TNTD/Strategic Police Matters Unit

Background

“The OSCE Secretariat ensures the co-ordination of all OSCE police-related activities and ensures that they are in line with the relevant mandates and do not overlap. The Transnational Threats Department’s Strategic Police Matters Unit (TNT/SPMU), which was set up to improve the capacity of participating States to address threats posed by criminal activity and to assist them in upholding the rule of law, serves as the main focal point in this regard.” - PC.DEC/1049, article 22.

The primary role of TNTD/SPMU is to provide support to law enforcement agencies of participating States in addressing threats posed by criminal activity through needs assessments, capacity building, institution-building, training and evaluation. The TNTD/SPMU’s long-term goals aim to provide a democratic vision of policing for the entire OSCE region and put that vision to work by assisting OSCE participating States in police capacity and institution-building and improving police performance within the broader objective of strengthening national criminal justice systems. The vision guides capacity building aimed at creating competence to tackle transnational threats, including those emanating from organized crime and terrorism.

TNTD/SPMU explores every opportunity to also include participants from Partners for Co-operation in its capacity building events. In the year 2014, regional activities and events were a special focus, as will be continued in 2015.

SPMU had numerous visits throughout 2014 from individuals and groups from diverse academic institutions, national authorities, international organizations, OSCE delegations, field operations and OSCE institutions wishing to obtain information about the Unit’s structure and activities. TNTD/SPMU welcomes every opportunity to raise awareness and strengthen its network and explores every opportunity to receive interested parties to discuss issues related to the Unit’s mandate and activities.

Throughout the year, the Head of the Unit and his staff held high-level meetings with Ministers of Interior and their Deputies, Directors of Departments and the Heads/Directors of Police and Police Academies of numerous participating States to strengthen the SPMU’s network of contacts and to discuss OSCE’s assistance to police reform and development as well as the fight against organized transnational crime

TNTD/SPMU strived for maximum programmatic co-ordination of its activities among the OSCE executive structures and with international and regional organizations and NGOs in order to avoid duplications and to provide added value. The Unit co-operated with other partners in organizing a number of needs assessments, workshops, conferences, meetings and training events, described in this document.

On 16-17 June 2014, TNTD/SPMU organized the Annual Meeting of the Heads of Law Enforcement Departments of the OSCE field operations in Vienna. The meeting, attended by 15 Heads of Law Enforcement Departments, discussed human resources requirements, better interaction between field operations and Delegations and the tenth anniversary of the OSCE Gender Action Plan. Field operations presented threat assessments regarding their hosting countries and pointed to current challenges regarding organized and transnational crime in their respective areas. In addition, possible future co-operation and collaboration between field operations to address transnational threats was discussed. It was proposed that more field operations should be given opportunities to present their activities to OSCE

On 17-18 June 2014, during the 2014 OSCE-wide Annual Police Experts Meeting, criminal justice experts from the OSCE participating States, executive structures and international partner organizations discussed legal provisions, mechanisms and tools for enhancing cross-border co-operation between law-enforcement and judicial authorities in the OSCE area, with the aim of enhancing the participating States’ joint responses to transnational threats. The two-day exchange of views, experiences and examples of good practices showed that while a solid legal foundation for international co-operation of criminal justice institutions has been established, and a number of regional and bilateral co-ordination and co-operation mechanisms have been created, the effective implementation of the legal provisions and the effective and efficient utilization of co-operation mechanisms and tools often prove to be challenging at the bilateral, regional and international levels. Participants shared their experiences and exchanged their views on various approaches to address these challenges and improve interagency responses to transnational criminal activities. Key findings and outcomes of the meeting were circulated to delegations under SEC.GAL/98/14 on 23 June 2014.

