as well as the OMON of Rasht. This resulted in further cascade training by OMON trainers, who trained 70 other OMON staff on VIP security by the end of 2013. They were trained within the framework of the OiT support to combat terrorism, which has been implemented in Tajikistan for three years.
From 18-19 June, the OiT carried out a national seminar on “Women in Countering Radicalization” at its premises.
On 21 June, the Working Group on the Prevention of Violent Extremism and Radicalization Leading to Terrorism (VERLT), led by the Security Council of Tajikistan, convened at the OiT
premises.
From 26-27 June, the OiT facilitated the participation of 1 MIA official at the 8th Operational Working Group meeting of the Project KALKAN/INTERPOL on “Terrorist Routes from/to Conflict Zones and Lessons to be Learnt on De-Radicalization” in Istanbul, Turkey.
On 2 July, the OiT, in close co-operation with the TNTD/SPMU and UNODC, organized a Regional Conference on “Combating Cybercrime Threats”. 44 participants from different law enforcement agencies, Embassies, internet provider companies and three experts were involved in this activity.
On 1 October, the OiT, in co-operation with the TNTD/ATU, organized a National Roundtable on “Preventive Measures to Hinder the Use of Explosives by Terrorists”. 26 representatives from different state and private agencies participated in the event.
From November to December, the OiT conducted a “Needs Assessment on Counter Terrorism Issues” among all local law enforcement agencies that are engaged in anti-terrorism measures to assess current capacities of agencies to combat anti-terrorism and extremism phenomena. There was a necessity to conduct the needs assessment on countering terrorism in order to better identify and prioritize the areas where the OSCE can provide support and enhance the capacity of law enforcement agencies in countering and preventing terrorism issues. The needs assessment served as a basis for planning in 2014.
For follow-up processes, a comprehensive Needs Assessment Report was produced, which was going to be considered by the OiT and its partners for 2014 and 2015.
On 10-12 December, the OiT, in co-operation with UNODC, and supported by the TNTD/ATU, organized a regional workshop on "Sharing Practices in International Cooperation for the Purpose of Investigation, Prosecution and Adjudication of Terrorism Related Cases" in Dushanbe. The workshop convened 35 representatives from the General Prosecutor’s Offices, financial monitoring bodies, national investigation departments of the MIA and national security committees, as well as judges of municipal and supreme courts from the Central Asian region. Participants exchanged experiences and discussed challenges related to extradition, mutual legal assistance and co-operation between law enforcement agencies to counter terrorism. Participants also discussed counter-terrorism practices in the UK, the US, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Representatives from INTERPOL, the OiT and UNODC delivered presentations and took part in the discussions.
Drug Trafficking
In March 2013, the Drug Control Agency (DCA) under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan printed and published its 2012 Annual Report on the drug situation in the Republic of Tajikistan, which was financed and supported by the OSCE, within the OiT’s programme to combat illicit drug trafficking. The Annual Report describes the efforts of law enforcement agencies in 2012; reports on the drug situation in the country; the situation in Afghanistan;
analyses drug abuse and drug prevention efforts; as well as international co-operation of the DCA. The OiT continued to support the publication of the Annual Report as part of a larger public outreach initiative of the DCA in drug prevention efforts and in identifying the future focus of investigations. 800 copies of the report were printed in the Tajik, Russian and English languages and distributed among international and local law enforcement agencies.
The OiT has also supported a campaign on combating drug trafficking and drug prevention.
In 2013, the Drug Prevention Campaign was conducted by an implementing partner, the public organization “Source of Life” with involvement of DCA staff. The campaign covered nine regions, some of them neighbouring Afghanistan: Shurabad, Khovaling, Baljuvan, Panj, Shaartuz, Mastchoh, Gonchi, Asht and Zafarabad. The campaign targeted some 10,000
people and consisted of performances by actors, songs, sports events and discussions on drug-related issues. Special attention was given to youth to attract them to sports and to inform them about drug-related diseases and crimes in order to prevent them from using and trafficking drugs.
With respect to strengthening the activities in this area, the President of Tajikistan in his message to the Parliament instructed to develop a National Strategy on Counter Narcotics for the period of 2012-2020 and further extended the state efforts on this issue.
The Strategy fully corresponds to the activities that the OiT is implementing on the Drug Prevention Campaign since 2008 in cooperation with the DCA.
The OiT, jointly with the MIA, organized a sports tournament under the motto “Sports against Drugs” among youth working in local and international organizations as well as an international Conference on “International Cooperation in Combating Transnational Drug-Related Organized Crime” in Dushanbe and provided support in organizing a TNTD/SPMU bilateral meeting on combating illicit drug trafficking from Afghanistan with involvement of Afghan senior law enforcement managers in Dushanbe.
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