Promoting Human Rights Professionalism in the Liberian Police Force (English)

8/9/2019 Promoting Human Rights Professionalism in the Liberian Police Force (English)

1/20

by Ceci l Griffit hs

edited by Liam Mahony

Promoting Human RightsProfessionalismin the Liberian Police Force

A Tactical Noteb ook publ ished bythe N ew Tact icsProject

of th e Center for Vict ims of Torture


2/20

PublishedbyThe Center for Victims of TortureNe w Tactics in Human RightsProject

717 East River RoadMinneapol is, MN 55455 USAw w w.cvt.org, w w w.newtactics.org

NotebookSeriesEditorLiam Mah ony

DesignandCopyeditingSusan Everson

The Leadership Academy of the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre, and The Center for Victi ms of Torture wishto ackno wledge the fol lowing inst i tut ions that provided support for the African regional workshop of the

New Tactics in Human RightsProject:

Th e Rockefel ler Foundat ion

Th e Internat ional Center on No nviolent Conf l ict ,

Norwegian Church Aid

The European Union Conference, Workshop and Cultural InitiativesFund in conjunct ion with theSouth Af r ican National Trust

The United States Department of State ,

The United StatesInst i tute of Peace ,

Donors who wish to remain anonymous.We are also great ly indebte d to the work of numerous interns and volunteers who have contributed theirt ime and expert ise to the advancement of the project and of human rights.

The Ne w Tact ics project has also benef i ted from more tha n 2000 hours of w ork from individual volunteersand interns as well as donat ions of in-kind support.Some of the inst i tut ional sponsors of th is work includeM acale ster Col lege , the Minneapol is College of Art & Design (MCAD), the Universi ty of Minnesota, theHigher Educat ion Consort ium for Urban A ffairs (HECUA), the Minnesota Just ice Founda tion and the publ icrelat ions f i rm of Padilla Speer Beardsley.

The opinions, f indings andconclusio ns or recommendat ions expressed on thi ssi te are those of the NewTact ics project and do not necessarily reflect the views of our fundersFor a full list of projectsponsorsseew w w.newta ctics.or g.

The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect those of the Ne w Tactics in Human RightsProject . The project does not advocate specif ic tactics or policie s.

2004CenterforVictimsofTortureThis publication may be freely reprod uced in print and in electronic form as longas thiscopyright n otice appears on all copies.


3/20

6

65

4Author biographyLetter from New Tactics project manager

Introduct ion

The Liberian context & the birth of LINLEA

9A police associat ion w orking for human rights

The Center for Victims of TortureNew Tactics in Human RightsProject

717 East River Road

Minneapol is, MN 55455 USAw w w.cvt.org , w w w.newtactics.org

1312

11Repression against LINLEACauses of police abuse

Necessary resources

13The police & the military

1614

14Police & human rights organizat ionsHow police associat ionscan promote human rights

Promoting human rights engagement in police associat ions


4/20


5/20

September 2004

DearFriend,

Welcome to theNewTactics inHumanRightsTacticalNotebookSeries! Ineachnotebookahuman

rightspractitionerdescribesan innovative tacticused successfully inadvancinghuman rights. The

authorsarepartof the broadanddiversehuman rightsmovement, includingnon-governmentand

governmentperspectives, educators, lawenforcementpersonnel, truth and reconciliationprocesses,

andwomens rightsandmentalhealth advocates. Theyhave both adaptedandpioneered tactics that

havecontributed tohuman rights in theirhome countries. Inaddition, theyhaveutilized tactics

that, whenadapted, can beapplied inothercountriesand situations toaddressavarietyof issues.

Eachnotebookcontainsdetailed informationonhow theauthorandhisorherorganizationachieved

what theydid. Wewant to inspireotherhuman rightspractitioners to think tacticallyand tobroaden the realmof tacticsconsidered toeffectivelyadvancehuman rights.

In thisnotebook, we learnabout theefforts, ability, andcommitmentof lawenforcement

personneloneof themostdifficultgroups to reach regardinghuman rightsto addressand

confronthuman rights issuesandviolations from theirownperspectiveandwithin theirown ranks.

TheLiberianNationalLawEnforcementAssociation (LINLEA)wasestablished by law enforcement

personnel themselves toaddress issuesofpoor leadership, blind loyalty, and lackofprofessional

training, eachofwhichhavecontributed toapoorqualityofservicesandahigh incidenceofhuman

rightsabuses. LINLEAhasworked topromoteprofessionalismasaway toenhancehuman rights

standardsand reduce incidencesofabuse. This tacticsprovides insights intohow the law

enforcementprofession itself canunderstand theconnection betweenprofessionalism andhumanrightsexposingabuseswhen theyoccurto send signals togovernment andcivil society thataction

canandmust be taken toaddressabuses.

The entire seriesofTacticalNotebooks isavailableonlineatwww.newtactics.org. Additional

notebooksarealreadyavailableandotherswillcontinue to beaddedover time. Onourweb siteyou

willalso findother tools, includinga searchabledatabaseof tactics, adiscussion forum forhuman

rightspractitioners, and information aboutourworkshopsand symposia. To subscribe to theNew

Tacticsnewsletter, please send ane-mail to [email protected].

TheNewTactics inHumanRightsProject isan international initiative led byadiversegroupof

organizationsandpractitioners fromaround theworld. Theproject iscoordinated by theCenter for

VictimsofTorture(CVT), andgrewoutofourexperiencesasacreatorofnewtacticsandasa

treatmentcenter thatalsoadvocates for theprotectionofhuman rights fromauniquepositionone

ofhealingandof reclaimingcivic leadership.

Wehope thatyouwill find thesenotebooks informationaland thoughtprovoking.

Sincerely,

KateKelsch

NewTacticsProjectManager


6/20

6

IntroductionAs dictated by canons of police ethics, which instr uct

of f icers to respect the const i tutional r ights of al l

people to l iberty, equality, and just ice , law enforce-ment off icers ar e supposed to be the leading human

rights protectors and promoters everywhere in the

world. Unfortunately, due to lack of training and disci-pline, poor leadership, and political manipulation, la w

enforcement personnel often engage in unprofes-

sional conduct that leads to abuses of human rights.

In 1993, after the w ar in Liberia , we evaluated the

situation within the police department. An estimated

40 percent of law enforcement personnel had not

received basic training. Discipline levels were very low.

More recently, we have seen how a regime can ap-

point law enforcement off icia ls who can be manipu-

lated to perpetuate, through oppressio n,suppressio n,and intimidation, the regimes tenure.

To address these issues of unprofessionalism and hu-

man rights abuses, we decided to establish a profes-

sional association: Th e Liberian National Law Enforce-

ment Association , or LINLEA .LINLEA promotes train-

ing opportunities for law enf orcement off icers; advo-

cates for a merit-based system of promotion , the ap-

pointment o f qualif ied administrators, and fair and

impartial adjudication of complaints against off icers;and discourages partisanship and political manipula-

tion of law enforcement agencies.