On 15 August 2014, the Annual Report of the Secretary General on Police-Related Activities in 2013 was released in accordance with 2001 Ministerial Council Decision “on police-related activities”. The report provides a comprehensive overview of police-related programmes and projects implemented by the OSCE executive structures during 2013. In the field of general police development and reform, activities devoted to enhancing and consolidating community policing/police-public partnership projects continued to be most common among the executive structures (almost one third of all activities), particularly in South-Eastern Europe as well as in Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Measures for enhancing police accountability, assistance in strategic planning of police reform and initiatives addressing domestic violence were the other three areas receiving most attention by the executive structures upon request from the interested pS. Training development, police-media relations, border and customs activities as well as public order management also received notable attention. With regard to the fight against organized crime, trafficking in human beings remained the most prominent field of work, with one-third of all project activities devoted to this topic. These projects were particularly in the focus of the field operations in Eastern Europe.

On 8-12 September 2014, TNTD/SPMU participated in the training course “Preparing for the 2015 Serbian OSCE Chairmanship” for officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia.

The training was delivered at the Diplomatic Academy in Belgrade and organized by the Centre for OSCE Research (CORE) of the University of Hamburg. TNTD/SPMU delivered presentations regarding the Department’s activities.

On 17 December 2014, following an invitation to all OSCE delegations, TNTD/SPMU presented some of its recent police-related activities as well as a number of planned activities for 2015. Presentations focused on three main topics: cybercrime, trafficking of illicit drugs and the draft pilot project on community policing in Ukraine. The aim of the briefing was to update delegations on TNTD/SPMU main activities in these areas and to introduce the draft pilot project in order to inform potential donors about it. Fifteen delegations attended the briefing, demonstrating their interest in the matter through a number of comments and questions. TNTD/SPMU underlined its strong commitment to continue working at the request of participating States on cybercrime and drug-related issues and asked for the delegations’

support to its planned extrabudgetary projects.

Police Reform and Capacities Development

On 29-30 January 2014, TNTD/SPMU participated in an expert workshop on the Handbook on Policing Public Assemblies to review the handbook that is currently being developed jointly by TNTD/SPMU and ODIHR. The workshop brought together about 15 international

experts, who discussed the content and revised the document. The handbook is to be published by ODIHR as soon as the final revision is approved.

On 26-28 March 2014, TNTD/SPMU participated in the “Workshop on the OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security” in Belgrade. The workshop was co-organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia and the Serbian Ministry of Defence. It was aimed at bringing together OSCE executive structures from the entire OSCE region as well as host State representatives to discuss good practices in implementing the provisions of the Code of Conduct (CoC) in the context of security sector reform. TNTD/SPMU contributions focused on the role of the CoC in conducting security sector reform in general and police reform in particular. Recommendations of this session included using the CoC as an entry point to security sector reform and using specific technical guidelines on security sector reform as complementary tools for operationalizing the normative provisions of the CoC. The workshop was attended by some 56 representatives of OSCE executive structures, government authorities, international organizations and think tanks.

On 24-25 September 2014, TNTD/SPMU participated in the “Human Dimension Implementation Meeting” in Warsaw, organized by ODIHR. In the context of the side event

“Towards a culture of policing contributing to the prevention of torture”, TNTD/SPMU delivered a presentation on the topic “Torture prevention as part of OSCE’s police-related activities”. Around 40 participants attended the event.

On 9-10 October 2014, TNTD/SPMU participated in the workshop “Security Sector Governance and Reform Focal Point Network” in Bratislava, jointly organized by the FSC Support Section and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia. The workshop marked the first gathering of the Security Sector Governance and Reform (SSG/R) Focal Point Network, kicking off the development of OSCE-internal guidelines on SSG/R for staff of the executive structures. TNTD/SPMU shared its experience in developing operational guideline documents and elaborated on the structure and content of TNTD/SPMU’s SSR-related guidelines on Police Reform within the Framework of Criminal Justice System Reform. Participants agreed on the target group, structure and topics of the guidebook. The guidelines are planned to be published in 2015.

From 17-20 November 2014, upon invitation of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, TNTD/SPMU presented on the OSCE’s holistic approach to police reform within the framework of criminal justice system reform to various national stakeholders, including the Parliament of Armenia, the top-level management of the Armenian Police Service, Armenian police training institutions and civil society representatives. Through several events, TNTD/SPMU and the OSCE Office in Yerevan, in co-operation with the Armenian Ministry of the Interior, introduced the Armenian language version of TNTD/SPMU’s guidebook Police Reform within the Framework of Criminal Justice System Reform. TNTD/SPMU also visited a community policing site in Yerevan, established with the support of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, to learn first-hand about the experiences gathered during the implementation of this project.

