The OSCE Centre in Bishkek

Background

The OSCE Centre in Bishkek (CiB) was established in 1998 to promote the implementation of OSCE commitments, facilitate the exchange of information, establish and maintain contacts with local authorities, universities, research institutions and NGOs, and encourage Kyrgyzstan's further integration into the OSCE community.

Implementation of the Police Assistance Programme started in 2003. The Interim Police Assistance Programme, established in 2005, aimed to prepare the ground for continued progress towards deep structural reform of Kyrgyzstan’s police system and to strengthen the institutional and implementation capacities of certain police units.

Since 2007, the Police Reform Programme (PRP) has become an integrated part of the Unified Budget of the CiB. Funding from the Unified Budget has therefore increased the longer-term effectiveness of the Programme and allowed more efficient monitoring of the planning and implementation of the Programme. The PRP has been a crucial factor for Kyrgyzstan’s public security, especially in light of the events of April/June 2010, as well as in the reform process of the entire criminal justice sector.

The PRP lobbies for comprehensive reform at all levels of Kyrgyzstan’s law enforcement bodies in conjunction with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The Ministry of Interior (MoI) had previously lacked action plans for implementing any of the abandoned strategies to reform the law enforcement bodies over the previous 9 years. This shortcoming was further aggravated by successive Governments failing to fully support changes within the MoI. This lack of political will and the Ministry’s resistance to reform have resulted in little progress in promoting the mechanisms and institutions designed to further transparency, accountability and civilian oversight.

Kyrgyzstan remains in the recovery and development process with many political changes and reforms. 2012 was no different and, due to the collapse of parliamentary coalitions and a change of the Government composition, political stability presented a challenging environment.

The CiB remains committed to fostering a relationship of mutual trust, confidence and partnership between law enforcement authorities and civil society. Through the PRP, the CiB aims to develop a professional, transparent, accountable service to civil society; through structural changes, the tackling of crime and fostering community engagement.

Existing problems of low levels of legitimacy affecting law enforcement bodies, the diminished trust of police and poor co-operation did not significantly improve but the CiB was able to increase co-operation across all partners and to build a partnership with both the Parliamentary and Government committees covering law enforcement. This development was partnered with increasing direct co-operation support to civil society representatives.

This represents a distinct change from approaching all reforms solely through the MoI and its personnel.

During this time, the Kyrgyz government through the presidential leadership began to address the provision of opportunities to enhance civil society participation in the protection and promotion of human rights. The PRP facilitated this co-operation platform between Government and civil society representatives to further promote the police reform process.

This was demonstrated by the widespread participation of civil society organizations during discussions of the police reform concept, the independent drafting of alternative concepts and the work of the Public Supervisory Council (PSC) of the MoI.

The PRP provided support, assistance and advice throughout this process, concentrating on the three priorities of sustainable commitment from the Kyrgyz authorities, engagement of civil society, and multilateral assistance from the international community.

Police Reform

Throughout 2012, the PRP facilitated the promotion of police reform through a joint police-public reform concept by lobbying for a consolidation of three competing concepts into a single strategy document. The PRP therefore hosted co-ordination meetings between the PMO, the MoI, Parliamentarians and civil society representatives.

There were rigorous attempts to reach consensus on these three concepts. However, the drafters of the different versions did not wholly agree on key tenants and the Government coalition of the time did not fully support the process, despite PRP championing it. However, the process was not without success as new and productive relationships were built with the PMO. This directly enhanced the implementation of projects and addressed the issue of police reform. By working directly with the Government, the PRP enjoyed greater political buy-in. In 2012, the Parliament and PMO, guided by the PRP, tasked the MoI to finalize the reform concept by taking into account input from the Government and civil society alike. The newly appointed senior management of the MoI has since taken decisive steps in partnering with civil society and finalising the concept. However, at the end of 2012 the concept had still not been finalized.