At LINLEA we use a variety of mea ns to achieve our

objectives. We host professional training workshopsfor law en forcement officers, and organize public lec-

ture forums and radio programs to discuss issues re -

lated to the administration of just ice . We publish a

journal to educate readers on the role of the criminal

justice system, its problems and challenges, and issues

of democracy and human rights.In addition, we advo-

cate for reforms of law enforcement and criminal jus-

tice inst i tutions,conduct re search on the causes of

cr ime and the responses of the criminal justice sys-

tem, and publish our findings and recommendations.

As our organization has grown in size and credibility,

we have also been able to call atte ntion to internalproblems and unprofessional behavior in the depart-

ment, and demand justice for victi msincluding un-

fairly accused police off icers. We are beginning to

monitor and catalogue police abuses.

LINLEA now has over 500 memb ers, including nearly20 percent of the police force, as well as many mem-

bers of other law enforcement inst i tutions. Through

our Cente r for Criminal Justice Research and Educa-

tion , we have bee n able to provide leadership and

human rights training f or 223 senior law enforcement

off icers. The Center has also conducted a training

workshop for law enforcement trainers and curricu-

lu m specialists of law enforcement agencies, and a

workshop on Policy Formulation and Development for

law enforcement planners and administrators.

We believe that an association of thissort is the most

ef fective way to bring abou t change in police behav-

io r. Human rights organizationscan raise awarenessof the nat ure and incidents of human rights abuses in

society. But when a professional body related t o law

enforcement becomes involved in highlighting an d

exposing these abuses, i t sends a different signal to

the government and to t he police department itsel f,

a signal they are more likely to hee d .

In this notebook I descr ibe the creation of our police

association , and the development of our work sup-

porting within the police force a professional attitude

that is respectful of human rights.I then discusssome

of the quest ions relevant to the use of this tact ic in

other contexts. Whet her you are a concerned law en-forcement professional or a human rights activist, it is

my hope that this analysis will help you consider how

stepscan be taken to professionalize the police and

improve its human rights record in your own si tua-

tion.

The Liberian context& the birth of LINLEALIBERIA&ITSPOLICE:POLITICALBACKGROUND

The oldest independent African country,Liberia was

founded by freed American slaves, and its govern-

mental system was modeled on that of the U .S.Prior

to 1980,Liberia was one of the most peaceful andstable countries in Africa .Itscriminal just ice system

was functioning fairly well. The police and other law

enforcement agencie s benefite d from quality train-

in g .Standards in these agencie s were high .Promo-

tions were competitive . Discipline wassolid . Th e coun-

try had a modern prison and w ell-functioning courts.

The population, however, was divided bet wee n indig-

enous Liberians and those descended from freed

slaves, who had ruled since 1847. Discontent exploded

onto the scene w ith a bloody mil itary coup in 1980,

which brought into power the PeoplesRedemption

Council (PRC), led by Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe.

The early years of the coup era saw a series of sum-

mary executions, extrajudicial killings and disappear-

ances, and torture of political oppone nts.Law enforce-

ment agencies absorbed many unqualified personnel

sel ected on tribal and political grounds.Promotionswere politicized, rather than based on merit. The qual-

ity of services deteriorated significantly.Law enforce-

ment off icers became corrupt, and the previous high

level of discipl ine was undermined by poor supervi-

sion and control.


7/20

Promoting Human RightsProfessionalism in the Liberian Police Force 7

In 1982, after a scandalouscorruption incident, Doe

brought in a police administrator to rebuild the

departmentscredibility. Chief Wilfred E. Clark created

a strong professional sense of direct ion that helpedregain the confidence of the public.

Clark made significant progress in terms of manpowerand organizational development during his tenure

(19821990). The first duty manual, for example, was

developed and published in March 1984. Officers were

encouraged to pursue higher education , and those

earning bachelors degrees were given pa y raises and

promotions. Three off icers benefited from scholar-

ships provided by the Atlanta U niversity Criminal Jus-

tice Inst i tute to pursue postgraduate studies in crimi-

nal justice.

Clark discouraged off icers from joining political par-

ties. Executives an d command personnel were allowe d

input into the decision-making process, and could dis-cuss issues of seriousconcern at weekly senior staf f

meet ings. Clark encouraged discussion of any issue

that might undermine the professional integrity of

the department. After an aborted coup attempt in

1985,President Do e had the military and oth er secu-

rity forces vicio usly tracking down his opponents, but

Clark was able to control behavior within the dep art-

ment , even exerciz ing a moderating influence overrelatives of the president wh o were under his leader-

shi p . During the height of the war in 1990, when his

own life was at risk, he took steps to ensure that tribal

or political divisio ns would not tak e root in the de-

partment.

Throughout this period, violations of human rightswere attr ibute d mainly to the mil itary and other se-

curity forces, not the police .Sadly, as the war esca-

lated in 19891990, scor es of police off icers were

killed , including seven high-level police off icia ls, and

Clark was forced to f lee the country. In combination

with corruption and bad governance, the serious hu-

man rights abusescommitted by th e mil itary and a

group of security officers helped lead to a seven-year

civil conflict (19901997), the collapse of the govern-

ment , and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of

Liberiansincluding many law e nforcement profes-sionals.

The rebellion of t he National PatrioticFront of Liberia

(NPFL) in December 1989 led to t he intervention of

the Economic Community of West African Sta tes

(ECOWAS), and brought about the establishment ofan interim administration in 1991. The police and other

law enforcement agencies were reactivated , but many

of the problems experienced during the coups of the

1980s resurfacedincluding the employment, promo-

tion , and assignment of personnel without reference

to department al policy guidelines.Seeing these prob-

le ms,some of us who had served with Chief Clarkbega n looking for a way to improve the si tuation.

WHY FORM A POLICE ASSOCIATION?

Ironically, those wh o killed police off icers during the

civil crisis were often absorbed into the police or other

security age ncie s. Whe n the police department andother law enforcement units were reactivate d in 1991,

considerable damage had been done to bot h their

infrastr ucture and manpow er resources. Many off ic-ers had fled to other countries;some w ere in rebel-

controlled territories, involved in law e nforcement

duties or active combat w ith the rebel force; others

simply refused to report for duty.

To fill vacant posi t ions the police administration be-

gan to promote and assign off icers in haphazard or

politicized ways.Few ne w employees met the educa-

tional standards pr escr ibed by the department .Spe-

cialized tasks were given to people with out the requi-

si te professional competence or experience . Morale

became low, and a lack of discipl ine followe d . A sig-

nificant numb er of trained and experienced off icerswere reluctant to render courtesy t o superiors they

felt lacked leadership ability,supervisory skills, and

technical know-how.It b ecame more and m ore diffi-

cult to get the administration to apply sound mana-

gerial principles in managing the police department.Professionalism deteriorated , and with it , public re -

spect and trust.

After frustrated attempts to promote internal reform

proposals, in my role as the chief of Planning and Re-

search I met with t he Chief of Personn el in late 1993

to discuss how to place pressure on police administra-

tors to adhere to the p olice handbook and administerthe force in a more professional manner. Motivated

by the impact of the International Association of

Chiefs of Pol ice (IACP) in promoting prof essionalism,

we decided to establish a professional association for

law enforcement personnel and support staff.Since it

was difficult to correct the ills of the department from

within , we felt that a professional body operating out-

side the scope of police administrators would be more

ef fective .

