Around the Commonwealth

 Uganda

Police force ranks highest in corruption

A nation-wide survey has marked the Police Force as the most corrupt among service providers in Uganda. The National Service Delivery Survey released in April 2005 said that all the institutions in the country including law enforcement agencies asked for bribes. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics conducted the survey in 56 districts of the country to assess the satisfaction of service users as a guide for policy makers and implementers at all levels of governance.

The report says the police has continued to exhibit the negative practices of bribery, extortion and corruption.

 Malaysia

PM to chair task force studying report on police

A task force chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been formed to look into the recommendations forwarded by the Royal Commission on the Police Force. Commissioned in May 2005, its members comprise representatives from the Public Service Department, Finance Ministry and the Attorney-General's Chambers.

"The panel is studying the recommendations and will pick those that can be implemented immediately and those that need a longer time," said the Prime Minister, who is also the Internal Security Minister.

The 433 page report - the product of more than 15 months of work by former Chief Justice Tun Dzaiddin Abdullah and his commissioners is divided into 15 chapters and touches on corruption in the force, human rights awareness, salaries and other benefits for police personnel. The report is available in public domain and can be obtained at the Royal Commission's office.

 Papua New Guinea

Australia to withdraw its police force, rules the Supreme Court

The ruling by Papua New Guinea's (PNG) Supreme Court may force Australia to withdraw its police after less than one year in PNG, where they were sent as part of a programme to help restore law and order. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the Australian police in PNG had been stood down from duty and a decision on whether to pull them out of the country would be made after talks with the PNG government over the next few days.

Australia adopted an interventionist policy in the South Pacific after the September 11 attacks in the United States, fearing instability in its small island neighbours could create havens for drug traffickers, people smugglers and terror groups. Australian troops have been sent to the Solomon islands and police to Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and PNG.

The Supreme Court ruled that certain provisions for the deployment, particularly immunity from prosecution granted to Australian police, were inconsistent with the country's constitution.

 Trinidad and Tobago

The Police Service will undergo a twelve month transformation process

According to Trinidad and Tobago's National Security Minister, Martin Joseph the administration intends to spend $5.7 million over a twelve-month period to transform the Police Service.

Addressing a press conference Minister Joseph introduced a plan by Dr. Stephen Mastrofski, Professor of Public and International Affairs at George Mason University, which, he said aimed at 'optimising the management of the police service and its ability to effectively fight crime'.

Dr. Stephen Mastrofski, who heads the transformation team said the plan consisted of a Strategic Approach to Crime, and Building Organisational Muscle. The Strategic Approach includes Crime Control Seminars, Strengthened Crime Analysis, Better Crime Data, More Effective Police Prosecutions, Generating More Public Support and a Special Homicide Task Force.

Building organisational muscle involves eliminating dysfunctional organisational practices and improving those that create a functional and merit-based organisation.

Commonwealth Secretariat

Commonwealth Human Rights Training Manual for police

A new manual, meant to specifically deal with police and human rights in West Africa was presented by the Human Rights Unit of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

"While keeping the peace and preserving security, police forces also have to respect the individual's rights to liberty and self-expression. It is important for police forces to be trained in human rights to enable them to use this knowledge in maintaining law and order in their respective countries. Often, the police are confronted with a situation where they have to balance the freedom of the individual and the maintenance of order," said Jarvis Matiya, Adviser and Acting Head of the Human Rights Unit.

 Sierra Leone

Human Rights activist gets severely beaten by police

Human rights activist and Director of the local non-governmental organisation, Post-Conflict Reintegration for Development and Empowerment (PRIDE), Alan Quee was severely beaten by police officers attached to the Congo Cross police station.

In a statement to the press, Quee said that the concerned police officers attacked him after he tried to persuade them to stop intimidating a girl who they claimed was loitering around the Safecon Entertainment Spot, Lumley late in the night.

"I was in the process of persuading them to desist from beating the girl when they suddenly descended on me and started kicking my stomach and hitting my head with truncheons," he lamented. He later added that he was handcuffed and bundled into a police land rover and taken to the Congo Cross police station with his shirt completely torn apart.

Cameroon

Students and police involved in a shoot out

Several students received bullet wounds in a second round of clashes between security forces and students of the University of Buea, (UB), on 24 May, 2005. In the first of such clashes in early May, security forces killed two students.

The students had rallied in the morning and were observing the sit-in strike just like they had been for the past week. The Southwest Governor, Thomas Ejake Mbonda, is said to have observed that the forces of law and order have demonstrated weakness and ordered that the students be dispersed.

Following the orders of the Governor, policemen started horse-whipping the students. They retaliated by throwing stones at the police personnel and a bitter confrontation ensued.

Lesotho

Efforts to intensify police training to tackle cross border crime

Eastern Cape MEC for Safety and Liaison, Thobile Mhlahlo has vowed to intensify the training of police to empower them to fight cross border crime. Mr. Mhlahlo was speaking in Maluti during a summit convened by the provincial government to tackle crime along the border with Lesotho.

South Africa's High Commissioner to Lesotho Hew Leslie, Eastern Cape Police Commissioner Sipho Mpongoma, local farmers association and traditional leaders were among those who attended the summit.

Mr. Mhlahlo said murder, robbery, stock theft, drug trafficking and illegal immigration had become prevalent along the border because "people could cross at several points as there was no border fence".

Antigua

Police pressurised into gunning after pedophiles, top officials in the dock

The gang-rape of a 15 year old female high school student by tree young men in Mid-May 2005 has prompted several top human rights organisations including the Professional Organisation of Women in Antigua (POWA) to express grave concern, putting the issue on the front burner in the country.

"There are adult males in the society who prey on children. Pedophilia does exist in Antigua and to a large degree," stressed POWA's Vice President Cathy-Anne Benjamin who also added that, Antigua to me is almost at the position where we should have our girls under lock and key.

Police arrested and charged a 61- year old man with imparting unlawful carnal knowledge about a minor who is allegedly five months pregnant. Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials at the St. John's Police Station, confirmed the report to Caribbean Net News, while adding that the accused is the brother of a government minister. This latest incident has angered many and a small group of on-lookers hurled insults at the accused as he made his way up the stairs of the magistrate's court in St. John's.

Vanuatu

Dissatisfied Vanuatu police members call on the Commissioner of Police to resign

A group of suspended police force members called on the government to take immediate action to redress on-going police issues affecting the running of the Vanuatu Police Force (VPF).

In a letter addressed to the chairman of the Police Service Commission, Leonard Bule, the group outlined a list of 20 points questioning the professionalism and the integrity of the current acting commissioner of police, Arthur Caulton.

"The government should deal with the acting commissioner of police or he resigns himself from the position. This is due to his incompetence, misadministration and incapacity," said the group spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Aru Maralau.

Colonel Maralau was among four police officers suspended for alleged theft and receiving property dishonestly. Their file was closed by the office of the public prosecutor.