Police Accountability

In 2012, the PRP supported members of the MoI’s PSC in their efforts to increase police accountability through the assessment and enhancement of police-public relationships and the monitoring of post-administrative arrest redistribution facilities. This was facilitated in conjunction with the CiB’s Human Dimension (HD) component and as many as 45 public hearings were held nationwide with participation of police, local administration and civil society. These events helped to identify root problems and develop recommendations for solving those problems.

In June, an MoU was signed between the Ombudsman’s Office, NGOs, the OSCE and several Government ministries, including the MoI, which provides free and unannounced access to all places of detention, aimed at improving the compliance with standards of international human rights. The findings of such visits were presented within two independent reports and submitted to the Interior Minister for their consideration and proposals for further improving of the quality of police service. The independent monitoring of detention facilities confronted law enforcement malpractice and furthered an agenda for a more open, accountable and transparent service.

A key outcome of these developments was the creation of a legal basis for civilian oversight, due in part to the lack of capacity of the PSC. The PRP developed and assisted draft legislation on Civilian Oversight that quickly passed four aspects of examinations: legal, human rights, gender and anti-corruption. It was widely discussed and submitted to the MoI and PMO for consideration and their recommendations. The PMO decided to elaborate it further and align it with a redrafted Law on Police.

The PMO did, however, request assistance from the PRP to conduct a baseline survey of MoI capacity and present the findings to a special commission formed under the

Government. The baseline survey was conducted in August-September 2012. The PMO and new senior management of the MoI proposed to enhance the quality of the service and create conditions that match the task.

Furthermore, with training support provided by the PRP, civil and human rights elements have been integrated into the law enforcement training of investigators and operational officers with training conditions at the Police Academy and Special Police Schools developing towards international standards.

This has been in addition to in-service training for serving officers through a planned annual human rights course at the MoI Retreat, “Dynamo”. This course has been previously delivered at the Police Academy, but suffered operational abstractions. Therefore, it was planned to operate the course as an external course.

The PRP provided a considerable amount of translated materials to improve police professional standards. The instructions were further developed by the faculty of the Police Academy on the basis of public opinion polls of citizens’ perception of police service. The poll was conducted in both State languages and authored by the Human Rights Centre at the Academy and delivered through the MoI and Osh Mayoral websites.

Gender Mainstreaming

In conjunction with ODHIR and the MoI, the PRP delivered training on gender mainstreaming and domestic violence for 75 managers of headquarters and regional subdivisions. The training was conducted by host-country trainers and international experts from ODHIR.

Police Training

In 2012, the PRP undertook a comprehensive evaluation of current police training and education by the MoI. Via consultancy evaluations benchmarking was completed across the Police Academy and Schools as well as in key departments such as Public Order and Forensics. A Police Education Reform Strategy for 2012-2015 was developed which was a considerable step in police education reform in Kyrgyzstan.

In partnership with the Turkish National Police Academy (TNPA), the PRP identified areas requiring improvement within the Police Academy’s (PA) curricula and made recommendations to ensure that the curricula of the PA’s Bachelor Degree in Law enforcement and Master’s Degree in Jurisprudence were practical and service-oriented.

The PRP developed a report on the results of the evaluation together with the recommendations for the MoI and the Police Academy. It contained the revised curricula of the programmes with increased practical and service oriented subjects. This report was translated into Russian, published, and presented to the PA, MoI, and the Ministry of Education (MoE) for their consideration.

In addition, an evaluation of training provided to police managers and refresher training administered by the PA Faculty on Management and Advanced Training (Faculty #1) was conducted. On completion, a manual was developed for the faculty of the management course. This very comprehensive manual covers several modules on practical and service-oriented training. The manual was delivered in conjunction with a one-week ToT in Bishkek for 18 local instructors (about 50% of whom were women) on the contents of the manual.

The manual was reviewed by the Police Academy’s faculty prior to publication. The evaluation also provides recommendations on further improvement of the police management training. The manual for instructors on the police managers’ course and the

report was translated into both State languages, published and handed over to all stakeholders for their consideration.

