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Around
the Commonwealth
 Ghana
At
a meeting convened by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative,
delegates from Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania,
Sierra Leone, Malawi, Nigeria, UK, India and Australia, called
for Commonwealth countries to prioritise police reform as
an agenda item in their deliberations. They met in Accra on
October 14 and 15 2005 just prior to the Commonwealth Law
Ministers Meeting held from October 17 to 21 2005.
Delegates called on the Commonwealth to develop Commonwealth Principles on Policing based on democratic principles and international standards; and to implement the recommendation of the Commonwealth Expert Group on Development and Democracy that member governments should commit to ensuring a "police force that responds to the law for its operations and the government for its administration". Additionally, they called on Commonwealth countries to urgently address the issue of police reform and accountability and to revise Police Acts to ensure they incorporate and further the principles of democratic policing, eliminate impunity, and abide by international human rights and policing standards.
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Templates/System/LatestNews.asp?NodeID=146472
 India
In
September 2005, the national government set up a committee
of eminent jurists, police officers and civil servants to
draft a new Act to replace the Police of Act of 1861 which
governs most state police forces in India. The Committee has
been given six months to submit its draft, which is expected
to take into account the changing roles, responsibilities
and challenges faced by India's police.
Many
of the problems associated with policing in India are blamed
on the existing Police Act, which places superintendence and
control of the police directly in the hands of the executive.
This leaves the door wide open for illegitimate political
interference in policing. In addition, the Act does not provide
for any external accountability mechanisms to examine police
misconduct, fails to address the monitoring and review of
police performance and disregards notions of effective community
involvement in policing.
http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/aj/police/papers/advocacy_paper_police_act_1861.pdf
 Jamaica
An upsurge in crime and violence has spurred the government to announce a new community employment youth program and increased police presence in troubled areas. More than thirteen hundred Jamaicans have been murdered since January, prompting the Prime Minister, PJ Patterson, to announce the changes. The Prime Minister also announced the immediate implementation of community programs to provide employment for youths, but did not elaborate on the cost of the program or which communities will first see the benefits of the new initiative.
http://www.jamaicans.com/news/weeknews/jamaica-newsweekly-for-th-95.shtml
 United
Kingdom
In November 2005, the British Parliament doubled the length of time a person suspected of terrorism can be detained without charge from 14 days to 28 days. The proposal to increase the duration of pre-charge detention was championed by Tony Blair, the Prime Minister. The original Terrorism Bill allowed detention without charge for up to 90 days, but was dropped to 28 days after opposition within parliament, including 49 Labour members who voted against the 90-day proposal.
Amnesty
International responded to the new Bill by stating, "Let us
not be mistaken this is not a good result for human rights.
It is a sad day for people's liberty when three political
parties are bartering over people's liberty".
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,15935,1637542,00.html
Malaysia
Malaysian
government and opposition politicians called for the country's
deputy police chief, Musa Hassan, to quit in November. Hassan
defended a police officer who was filmed forcing a female
detainee to strip naked and squat repeatedly while holding
both ears. Hassan said the practice was standard procedure.
An independent inquiry held earlier this year described such
police strip search practices as a gross infringement of human
rights.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4470422.stm
 Nigeria
Nigeria's
former Police Commissioner, Tafa Balugon was sentenced to
six months in prison in November 2005, after he pleaded guilty
to eight charges of corruption. Balugon was the Inspector
General of Nigeria's Police Force for three years before his
arrest in January. He was also ordered to pay a fine of approximately
US$30,000, while some US$150 million worth of cash and property
will be seized by the government, according to BBC.
The
conviction has been claimed as a victory by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) set up to spearhead the
fight against corruption in Nigeria, which has been routinely
ranked as one of the world's most corrupt countries by Transparency
International. The EFCC is a statutory body charged with the
responsibility of investigating allegations of economic and
financial crime in Nigeria.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4460740.stm
Papua New Guinea
In
Porgera Valley, Papua New Guinea, one child was killed and
two dozen others wounded when police opened fire at a primary
school on October 31 2005. Police claimed they were forced
to open fire after being surrounded by stone throwing students.
The police had gone to the school to arrest the headmaster,
who had allegedly been involved in a drunken confrontation
with police earlier.
Human
Rights Watch called for a thorough investigation into the
incident and stated that "It's hard to imagine that police
confronted by unarmed students couldn't address the situation
without shooting children dead."
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/pacbeat/stories/s1500132.htm
South Africa
In October 2005, Jackie Selebie, South Africa's National Police Commissioner was elected to head the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol).
Interpol
was founded in 1923 to facilitate cross border police co-operation
and combat international crime, and is the world's largest
international police organisation. Interpol offers police
in its member countries a range of services to fight international
crime, including wanted notices, fingerprinting and theft
databases, criminal analysis services and anti-terrorism programmes.
Selebie,
the first African ever to lead the 184 member group, said
that the world needs to ensure that the Caribbean and Africa
become an important part of the organisation, and that benefit
is accrued from their membership. He stated that "…as President,
I am ready to serve all members of the international police
community in every area of crime fighting."
http://www.interpol.int/Public/ICPO/Governance/PR/selebi.asp
Uganda
In
early November, police arrested opposition leader Dr Kizza
Bisegye on charges of treason, claiming his involvement with
rebel group Lord's Resistance Army. Dr Bisegye's wife, Winnie
Byanyima, has claimed that the arrest was politically motivated,
and aimed at removing Dr Bisegye as a candidate for upcoming
elections. The incident led to concerns that the police force
in Uganda have become increasingly militarised and politicised,
following infiltration by members of the armed forces.
Later
in November, an armed group calling for the rearrest of 14
people who were arrested with Dr Bisegye, stormed the High
Court. Reports are that the armed group were equipped with
weapons issued to the Presidential Guard Brigade (PGB). Opposition
leaders claim that the army is being recruited into the police
to assist the government to rig the next election, due in
2006.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200511230133.html
Zambia
The
Parliamentary Committee of Legal Affairs, Governance, Human
Rights and Gender Matters stated that Zambia's police service
is corrupt. Zambia's Home Affairs Minister, Bates Namuyamba,
admitted that the government was aware of the problems of
corruption in the police service.
Moving
a motion to adopt the report of the committee on legal affairs,
opposition member Inonge Wina said there was urgent need to
put in place measures to promote efficiency in law enforcement
agencies.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200511210236.html
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