Th e Law Enforcement Association was thusconceived

with the following objectives:

to bring together al l law en forcement agencie sand personnel to const i tute a consolidated asso-

ciation or consortium;

to ensure that the ethics and canons of the law

enforcement profession are str ictly observed and

adhered to;

to liaise with ap propriate government authori-ti es to ensure the passage of legislation that will

from time to time improve the pract ice of law

enforcement; improve th e living standard of par-

ticipants of the professio n; and guarantee the

safe ty and well-being of the men and wom en of

the professio n;


8/20

8

to ensur e community participation and coopera-

tion in meeting the challenges of crime and disor-

de r;

to seek , encourage , and promote law enforce-ment education and training opportunities and

programs for members of the professio n;

to assist a s a consortium in the decision-makingprocess in public and private law e nforcement in-

stitutions; and

to ensure that the r ights of law-abiding ci t izensand those accused of crimes are protected at al l

times;

To establish ties and affiliations with national and

international law en forcement and criminal jus-

tice institutions.

STEPSTO FORMATION

Initial invitation

The idea of this association was well-received among

professionals in other law enf orcement agencies. Wefirst communicated with the Acting Director of Pol ice,

Rudolf B.Flowers, and members of the senior staf f ,

informing them of our intent . The Director had ben-

efited from professional workshops during Clarks ad-

ministration , and was a registered member of the

IACP. Th us, although he may have felt some political

misgivings about our motives, he understood that

from a professional perspective he could not opposethe formation of the organization without dama ging

his own credibility.

Since we were still at war and our association would

have to deal with law enforcement and security per-sonnel, and in order not to be misrepresented , we

wrote to the heads of major law enforcement agen-

cie s, informing them of our intent to establish the

Association and request ing them to send tw o repre-

sentatives to form part of the organizing committee.

The following inst i tutions were contacted: National

Security Agency,Specia l Security Service, Monr ovia City

Pol ice, the Fire Service Bureau , the Bureau of Correc-

tions, and tw o major private security firms (Inter-Con

and REGSA); we also contacted a lawyer and a former

police planning chief then attending the law school.

We felt i t wascrucial to create this level of participa-

tion at the beginning of t he process. Th is was to betheir organization, not something broug ht in by out-

siders. All of the agencies responded and nominated

two of f icers to be part of the organizing committee.By December 29, 1993, the f irst meeting wascon-

vened a t the M onrovia City Hall.

The initial meetin gs were professional forums to dis-

cuss what impact w e could make in addressing unpro-

fessional conduct. Although participants were nomi-

nated by their agencie s, they were free to speak as

individuals; the agencies did not influence the delib-

eration processes. Th e constitution of Liberia provided

for freedom of association ,so there were no legal

barriers, and we moved quickly to solidify the formal

legal existence of the organization . We invited the

Minister of Justice to publicly launch the organization

on M ay 14, 1994 at t he M onrovia City Hall.

The formation of the Law Enforcement Association

was uniqu e and very attractive to many officers. W estr essed that other professionals had organized asso-

ciations (the Bar Associations, the Medical and Dental

Association, the Teache rs Association). Why shouldnt

we have our ow n? We also emphasized the role of

associations in serving as a strong voice in advocating

for reforms. Bet we en 1994 and 1996 we continued

our campaign for members. The more members, the

louder our voice. We hosted workshops,sports tour-

naments, beauty pageants, and other events to bring

law enforcement personnel together. In 1996 we

launched the first public lecture forum, in which mem-

bers of the law enforcement community and the pub-

lic met to discuss the administration of justice in Liberia,and ways to create peace, reconciliation, and stability.

Several law enforcement of f icia ls were invited to

present papers, including the Director of the National

Security Age ncy, the senior Inspector of Police, and

the Legal Aid Officer of the Just ice and Peace Com-

missio n.

Externalsupport

To build prof essionalism, and to promote cross-train-

ing and professional educat ion, Chief Clark had en-

couraged interact ion between Liberian off icers and

those of other countries. He encouraged senior offic-

ers to join the IACP, and built a relationship with theAtlant a University Criminal Justice Inst i tute, resulting

in a jointly sponsored conference in 1988 that broug ht

many notable international professionals to Liberia.

His work laid the foundation for our own understand-

ing and promotion of professional ethics and conduct.

In 1996 we received a small grant from the U .S. Em -

bassy to host a symposium on restr ucturing Liberian

security age ncie s. The workshop was well atten ded ,with the Head of State, the US Ambassador, the Min-

ister of Justice, and heads of law enforcement agen-

cieswith the exception of Pol ice Director Joseph B.

Tatecoming to the opening program . Heads of lawenforcement agencies and other criminal just ice ex-

pertsspoke on the ne ed to restr ucture varioussecu-

rity institutions in Liberia. Coincidentally, a team from

the U.S.State Department was visi t ing Liberia at the

time , and was invited to the opening program . Th e

team was impressed that a group of off icerscouldorganize such a forum to discuss how t o improve law

enforcement services.

Th e symposium was a major achievement for LINLEA ,

and brought the Association and its activities into the

limelight. At the clo se of the opening program the

U.S. ambassador announced that the U.S government


9/20


had allocated abou t $1.9 million to assist the judiciary

and the police in the reform process as they prepared

for the followin g years el ections.

Th issupport did have itscosts. The money wascondi-

tional on t he removal of Chief Tate. who had been

accused by the U.S. governme nt of being involved inatrocities during the war. Desperate to receive the

funds and to gain U .S.support , other members of the

Liberia Nat iona l Transitional Government (LNTG) pres-

sured Charles Taylor, one of the faction heads, to have

his nominee replaced, which he did . Tate accused the

Association of masterminding his removal by organiz-

ing the workshop , and within a year he took his re -

venge.

A police associationworking for human rightsWith a population of 2.7 million,Liberia has only 3,500

4,000 police off icers, a very low per capita presence.Of these, 500 belon g to LINLEA . The organization has

a tw o-tiered membership structure:Regular members

must be trained police, while associate members may

join without training . We believe that the organiza-

tion should not by run be an off icer in the depart-

ment ;such off icers are under the disciplinary control

of the Chief of Police, and thus inhibited in their reac-

tions to sensitive issues.LINLEAsconstitution also pro-hibits off icers from being members of polit ical par-

tie s. Memberscan vote, but cannot atte nd polit ical

meet ings or be partisan .Party control of police de-

stroys independence and continuity.

Initially,LINLEA did not have a direct human rightsadvocacy focus.It w as implied that if law enf orcement

off icers were professional in the discharge of their

duties, and good leadership kept in check those who

deviated from professional standards, human rights

violations would be at a minimum .

We did, however,conduct an analysis of factors re -

sponsible for these violations. We found that issues

contributing to human rights abuses by off icers in -

cluded lack of training and discipline, poor leadership,

and deliberate manipulation of law enforcement

agencies by the regime in power, resulting in the sup-pression of freedom and the intimidation of the pop u-

lace. We also concluded that the laws establishing law

enforcement agencie s, the policie s and procedural

mechanisms for managing these agencie s, the lead-

ership styles and abilities of executives, the of f icers

conduct and attitudes, and the ci t izens att itudes to-ward criminal just ice inst i tutionscontributed to the

poor performance and poor huma n rights recor ds of

the agencies. We decided, therefore , to prioritize hu-

man rights as a core policy issue.

To do so,LINLEA carries out the following activities:

training of officers in human rights, ethics, lead-ership, and basic police skills

research and publications

public ed ucation

advocacy regarding policies and legislation

advocacy regarding the appoint ment of qualifiedadministrators.

advocacy for adjudication of complaints (fair and

imparti al) and act ions against of f icers who vio-late

We have organized these into three major programs:

Law Enforcement Training an d Education

Human RightsPromotion and Advocacy

Welfare and Labor Relations

GENERALPROFESSIONALTRAINING:

IMPLICATION FORHUMAN RIGHTS

Although LINLEA addresses human rights as a delib-

erate part of its mandate , this fal ls within a broader

mission and program of promotin g overall profession-

alism , which we believe has many benefits for thepolice beyond its impact on human rights. We believe

that improvements in human rights performance are

a logical consequence of improved professionalism ,

and we articulate this link in our trainings.

The association seeks to improve the leadership styles

of administrators of law enforcement agencies, en-

courage a participatory decision-making process, anddevelop policies and procedural guidelines for man-

aging agency resources. We also seek to improve the

attitude and conduct of individual officers, which re-

sul ts in improved services, a bett er image for the pro-

fession and its members, a reduction in human rightsabuses and other acts of unprofessionalism, and , as a

re sult , incre ased support and cooperation from the

public.

In LINLEAs Human Rights an d Leadership training, we

cover the following topics:

principles of management and law enforcement

administration

constitutional provisio ns as they relate to the ad-

ministration of justice and the rule of law

human rights as it relates to law enforcement

leadership and supervisio n

human relations

Our training and outreach also has a multiplier effect.

Following the publication of o ur research report on

the Liberian criminal just ice system ,some agencie s

began their own training and set up committees to

develop policy manuals to guide their organizations.We are now conducting a training of trainers: a one-

week training for curriculum development to promote

professionalism . The participants will research the

training needs of their own inst i tutions, and we are

working with a teacherscollege to provide instr uc-

tion on basic techniques of curriculum development

and evaluation. We w ill also conduct a training on ba-sic policy development and procedural manuals.


10/20

10

RESEARCHONCRIMINALJUSTICE

In March 2002 we established th e Center for Criminal

Just ice Research and Education to conduct r esearch

on problems of criminal just ice. Through thiscenter,we have carried out research on the str ucture, func-

tions, and problems of the criminal justice system and

a survey of public perception of the operations andeffectiveness of criminal justice institutions in Liberia.

A report on these studies was published in December

2002 , and circulated to heads of law enforcement

and criminal just ice inst i tutions. The Minister of Jus-

tice mandat ed a deputy to review th e report and ad-

vise him on possible act ions; a meeting between the

Justice Minister and LINLEA is pending. After publica-

tion of the report some agencie s recommend ed in-

service training for their personnel, and one created a

new committee to d evelop policy guidelin es for the

department.

PUBLICEDUCATION

Since the attainment of our goals is intricately con-

nected to th e relationship between t he police and the

public, we also have formed programs to educate citi-

zens, through workshops, l i terature, and lectures,about t heir r ights and responsibilities as related to

the law, abou t the role of criminal justice inst i tutions

in society, and about act ions that can bring pressur eon the government t o init iate reforms and improve

human rights recor ds. We are also working with hu-

man rights groups and other civil society organiza-

tions to address human rights issues and the culture

of impunity. We host a mon thly radio program calledthe Criminal Justice Forum, organize a q uarterly pub-

lic lecture forum (the W ilfred E. Clark Lecture Forum

on Socia l Justice and the Rule of Law), and publish the

quarterly CriminalJustice ReviewJournal.

ADVOCATINGPOLICIESAND LEGISLATION

We have assisted several law e nforcement agencie s

in the creation of coherent internal procedures and

standards. Having noticed that the laws establishing

these agencies did not specify qualifications or crite-

ria for the appointme nt of agency heads, allowing

arbitrary choices by the president, we have also re-

v iewed the laws and proposed amendments to im-prove the sel ection process, advance the pract ice o f

law enforcement , and enhance the living standards

and guarante e the r ights,safety, and w ell-being of

members of the professio n.In addition, observing tha t

some agencies had duplicate funct ions, we recom-

mended that the National Legislature review th e acts

creating law enforcement agencie s and rectify any

discrepancies.

INFLUENCING LEADERSHIPSELECTION

Our hope is that o ur organization will become strong

enough to influence the select ion and appointment

of law enforcement executives, either through con-

sulting with the Pre sident, working with the legisla -

ture during confirmation hearings of those nominated

by the President , or lobbying legislators to pass a billrequiring the President to nominate competent and

qualif ied administrators to key posi t ions in law en-

fo rcement institutions. Once sound administrators are

appointed,LINLEA can then w ork with them to pro-

vide technical assistance for th eir respective agencies.

In a law enf orcement agency, a good administrator is

one who administers the affairs of the department

through written policy and procedural guidelines, who

encourages suggest ions and ideas from men and

women of the department , who consul ts with other

executives on key issues before making decisio ns, who

allows due process to prevail in the adj udication ofcomplaints against officers, and who understands that

the primary objective of the law en forcement profes-

sion is the uph olding of the rule of law an d respect for

the Const i tution . We believe that if we can achieve

our goal of having such administrators appointed to

the agencies, we wil l have gone a long way towards

addressing the problem of human rights abuses by

police. Unfortunately,Presiden t Taylors practice of ap-pointing persons loyal to him regardless of th eir quali-

fications, and his refusal to entertain discussio ns re -

garding the replacement of unqu alif ied administra-

tors, will delay the achievement o f some of these ob-

jectives.

DEALING WITHCOMPLAINTS AGAINSTSECU-

RITY FORCESORINDIVIDUALOFFICERS

As a professional association of law enforcement per-

sonnel w e have a dual role in dealing wit h complaints

against these personnel: on the one hand, we have an

obligation to defend th e r ights of our professionsmembers, who m ay be unfairly accused of misbehav-

ior and who , even in the event of misbehavior, have a

right to due process. At the same time, we must main-

tain the highest p ossible ethical standards within the

professio n , and we cannot al low law enforcement

pr actitioners to commit crimes with impunity.

In Liberia, however, there are presently no official dis-

ciplinary or invest igative procedures in place for of-

ficer violations.People are afraid even to file com-

plaints, and complaints are not handled profession-

ally. We are trying to persuade the Ministry of Justiceto issue a standard of conduct, and will then challenge

them to invest igate charges against off icers. As part

of this pr ocess,LINLEA has a line-up of t en programs,

including one on internal discipline which addresses

the process for receiving complaints from the public,

invest igating and processing them , and monitoring

their outcomes and resolutions.


11/20


Due to lack of funding , we have not yet been able to

effectively and thorou ghly monitor and catalogu e po-

lice abuses. We are, however, developing a Law En-

forcement Professional Standards and Human RightsOff ice, to be f ully responsible for monitoring com-

plaints of abuses and overseeing the handling of these

complaints. We do have an ethicscommittee that in-vestigatescomplaints against our own members, who

accept the possibility of investigation w hen they join

LINLEA .

Despite the lack of effective official mechanisms, we

have been able to use our influence and activities to

intervene and stop abuses. Human rights organiza-

tions had long found it diff icul t , for example, to per-

suade the courts to compel law enforcement execu-

tives to honor the writ of habeascorpus.Several per-

sons arrested by law enforcement agencie s, particu-

larly for alleged off ensescommitted against the state,

were held without being taken to the court withinthe 48 hours prescribed by the Constitution. Concerned

about this flagrant violation ,LINLEA hosted a forum

to discuss the significance of the writ of habeascorpus

in upholding the rule of law and protecting the rights

of accused persons. We invited representatives of the

Bar Association , the Justice Ministry, and the Catholic

Church Justice and Peace Commission to serve as pan-

elists.Since the forum, law enforcement agencies havebegun adhering to the constitutional provision regard-

ing the writ and are now complying with related court

orders. A few days after the forum , in fact , a human

rights lawyer was arrested and surprisingly, within the

48-hour perio d, wascharged and brought to court.

In 2000, a member of our Association was arrested

and de tained for 100 days for allegedly communicat-

ing wit h a military official in neighboring Guinea . We

felt that if the officer was indeed involved, he should

be forwarded to court rather than inde finitely de-

tained witho ut trial. After w e wrote a letter inquiring

into hiscase, he was accused of espionage . We went

to the judge to ask that the man be charged and tried ,but the police still ref used to charge him. We returned

to the judge , and finally threatene d to go to the Su-

preme Court . The following Saturday, the man was

released. We w anted to further protest this mistreat-ment , but the man concerned felt i t would be too

risky for him , and he ultimately fled the country.

In 2002, Director of Pol ice Paul E. Mulbah personally

arrested the head of the CatholicJustice and Peace

Commissio n. He also had two officers publicly flogge dwithout due cause, as vengeance for their having ques-

tioned his decisio ns in a meeting, and was respo nsible

for the f logging and torture of hum an rights advo-

cate Tiawon Gongloe while in police custody. These

actions prompted us to criticize him during a live radio

talk show. Th e chief did not take w ell to thiscriticism,

and vowed to discontinue hissupp ort for our programsand activities.For several months,contact was bro-

ken between t he pol ice

and LINLEA . W e chose to

ignore him, avoid officially

inviting the police depart-ment to our funct ions,

and deal only with our

members who were inthe service.Since othe r in-

stitutions were attending

and bene fit ing from our

train ing programs, the

police began to fe el iso-

lated. Eventually Mulbah

allowed eight off icers to

participate in a training

wo r kshop he ld a t our

ce n t e r, an d p e r m i t t ed

training officers from the

Police Academy to partici-

pate in a training of train-ers workshop . We hope

to take advantage of this

change of he art and in-

tensify our training w ork-

shops for police officers.

This aspect of our work

clearly carries inherentrisks.Public condemna-

t i o n o f h u m a n r i g h ts

abuses by law enforce-

ment executives may trig-

ger a backl ash ,creatingsi tuations in which sup-

port for our programs iswithheld and executives

prohibit officers from officially participating in the ac-

tivities and programs of LINLEA .

STANDINGUPFORTHEHUMAN RIGHTS

OFLAW ENFORCEMENTWORKERS

As just described, police officers themselves are some-

times vict ims of abuse by off icia ls.In these cases we

assist in grievance procedures.If officers are detained

or wrongfully charged, we advocate f or their release

or for justice .LINLEA is trying to develop a la w en-forcement off icer s Bill of Rights for Liberian Officers

to be enacted into law. With the passage of this bill,

and our inclusion of this topic as part of our training ,officers will be aware of t heir rights and able to claim

them.

Repression against LINLEALINLEA had a particularly difficult time aft er the 1997

elect ions, due to our outspoken stance in support of

the restr ucturing of the security forces, and our criti-

cisms of Chief Tate . As described earlier, Tate w as ac-

cused of war crimes by the U.S., and removed from

off ice as a condition of U .S.security assistance . Be-cause of the timing of a LINLEA conference on police

Participantsatapolicy formationanddevelop-

mentworkshopheldatCCJRE, April 912,

2003.

Panelistsat theWilfredE. Clark lecture forum,

discussing theroleof the lawenforcement

community inpromotingpeace, reconciliation,

and security forall;August 15, 2002.

LINLEAPresidentCecilB. Griffiths inoffice.


12/20

12

professionalism, and the enthusiastic U.S.support for

LINLEA , Tate blame d us for the loss of his position .

Wit h the 1997 election of Charles Taylor and th e NPP,Tate w as again name d Chief of Pol ice.In addition to

harboring historic resentment for LINLEA , the NPP was

also concerned about our support for implemen tingthe restr ucturing called for in the A buja accor d . Tate,

considered the second most pow erful man in Liberia ,

launched an aggressiv e campaign of intimidation

against LINLEA .

His fi rst step was to fire me from my position as Chief

o f Planning and Research , ju st as we w ere holding a

national workshop on restructuring the security forces.

The worksho p, however, went ahead as planned , and

participants overwhelmingly called for law e nforce-

ment agencies to be restr uctured in keeping with the

Abuja accords.LINLEA protested my dismissal and held

pr essconferences exposing the unprofessional man-ner in which the police department was being run .

Th is prompt ed Tate to order my arrest and detention.

I was arrested in Decemb er 1997, but managed to

escape . Tate also had our meetings monitored , and

our members watched , threatened , and arrested. He

spread propaganda questioning our associations mo-

tives and creating the impression that we were agents

of the U .S. government ,since the U .S. and Liberiangovernments were at loggerheads.LINLEA declared

a state of siege, and advised members who felt threat-

ened to keep aw ay until conditions improved . A few

off icers did brave the storm and continued to be ac-

tive.

In 1999 Director Tate w as killed in a crash, after which

many police off icers re act ivated their membership ,

and our relationship with the department began to

improve . Nevertheless, the department still suffers

greatly from the transition . Because of the prevailing

situation in the country, particularly the issue of impu-

nity, many LINLEA members are not willing to file com-

plaints against their bosses for fear of reprisal .

Tates replacement aschief of police,Paul E. Mulbah ,

did not warm to us qu ickly. When we publicly criticized

the arrest and detention of a human rights activistand the f logging of tw o police of f icers upon his or-

ders, he vowed not to cooperate with us, and notified

heads of other law enforcement agencies of his deci-

sio n . Th is relationship hassince improved somewhat,

in part due to the seriousness and credibility of our

work and publications.

Although opposition to LINLEA still exists, it is limited

to executives with very close connections to the presi-

dent . One agency head continues to intimidate and

threaten members with dismissal for associating with

LINLEA . Quite recently, three of our members resigned

from this agency to work full time with us; the agencyhead is now refusing to cooperate with LINLEA .

Discussion I:Causes of police abuseCo nsider the m ajority of violations of civil and p olitical

rights: extrajudicial killings,summa ry executions, dis-

appearances, torture, impunity, unlawful detention,violation of the r ight to protest or express onesel f,

discrimination against minorities, police brutality, traf-

ficking in human beings. The list goes on , but clearlymost of these abuses are direct ly related to la w en-

forcementeither to abuses by security officia ls, or

to the lack of protection and enforcement of the law.Law enforcement iscrucially linked to d emocracy, good

governance, and the rule of law.I believe that most of

the wars in Africa are related to the lack of the rule of

la w, and to a lack of justice.People have nowhere to

seek redress.If human rights abuses and omissio ns by

law enforcement and the criminal justice system were

addressed , and the system worked , most abuses and

violent conflicts would be reduced or minimized.

Why do law enforcement of f icers violate the law orcommit abuses? We believe three factors are respon-

sible:

First , a lack of training or inade quat e training. Off ic-

ers do not know w hat to do in certain instances, and

are often ignorant of the law.In Liberia, more tha n 60

percent of current officers ar e completely untrained.

A second key cause is the lack of discipline .Law en-

forcement off icers must be guided in th eir actions by

principles and standards of conduct.Professional or-

ganizationssuch asLINLEA ende avor to remind offic-

ers of th eir respo nsibility to adhere t o these standards,and of the ef fects of unprofessional conduct on the

image of law enforcement agencies. Officers who dis-

regard rules of conduct m ust b e sanct ioned in order

to deter others. Violations that are internally moti-

vated (such as lack of training , lack of discipline , or

poor leadership) can be handled by convincing politi-

cal leaders that the problems of the police are under-

mining the image of the country and hence require

corrective measur es.

The third factor is the polit ical manipulation of law

enforcement inst i tutions for political gain .Political

leaders appoint those loyal to them , those they cantrust to do their bidding . Th is leads to violations that

are externally motivated . To address this we must

persuade the law enforcement community to reflect

on its role in society through interaction with law en-

forcement professionals from other countries.Pol ice

need to be encouraged to see th eir role asserving the

citizenry, not the regime in power. By building a sense

of pride in the profession , agencies can build up

greater internal resistance to the kind of polit ical

manipulation that can turn a good police force into a

tool for repressio n.

We believe that most human rights violations by po-lice in Liberia , especially those occurring be tw een 1991


13/20


and 1997,could be attr ibuted to unprofessional er-

ro rscaused by a lack of training and discipline. After

the 1997 elections brought the NPP into power, how-

ever, many rebel commanders and fighters were ab-

sorbed into law enf orcement agencies, an d command-

ers were appointed heads of security units at vital

public installations and facilities,such as the Freeportof Monrovia, the TelecommunicationsCorporation , th e

Electr icity Corporatio n, the International Airport, and

the law enforcement agencies. At this point, the level

of human rights violations began to take on ne w di-

me nsio ns.

In 1997, for instance, a few months after the new

government took off ice, prominent polit icia n Sam

Dokie , his wife, and a close relative were killed , alleg-

edly by mem bers of the Specia l Security Service , the

agency responsible for protect ing the Pre sident and

other VIPs. To dat e , those accused are yet to face jus-

tice. The conduct of th e A nti-Terrorist Unit (ATU), amilitary force created by the president, has also in-

cre ased the level of human rights violations. Th is unit

has been accused of torture , and of inhumane treat-

ment of civilians detained at their bases.

One of the greatest concerns of LINLEA and of the

human rights organizations in Liberia is the issue of

impunity. Many acts of lawlessness, unprofessionalism,and human rights violations go unpunished, and the

act ions of the ATU and Special Operation Divisio n

(SOD), the para-military wing of the police,continue

to go unchecked .

Th e SOD , which should be analagous to the "SWAT"

(Special Weapons And Tactics) tea ms of U..S police de-

partments, was reorganized and staffed with ex-com-

batants. A para-military Border Patrol Unit was also

established within the Bureau of Immigration and

Naturalization and staffed with ex-fighters. Because

of the loyalty of the men and commanders of these

units, they are fully involved in the w ar. Acts of unpro-

fessional conduct or repressive behavior are not ad-

equately addressed by heads of agencies because o f

their relationship with the president.

Th is not an easy si tuation to tackle .In our radio pro-grams, public lecture forums, and literature, we con-

tinue to discuss the need to improve enforcement

agencies throug h training and education, and to en-

courage civil society to pressure the government to

reform.

Discussion II: NecessaryresourcesHUMANRESOURCES

Our most critical resource is police off icers who be-

lieve in professionalism. Every police department has

them, but they are not always visible when a depart-

ment is affected by political or armed confl ict , or bycorruption .They are, however, the people needed to

FemalechapterofLINLEAcelebrating first

anniversary, December 12, 2001.

ProfessorAnthonyD. Kromah, Associate

DirectorofCCJRE, lecturingon the

significanceof trainingduring the trainingof

trainersworkshop.

Participantsat leadershipandhuman rights

workshop, December 12, 2002, MonroviaCity

Hall.

build an effective and le-

gitimate association . The

founders of our association

w e r e l a w e n f o rce m e n tpersonnel who had seen ,

under Chief Clark , how a

professional departmentshould be run. We had con-

tacts within public and pri-

va t e l aw en fo rce m e n t

agencies, and we had the

support of a lawyer as

well, who was invited to

join the organizing com-

mi t tee to ob ta in f i rst-

hand knowledge of our

aims and objectives. W e

were also able to gain

support from the Minis-

ter of Justice and otherhigh-level law enforce-

ment of f icia ls. Th issup-

port has not always been

consisten t , for polit ical

re asons, and at t imes we

experienced harassment

from officials, bu t currently

some of t hat initial level of

support is being restored .

FINANCIALRESOURCES

We requested from our

members annual dues ofone hundred Liberian dol-

la rs. Because of the eco-

nomic constraints facing

workers, we also hosted

fundra isers to augment

these dues. We received some funding from the U .S.

government (support for the law enforcement re-

str ucturing workshops in 1996 and 1997, and support

for the publication of the criminal justice review jour-

nal), and during the period of intense intimidation ,off ice space and f inancia l support w ere provided by

the Association of Liberian Professional Organizations

(ALPO) , a civil society organization . We now receivefunding from the National Endowmen t for Democ-

racy (NED), based in Washington, D.C., for our Center

for Criminal Justice Research and Education program,and the Norwegian Human RightsFun ds provide f und-

ing for our Professional Standards and Human Rights

Office.

Discussion III:The police & the mili-taryTh e Liberian police and military had historically re-

mained separate , but after the 1980 coup and the

ongoing conflict they beg un to overlap in their secu-

rity functions, and to carry out some joint operations.Most devastatingly,since 1997 the p olice have had to


14/20

14

absorb a large number of untraine d former combat-

ants.Former rebel soldiers were absorbed into all se-

curity forces, including the police and the armed forces.