In November 2014, TNTD/SPMU assisted ODHIR in reviewing a new draft of the Ukrainian Law on Police and Police Activities forwarded by the Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights. TNTD/SPMU’s several remarks were compiled into a comprehensive ODIHR document titled Opinion on the Draft Law of Ukraine on Police and Police Activities, for the Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner.

On 26-28 November 2014, upon invitation of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, TNTD/SPMU participated in the “Workshop on Criminal Justice System Reform in South-Eastern Europe”

in Skopje in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The workshop gathered representatives from law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities from Albania,

Montenegro, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, as well as Kosovo⁶, to introduce the translations of TNTD/SPMU’s guidebook Police Reform within the Framework of Criminal Justice System Reform into the official languages of those participating States and the official languages in Kosovo. TNTD/SPMU presented on the need to complement police reform with the reform of other sectors of the criminal justice system in order to enhance effectiveness and efficiency. Participants focused on good practices in enhancing co-operation between police and prosecution services in the context of newly introduced prosecution-led investigation procedures in the countries of South-Eastern Europe.

On 10 December 2014, TNTD/SPMU participated in the conference titled “Ensuring the protection of the rights and interests of the people as the main aspect of legislative and law enforcement practices” in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The conference was co-organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan and the Uzbek Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was co-chaired by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator and the national Ombudsman of Uzbekistan.

Around 70 representatives from the police, prosecution authorities, NGOs and the media, as well as members of the Uzbek Parliament, representatives from embassies and civil society attended the conference. TNTD/SPMU delivered a presentation “Experience in the field of human rights in the OSCE, police and human rights: from principles to daily realities”, that prompted a lively discussion among participants.

On the margins of the conference, TNTD/SPMU had a meeting with representatives of the Uzbek National Centre for Drugs Control and another one at the Uzbek Ministry of Internal Affairs with the Head of the Department of Legal Support and Protection of Human Rights, the Head of the Human Rights Chair and a representative of the International Relations Department. The interlocutors underlined the need to further co-operate with the OSCE in combatting illicit drugs and in addressing cybercrime. The two meetings were also excellent occasions for TNTD/SPMU to show support to the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan with regard to its police-related activities.

Community Policing

On 28-29 January 2014, TNTD/SPMU facilitated the “Regional seminar on domestic violence for community policing practitioners” in Minsk, Belarus, for approximately 30 representatives from the Belarusian and Moldovan Ministries of Interior and Police. Participants were familiarized with community policing methods and tools applicable to addressing domestic abuse. Presentations by international police experts from Austria and the UK were complemented by interventions from Belarusian and Moldovan high ranking police officers.

Discussions held during the event reflected the complexity of domestic abuse-related issues.

Participants made a number of recommendations for future activities, including the following:

• Specialized training on addressing domestic violence for community police officers;

• Elaboration of risk assessment questionnaires for community police officers;

• Elaboration of mechanism of multiagency co-operation;

• Obligation to timely inform victims on the release of aggressors from prison;

• Rehabilitation programs for offenders;

• Introduction of new administrative charges;

• Information and awareness-raising campaigns.

6 All references to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in this text should be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244.

TNTD/SPMU participated in an Expert Meeting at ODIHR on International Roma and Sinti Day on 8 April 2014. The meeting reviewed the relevance, use and practical application of the OSCE TNTD-ODIHR Manual on Police and Roma and Sinti, by taking into account the current challenges and developments regarding Roma and Sinti since 2010. Participants discussed the way forward and focused on addressing the current challenges along with promoting policing in Roma and Sinti communities at local level. It was agreed that TNTD/SPMU should be part in a country visit to Slovakia, where major attacks against Roma communities took place recently.