On the subject of basic police education the PRP/TNPA partnership analysed current curricula, syllabi and methodology before making recommendations for improvement of this educational process including curricula development towards an increased focus on a practice-oriented and problem-solving approach. The report on basic police education is coherent with the overall Police Education Strategy. The report was translated into both State languages, published and handed over to all stakeholders for their consideration.

During the evaluation process, four delegates from the PA visited the Turkish National Police Academy in Ankara, Turkey. The delegates were briefed on police education reform and best practices of the TNPA. Three of the participants were women. The delegates were introduced to the Bologna process, including the European credit-hours system.

The final evaluation completed in conjunction with the TNPA aimed to develop the mid-term police education strategy for 2013-2015. This evaluation also provided the practical work plan for the implementation of the police education strategy that reflects the needs of the MoI in qualified personnel, civil society concerns and their expectations of a more service-oriented police service.

The evaluation report also contained recommendations for the merging of the Police Academy and the Secondary Special Police School of the MoI into a single police education and training institution. This independent report was translated into both State languages, published, and handed over to the PA, the SSPS, the MoI, and the MoE for their consideration.

Public Order Management

The PRP supported training on public order management conducted in the south of Kyrgyzstan with national instructors conducting three weeks’ training, covering three provinces and 300 police officers. The instructors prepared presentations of effective communication and co-ordination of orders and policing skills.

The TNP assessed the performance of the MoI Public Order Management Unit and of the Anti-riot units in Bishkek and Osh. The assessment report provided several recommendations for improving performance and effectiveness during demonstrations and public disorder. These recommendations complemented educational video material prepared by the Police Academy that illustrated new tactics of public order management and lessons learned from the April 2010 events in Bishkek and Talas.

Criminal Policing

This project focused on the continuation of specialized police training to improve the criminal policing capacity and the further development of analysis-based policing in the Kyrgyz Republic. The department of Operational Analysis of the MoI, with the support of the PRP, conducted training for external, investigative and operative service staff of the Naryn, Talas and Balykchy provinces. The training introduced specialist software for operative analysis in investigations. Three trainers from the Operational Analysis Unit of the MoI moderated the training. The course was attended by over 170 Neighbourhood Inspectors, Inspectors from the Public Security Unit, and Juvenile Delinquency Inspectors.

Additionally, the PRP supported training on “Information and Analytical Opportunities of the Board of Operational Analysis” held in the south of the country. Police officers were familiarized with new methods of criminal investigations such as the use of special software

and telephone analysis. The training sessions were conducted by three national instructors from the Ministry of Interior and covered the Osh, Jalal-Abad and Batken provinces. In total, 133 police officers attended the training.

An international expert conducted a two-week training course for the Kyrgyz MoI operational analysts on modern analytical programmes such as Analyst Notebook, iBase, CAP and telephone analysis. The training was conducted at the Ministry of Interior for 17 police analysts from the Osh, Balykchy and Chuy provinces and Bishkek.

Forensics

An expert from the TNP assessed the performance of the MoI’s Forensic Centre, providing recommendations for further development and improving capacities in conducting forensic expertise and developing practical skills and knowledge of forensic experts across the country. The assessment was combined with the provision of training courses on the updated SONDA ADIS electronic fingerprint system for 15 forensic experts from all regions of the country. The training was delivered at the MoI’s Forensic Centre in Bishkek. The training was conducted by local instructors and aimed to improve police capacities in crime investigation. Chiefs of units and administrative users of the SONDA fingerprint system were the main target audience.

The PRP organized training courses on trace evidence for forensic expertise of the Kyrgyz police officers. The courses were conducted by the local instructors from the Kyrgyz Ministry of Interior and took place in Balykchy town of the Issyk-kul province. 24 police officers attended the courses and received certifications authorizing them to conduct trace evidence expertise in the regions.

Forensic activities of the year were finished by a round table on the “Use of DNA expertise in criminal investigation” for investigators and forensic experts which was organized at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek. It was conducted by the MoI’s Forensic Centre and experts from Biochip-Technologies LTD. More than 50 participants from various departments of the MoI, representatives from Ministries of Education, Justice and Health, and representatives from embassies and international organizations as well as NGOs and civil society attended the round table. Participants discussed perspectives for developing the DNA expertise in the country. At the end of the round table, participants adopted a resolution with practical recommendations and created the working group to develop related legislation.