But the existing army wascomprised of soldiers whohad fought against the rebels.In the transition very

few rebel commanders obtained command positions

in the army. Instead, Taylor created a new militaryforce, the An ti-Terrorist Unit (ATU),comprised prima-

rily of form er rebels. Taylor has favored the ATUhis

personal armywith resources, weapons, and respon-

sibility for controlling dissidents. Meanwhile, the police

department absorbed 400500 form er reb el combat-

ants, with the SOD taking on an incre asingly repres-

sive role. Th ese ex-combatants ar e still war-trauma-

tized, and received no professional training.

The fact that t he militarys and former rebels abuses

have benefited from impunity clearly does not create

a publicsense of respect or faith in the state scom-

mitment to th e rule of law. With the existing ambigu-ity of formal separation yet pract ical mixing of

military and civilian security forces, i t is diff icult for

military officers to be invest igated or held account-

able for their actions.Policies regarding the investiga-

tion of military personnel for unlawful actions are not

consistent . Although most of fensescommitted by

military officers are han dled by the military police and

sometimes referred to a tr ibunal, there are few in-

sta nces in which military officers have been prosecuted

in civilian courts.

Through our radio programs and publications,LINLEA

has been vocal against acts of lawlessness by mem-bers of the ATU and other security forces.In 2001, for

example, an off icer of the Defense Intell igence Ser-

vice was detained more than eighteen months by

Defense Ministry aut horities for unsubstantiated al-

legations.LINLEA sought clarification from Defense

Ministry officia ls an d, when no respo nse w as received,

collaborated with the Justice and Peace Commissio n

to have the off icer released . A case involving a com-

manding of f icer of the AFL, a former NPFL com-

mander al leged to have stabbe d and kil led another

military officer, is currently being invest igated by

LINLEA upon request from victims relative . Th e JPC

has also highlighted the case.

LINLEAs has hopes to advocate for the creation of a

Truth an d Reconciliation Commission to review all such

cases that are not addressed by the government, and

hassubmitted funding proposals to support prepara-

tory work in tha t direct ion . Unfortunately, the cur-rent fighting in Liberia at the time of this writing has

made it impossible to pursue this objective.

Discussion IV:Police &human rights organizationsIn the beginning , perhaps not surprisingly,LINLEA did

not have a close relationship with civil society humanrights groups.Since the idea of law enforcement of-

ficers organizing to promote professionalism among

themselves wasstrange ,some groups were simply

skept ical about our intent .Some felt that our inten-

tion in joining the consortium of human rights organi-zations was to infiltrate and expose decisions and plans

to the government .It was thus diff icult at first for

LINLEA to secure international support or funding forour programs.

However, there has been a remarkable improvement

in the relationships over time, especially aft er LINLEA

itsel f suffere d police repressio n. We now collaborate

with the CatholicJust ice and Peace Commission and

others who invite us to lecture on criminal justice, pris-

oners righ ts, the correct ional system, police commu-

nity relatio ns,and other topics.International funders,

such as the National Endowment for Democracy, have

helped us build links with other groups. And our

monthly radio program on human rights issues has

also strengthened our credibility.

It is natural that some dista nce exist between the NGO

human rights movement and a police association, even

one with a human rights agenda . Th is distance might

even have positive consequences: our primary target

constituency and audience are police themselves, and

the institution al hierarchy. Given the historic distr ust

and often adversarial relationship between humanrights groups and security forces, a police association

might have diff iculty maintaining itscredibility and

access inside the law enforcement universe if it is per-

ceived to be too closely linked to hu man rights groups.

Transferability I:How police associa-tionscan promote human rightsSTARTING A POLICEASSOCIATION

Our tact iccan be successfully implemented only byprofessional law enforcement of f icers (whether in

active service or not). Th ese off icers know the culture

of their agencies and can make a tremendous impact

i f they init iate ef forts to improve the quality of ser-

vice. To encourage fel low off icers to see the value in

such an association, the following motivationsshould

be encouraged:

Most people have a longing to be a part of an

organization or fraternity. Other professio ns havesuch associations,so why not ours?Police in other

countries have such associations,so why not us?

Most law enforcement practitioners want to feel

pride in their work . They want to be regarded as

professionals. They are not proud of abusescom-

mitted by th eir institutio n or individuals within it,and they want the respect of the public.

Law enforcement practitionerscan benefit from

the training and education that an association can

offer. Training opportu nitiescan also mean pro-

motion opportunities.

Law enforcement off icia ls are mostly normal citi-

zens with the same desire for peace,stability, andrespect for human rights as others in society.


15/20


In a si tuation where some security forces or indi-

viduals are engaged in unprofessional behavior

or politically motivated hu man rights abuses, the

repu tatio n of all pract i t ioners is damaged. Theyneed an association to assert their commitment

to professionalism and separate themselves from

the crimescommitted by others. Law enforcement practitioners work un der a hi-

erarchy of obedience to discipline, but they also

have a right to bene fit from an independent space

to discuss issues and voice concer ns among col-

leagues.

Law enforcement of f icerscan be vict imized by

their inst i tutionsunfairly accused , detained,

punished, denied promotions, and discriminated

against. They need an indep ende nt body that will

stand up and advocate for their needs.

If a law enforcement agency is going through a

difficult time, in which discipline and profession-

alism have broken dow n or political manipulationis in tense ,calling atte ntion to role models and

time periods in which a higher level of profession-

al ism w as achieved can encourage colleagues to

maintain hope that the situation can be improved.

If you have a group of off icers interested in forming

such an organization,consider the following questions:

Do other professional organizations,such as theBar Associatio n or Teachers Association , ex ist i n

your country? What can you learn from them

about the process of establishing such an organi-

zation?

Are there any laws prohibiting law enforcementoff icers from becoming members of professional

organizations?If so , you may first need to cam-

paign to change such laws. You may be aided by

international support , given that independent

police associations are common in many countries,

and can play a very positive role in assist ing law

enforcement.

What is the governments att i tude towards hu-

man rights activism and independent civil society?

Has the government shown wil l ingness to im-

prove the human rightssi tuation or is i t hostile

towards human rights advocates?

What is the nature of huma n rights violations inyour country? What has been the involvement of

your law en forcement inst i tution in these viola-

tions? Has this involvement, or lack of it, been

internally or externally motivated?

Depending on the polit ical si tuation , where can

you find allies?If, for instance, a breakdow n indiscipline or professionalism hascaused scandals

or si tuations which create a bad image for the

country, you may find that high government of fi-

cia ls, parl iament members, and others are very

supportive of any campaign to address the prob-

le m. On the other hand , if the police departmen t

issuffering from excessive political control by arepressive regime , you may need to choose a

lower profile , looking f or allies among your col-

leagues, within civil society, and in the interna-

tional community.

There are a number of steps that can be init iated to

prepare law en forcement of f icers to establish a net-

work to promote hum an rights among themselves: Contact international organizations of law en-

forcement professionals. Th e IACP, for instance ,

tackles unprofessionalism by developin g training

programs in collaboration with law enforcement

training inst i tutions and universities.It also ad-

dr esses the issue of leadership through annual

international and regional conferences. Th e IACP

has been successful in its programs because it has

suff icient funding , and because the caliber and

status of members give the organizatio n promi-

ne nce.