From 27-31 October 2014, TNTD/SPMU, ODIHR and the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) conducted a joint visit to Slovakia. The aim was to assess the relationship between the police and Roma and Sinti communities in the country. In preparation of this field visit, ODIHR hired one national and one international expert to prepare background papers on the issue. The visiting team comprised five participants representing ODIHR, HCNM, TNTD/SPMU and civil society organizations. The team met with representatives from governmental and community structures and visited Roma settlements in the Kosice region, where meetings where held with social services staff and Roma community leaders. A comprehensive joint assessment report is to be issued by the end of November 2014 in consultation with the Slovak authorities.

In July 2014, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Ukraine requested the OSCE’s assistance in developing and implementing a pilot project in the Lviv region as the first stage of a police reform process. The project envisions establishing a Pilot Project Office (PPO) in the Headquarters (HQ) of the MIA of Ukraine in Lviv and conducting an assessment of the MIA HQ in Lviv and its relationships with the local population and with other state structures and bodies. The project will serve as a test for potential future long-term OSCE activities in Ukraine in the area of police reform and help in the development of a community policing model which could be expanded to other regions of the country in the near future.

The Ukrainian MIA has expressed its full support to the project proposal that was drafted by TNTD/SPMU and sent to the MIA for consideration. A draft Memorandum of Understanding between the OSCE and the MIA is presently under review by the relevant Governmental bodies in Ukraine.

Project activities will be conducted in close co-operation with the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and other international actors, such as the US Embassy in Kyiv and the EU Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine), to ensure that the project and its implementation are in line with parallel initiatives by these actors as well as with the overall principles of Criminal Justice Sector Reform in Ukraine.

Public Assembly Management

On 14-16 May, upon invitation of the Ministry of Interior of Kazakhstan, TNTD/SPMU organized and held an intensive three-day training in Almaty on public assembly management. The training was attended by mid- and senior-level practitioners of the MoI and was devoted to the use of firearms and force application during public assemblies.

TNTD/SPMU delivered presentations on “Ensuring Law and Order during Public Assemblies”

and “Policing Assemblies: International Standards and Good Practices”, followed by a case study. The objective of the training was to promote international human rights standards for national authorities, as well as to develop and raise awareness of related legislative and practical recommendation based on international best practices.

On 9-10 December 2014, TNTD/SPMU participated in a workshop in Warsaw organized by ODIHR dedicated to the elaboration of a new Human Rights Guide to Policing Assemblies.

part of this working group since its establishment and intends to organize a kick-off event promoting this guidebook together with ODIHR in early 2015.

11-12 December 2014, TNTD/SPMU delivered training on international standards regarding public assembly management, based on ODIHR’s Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly, as part of a seminar in Astana, Kazakhstan. The event was organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana in the framework of an extra budgetary project titled “Strengthening the capacities of the police service of Kazakhstan in the area of Public Assembly Management”, funded by the German Embassy in Kazakhstan. The two-day event gathered mid- and senior-level practitioners from the Ministry of Interior of Kazakhstan who are directly responsible for ensuring law and order during public assemblies in their respective regions.

The training was of particular importance in light of the upcoming EXPO-2017 event, during which Kazakhstan expects to host several million foreign visitors.

Crisis Management

On 13-14 November 2014, TNTD/SPMU participated in the Seminar on EU Capabilities for Civilian Crisis Management, hosted by the EU and the Italian Ministry of Defence, in Rome, Italy. The seminar aimed to contribute to the debate about the EU’s civilian crisis management concept and the EU’s capacities in this area. At the same time, discussions also addressed the United Nations’ Strategic Guidance Framework. The organizers invited the Heads of Police Forces of EU members States and the Heads of Police Units of

On 13-14 November 2014, TNTD/SPMU participated in the Seminar on EU Capabilities for Civilian Crisis Management, hosted by the EU and the Italian Ministry of Defence, in Rome, Italy. The seminar aimed to contribute to the debate about the EU’s civilian crisis management concept and the EU’s capacities in this area. At the same time, discussions also addressed the United Nations’ Strategic Guidance Framework. The organizers invited the Heads of Police Forces of EU members States and the Heads of Police Units of