Community Policing

In 2012, the Community Policing (CP) project continued to improve the quality of CP training courses. This included a ToT on training techniques for 12 CP trainers conducted in July 2012. The training was delivered by an international expert from the US ICITAP.

To make the CP courses more visual and interactive, eleven short films were produced based on scripts including practical examples of CP implementation. These films (five-six min each) depicted the policing of domestic violence, problem-solving, crime prevention based on environmental design, working at the duty station, juvenile-delinquency, and patrolling. The films were given to the MoI, Police Academy, Special Secondary Police School and the Community Policing Training Centre (CPTC) for use in their training activities. These materials were all provided to the advisers of the OSCE Community Security Initiative (CSI) (see CSI section below) for use in their project sites.

In 2012, the PRP finalized assistance to the Special Secondary Police School in Osh in establishing the CPTC. In the first stage, assistance focused on the renovation of facilities, including classrooms, a library, a dormitory, an IT room, a kitchen, a dining room and

showers and toilets. This allowed the CPTC to host residential training for Neighbourhood Inspectors (NIs) and Juvenile Delinquency Inspectors (JDIs) from the southern region.

Additional support for the staff of the CPTC was carried out, including equipping the instructors’ offices on the basis of a donation agreement. PRP’s efforts in developing the CPTC resulted in the delivery of the first three-week residential training of NIs and JDIs. The first CPTC course included 22 NIs as well as 12 police officers from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The participation of Afghan officers was the outcome of co-ordination between the PRP, Afghan authorities, the European Police Mission in Afghanistan (EUPOL), and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). The partner agencies also observed the development programme at the CPTC and the post-course pilot scheme developed by the PRP and implemented by the CSI. During the NI course, faculty staff of the Secondary Police School assisted an international trainer. All future courses were planned to be conducted by dedicated faculty staff.

In 2012, the PRP began enhancing the capacities of Local Crime Prevention Centres (LCPCs). This included qualitative research and legislative analysis in conjunction with a special working group. From preparatory work in 2011 a “National Forum” to present the results of this research was conducted in Bishkek in 2012. The forum gathered representatives from the Parliament, Government, MoI, NGOs and other stakeholders.

Based on the analysis, recommendations were developed by the working group representing the Parliament, Government, MoI, lawyers, civil society and an expert in the police sphere for further revision and analysis of the legislation regulating LCPC work.

In 2012, the PRP initiated a pilot project on Neighbourhood Management (NM) in nine project sites in the southern region, including Osh city. The project aimed to strengthen mutual trust and co-operation between NIs and LCPCs as well as CSI advisers. This pilot project was initiated after a study tour to Northern Ireland. In total, seven people, representing the MoI, the Osh city Mayor’s office, middle-ranking police officers, faculty staff of the Secondary Police School in Osh and the CSI, participated in the study tour. Following the study tour, a two-day training course was conducted by an international consultant on the workbooks and guidebooks that allowed the participants to improve their knowledge on neighbourhood management principles. After training, joint groups of NIs and LCPC representatives, mentored by CSI advisers, undertook practical work in the communities for 12 weeks and documented the progress of their work.

In order to assess the effectiveness of police work in the protection of children’s rights, the organization Children’s Rights Defenders League conducted a complex assessment of JDI activities in the seven provinces, as well as Osh and Bishkek cities. Based on assessment findings recommendations were worked out jointly with the MoI on how to optimize the JDI structure and enhance its capacity.

In order to assess the effectiveness of police work in the protection of children’s rights, the organization Children’s Rights Defenders League conducted a complex assessment of JDI activities in the seven provinces, as well as Osh and Bishkek cities. Based on assessment findings recommendations were worked out jointly with the MoI on how to optimize the JDI structure and enhance its capacity.