Host regional conferences for heads of law en-

forcement agencies to discuss administrative andhuman rights issues. During such conferences, the

role of unions and professional associationscan

be discussed . Delegatescan be encouraged to

become members of the IACP or other interna-

tional law enf orcement association .Such aware-

ness will be necessary to generate support when-

ever a local law enforcement association is to be

established.

Set up regional professional law en forcement as-

sociationssuch as the West African A ssociation

of Chiefs of Police or the W est African Union of

Law Enforcement Associations. With the support

of the IACP and international human rights orga-nizations, these regional bodes may be able to

develop awareness of the professional role of the

police and other law enf orcement agencies in a

democracy.

Establish criminal justice research centers to con-

duct studies on the causes of cr ime and on the

criminal justice system, opinion surveys on public

perceptions of the police system, and other stud-

ie s to provide data tha t could help law enforce-

ment agencies reflect on their performances, while

recommending act ions to to address the si tua-

tion.Such resea rch helps demonstrate the impor-

tant role that an association may play. Th e cen-terscould conduct worksho ps for law enforcement

off icers on human rights, ethics, democracy, and

other topics. Th ese initiativesshould not be an-

tagonistic in nature, and criticismsshould be con-

str uctive and limited.

ENSURING AHUMAN RIGHTS AGENDA

Once you have established an association , or if you

already have one , ho w can you ensure that it carries

out a strong agenda in support of huma n rights?

Despite the frequent use of police for repressio n, and

the adversarial relationship that often exists betweenlaw enforcement and huma n rights groups, it is fun-


16/20

16

dame ntal to recognize that the essential mandate of

all policing is to protect ci t izens and th eir rights. Any

program pursuing professional integrity withou t pro-

moting human rights is internally inconsistent. Humanrights education is theref ore essential for law en force-

ment pract i t ioners, and an association can play an

important role in offering such education, and advo-cating to ensure that human rights ed ucation becom es

part of official police training and education .

If fel low off icers ar e committing abuses, there may

be a hesi tance to criticize one of our own . In this

case, an association needs to be encouraged to recog-

nize the cost to the reputation and public image of all

police if offenders are allowe d to commit abuses with

impunity. An association can advocate for effective

invest igative and disciplinary procedures inside the

department, while also maintainin g the role of exter-

nal watchdog.It is also essential that the organization

has it s own mechanisms for invest igating infr inge-ments of professional ethics by its members. Without

this, the professional reputation of the organization

itself will be quest ioned.

In si tuations where police are subjected to polit ical

manipulation, the police association itself may be vul-

nerable to intimidation, infiltration, or cooptation. Cog-

nizant of this fact,LINLEA , for example , has put inplace mechanisms to prevent political manipulation.To

prevent conflict of interest, law enforcement off icers

appointed by the president to executive posi t ions in

law enforcement agencies are prohibited from hold-

ing office in the Association.Likewise,LINLEA off icersappointe d by the president to serve in law e nforce-

ment agencies must resign their positions within the

Association if they accept the presidential appoint-

ment.

Affiliations with international law enforcement groups

can help to give associations an internation al profile

and signal international support . Members, particu-

larly the executive committee, must be alert an d vigi-

lant in detect ing any attempts by the government to

infiltrate the organization or co-opt members.

Transferability II:Promoting human rightsengagement in police associationsAny attempt by human rights activists to promote

posi t ive engage ment with the police must be done

with an att i tude, a style of communication , and an

approach that take into account the political and dip-lomatic realities of the two groups. Human rights ac-

tivists need to respect that the law enforcemen t pro-

fession has it s o wn culture, professional standards,

and modes of expressio n, which may be different th an

those of many human rights NGOs. The law enforce-

ment community, even under the best of circum-

stances, is vulnerable to attackboth physical attack

from some of th e violent si tuations i t is obligated to

confront, and polit ical attack from allies of any tar-

gets of law enforcement activities. Th is vulnerabilitynaturally creates a resistance to criticism from the

outsid e, and a highly developed sense o f collegial re-

spect within the professio n, a respect based on sharedrisks and stre sses.

In a si tuation where law enforcement has been ac-

cused of misbehavior, or human rights groups have

been vociferously critical of law enforcement, this dy-

namic will further complicate communication and col-

laboration .

In any case, human rights groups need to approach

and seek ou t allies within the law enforcement com-

munity,conveying sensitivity to the difficul t situation

the police face, and support for the professional aspi-

rations they have. As in any professio n , law enforce-ment practitioners are more likely to respond to new

ideas i f those ideas arise from one of their own . Hu-

man rights workersshould thus not try to convince

the police in general to change th eir approach to hu-

man rights, but rather seek ou t influential al l ies in -

side the inst i tut ion who can convince others. These

allies need to be professionalscapable of influencin g

others, and independent thinkers willing to q uestionthe status quo.

How does one find these allies with aspirations to im-

prove the professional and moral integrity of their

institution? There are several avenues.In many placescivil society groups already have clo se contact wi th

the police and may be interested in your work .For

in stance , NGOs that w ork with vict ims or offen ders

have frequent contact with police, and will already

have developed trusting relationshi ps with some of-

ficers. University professors that do educational work

with the police will also have built up relationship s

with the institution, and may have good advice about

influen tial individuals in the department who might

promote such thinking.

Human rights organizationscan also e ncourage col-

laborative relationshi ps with law enforcement pro-fessionals in their other activitiesby inviting th em ,

for instance, to human rightsconferences and forums,

and by organizing seminars on topics of interest to

the police.Such forums may serve as a catalyst in per-

suading professionals to organize themselves and in-

f luence their colleagues.Individuals with legal andresearch backgrounds may establish institutes to con-

duct research on the prevailing laws,crime, and crimi-

nal just ice polices and practices, and l iaise with law

enforcement auth orit ies to discuss f indings and rec-

ommendations.Such institutions may also have a train-

ing compone nt to provide techn ical or advanced train-

ing for law en forcement practitioners.


17/20


Human rights organizationscan also encourage their

international counterparts to organize forums involv-

ing law enforcement.If local police chiefs are invited

to an international forum co-sponsored by interna-tional human rights groups as well as international

law enforcement associations, the l ink between the

two communities gains further credibility, and the lo-cal law e nforcement professional is given a special

opportunity to learn and share with other profession-

als in both fields.


18/20

18

NOTES


19/20


NOTES


20/20

The Center for Victims of Tortu reNew Tact ics in Human RightsProject

717 East River RoadMinneapol is, MN 55455

w w w.cvt .org /[email protected] w w.newtactics.org /newtactics@cvt .org

To print or dowload this and other publicat ionsin the Tactical Notebook Series,go to ww w.newtactics.org.

Online you will also find a searchable datab ase of tactics andforums for discussion with oth er human r ights practitioners.

Documents

Promoting Human Rights Professionalism in the Liberian Police Force (English)