Public Eye

A Commonwealth Police Expert Group - The Time is Now

At the end of November, the Commonwealth Heads of Government will come together in Uganda for their biennial meet, to discuss issues facing the Commonwealth and to set the Commonwealth's policy direction for the next two years. The theme of this CHOGM - transforming societies to achieve political, economic and human development - provides unparalleled scope for the Heads to engage with some of the critical issues facing Commonwealth members, set the Commonwealth on a course that will support real change and realise the promise of democracy and development across the Commonwealth.

Membership of the Commonwealth is predicated on a promise of democracy. It is an unfortunate reality that, across the Commonwealth, this promise has not been realised. We only have to look at the police forces of the Commonwealth - in many cases, archaic, unreformed legacies of colonial rule - to see that much of the Commonwealth is not underpinned by true democracy. Until the police of the Commonwealth are transformed, true democracy will remain elusive and political, economic and human development will be hampered.

Uganda is hosting this year's CHOGM, and will chair the Commonwealth for the next two years. Policing in Uganda raises serious human rights and good governance issues and police reform is big news. The Ugandan police themselves are currently conducting an internal review of policing, ahead of an anticipated police reform process. Civil society organisations from across the country are taking up police reform as a central part of their work. A Government-mandated judicial inquiry sat in 1999 and 2000, found widespread corruption in police ranks and made a comprehensive set of recommendations for change. Policing continues to be a priority for the Government justice and law and order sector reform programme, supported by international donor agencies. Change is also backed regionally, with the recent adoption of a resolution supporting police reform, accountability and civilian police oversight by the African Commission of Human and Peoples' Rights. The time for police reform in Uganda has arrived, work has begun, and there is an opportunity for the Commonwealth to get involved and assist the transformation of societies by supporting work on policing.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has already done some work towards supporting police change. In 2002, the Commonwealth Law Ministers asked the Secretariat to work towards building police capacity on human rights issues. The Secretariat, through its Human Rights Unit, developed a human rights training manual for police in West Africa that took a "train the trainer" approach. The manual was released in December 2005, and was later further developed for use across the Commonwealth.

There have been more and more calls for the Commonwealth to do more work on policing, and, in particular, to set up an Expert Group to look into policing. One example of many was the 2005 Commonwealth People's Forum recommendation that the Commonwealth "establish a Commonwealth Expert Group on policing to develop guidelines on training, accountability mechanisms, legal regimes and mutual professional support to ensure democratic policing."

Civil society, police organisations and members of Commonwealth communities are now looking to the Heads to mandate the Secretariat to set up an Expert Group. An Expert Group is an opportunity to take a look at the way police are structured, develop Commonwealth Principles on Policing, assess legislative and structural alternatives to current systems and democracy, evaluate human rights education and police training generally and develop guidelines on training, accountability mechanisms and laws. This work will greatly support the police reform processes that are taking place within jurisdictions - such as Uganda - showcase good practice from across the Commonwealth, encourage cross-border learning and lead to real change across the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth has taken valuable first steps towards realising its promise of democracy and ensuring political, economic and human development by engaging with and supporting the transformation of police organisations across the Commonwealth. Uganda 2007 is the time and place for CHOGM to make further strides and mandate an Expert Group.

For more information on the Commonwealth Expert Group on Policing, or the upcoming CHOGM, visit the CHRI website (www.humanrightsinitiative.org).

Daniel Woods
Coordinator
International Police Reforms Programme
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative