The place: Central Finland. The players: 18 Afghans. The task: run a relay race in teams of four. The rules: speed isn’t everything.
Jari Lehvonen is smiling. A Finnish trainer of the Crisis Management Centre (CMC) Finland, he spent the morning talking about the importance of coordination between justice actors in the criminal justice process. The analogy he used was that of a relay race, of police officers passing the baton to their prosecutor colleagues, of defence lawyers watching if anybody was overstepping the marks on the track. His charges were listening attentively, nodding their heads. The image they saw unfolding on the blackboard made sense. Yet none of them had ever seen a relay race. In unison, the participants decided to organize their own. The large rotunda in front of the training centre served as impromptu track, large black umbrellas as batons. The groups were formed on the basis of existing working groups, police and prosecutors happily mingling; others acting as observers. The team that runs fastest ends up disqualified for overstepping the marks, contrary to the instructions. There is no need to ask the participants about the significance of this but Deputy Attorney General Abdul Wakil Amini donates prizes to all runners: “Everybody here is a winner. We all learned today that simply running fast is not enough."
From 17th to 31st May 2010, 18 representatives of the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Interior, the Bar Association and the Ministry of Justice from Afghanistan visited Finland for an advanced training course on police-prosecutor coordination. Organized by Finland’s CMC in close cooperation with EUPOL, this was already the second training module taking place in Finland. Participants had the unique opportunity to experience the Finnish criminal justice system first-hand, visiting the Eastern Finland Court of Appeal in Kuopio and the Ministry of Justice in Helsinki, listening to Finnish tax inspection experts and exchanging experiences with Finnish district prosecutors and CID inspectors. A highlight of the training was the attendance at primary court proceedings in Mikkeli during a stabbing trial. Following a detailed introduction to the facts of the case on the previous day, participants were then able to follow proceedings from the visitors’ gallery by way of simultaneous translation and subsequently to put questions to the involved prosecutor, defence lawyer and judge.
Another major element of the year-long course that spans four modules in Finland and Kabul has been the development of a Coordination Manual. Since January 2010, a selective working group had been working on developing a draft concept based on a case study ranging all the way from first detection of a crime to the final conclusion before a primary court. The case study is to serve as the basis for a two-week training course. Led by a EUPOL Rule of Law team consisting of Cornelia Schneider, Rohullah Esmati and Humayoon Agah, the 18 participants worked through the entire draft case study, giving feedback and developing model answers. Mr. Shafiullah Daudi, the head of primary anti-narcotics prosecution in Kabul and one of the training participants, stresses the importance of the Coordination Manual that the pilot training group has been developing: “This is a challenging tool that will allow students to test their knowledge and apply what they know in team-work to a set of practical problems. I am very hopeful that this Manual will be adopted for official training use by the MoI and AGO."
During a goodbye dinner in Helsinki, Director of CMC Finland Ari Kerkkaenen commended the participants for the energy and effort they dedicated to the training. He also emphasized the role of EUPOL, represented by Legal Adviser Jari Paajala, for its support and contribution to the successful implementation of the pilot training and awarded Chief Inspector Pekka Kokkonen, a Finnish EUPOL mentor, with a service medal. The evening came to a suitable finish with the words of a female prosecutor from Balkh Province who stressed that she wanted to see more women given with the chance to train and progress. Anjila Azizi closed by saying, “Now I hope to pass on the knowledge I acquired to female prosecutors from my province."

After more than a year of work by a joint EUPOL-MoI Team, a pocket-size reference guide on Police and Human rights was prepared for the Afghan National Police, titled “Mandate: To Serve and to Protect the People of Afghanistan".
The Booklet contains photos and pictures with inscriptions, illustrating relevant provisions from International as well as Islamic and Afghan national human rights standards. The preparation process has been inclusive and participatory every step of the way under the ownership of the Ministry of Interior Department of Gender and Human Rights.
The booklet consists of 10 Chapters basic on human rights and will be published in two versions: in Dari-Pashto and Dari-English. It is expected also that the booklet will be used extensively by both MoI and EUPOL trainers as a general introduction to human rights and gender issues in Afghanistan.

On 6 June the opening ceremony of “Transparency in the Administration of Justice” Training for Military Judges and Prosecutors took place. This training has been organized by Dr. Gregor Kemper, EUPOLs Chief of Mentors Anti-Corruption / AGO, is implemented together with the Max-Planck-Institute for International Law.
During the ten days course, more than 60 military judges and prosecutors from Kabul and the regions were trained in the premises of the Military Court of Appeal in Kabul.
According to Afghan law, Afghan National Police (ANP) Officers and government officials holding a military rank fall under the jurisdiction of the Military Justice Sector.
Criminal investigations and trials against allegedly corrupt members of the Afghan security forces (mainly ANP) must meet basic legal standards in order to be effective. The violation of domestic Afghan and international law in the investigation and prosecution can lead to the release of accused officials despite a high probability of their culpability thus leading to mistrust by the population against the justice institutions.
Furthermore, the training intends to improve cooperation of judges and prosecutors involved in the same type of cases. During the training the participants of both groups do not only study the legal principles together; they also learn more about each other’s roles and build ties of mutual trust. This aspect of the training is crucial to establish better cooperation.
In his opening speech General Halim, the President of the Military Appellate Court and Afghanistan’s highest ranking Military Judge, appreciated EUPOL’s leading role in supporting the Afghan Military Justice Sector. The opening ceremony was broadcasted by Radio Television Afghanistan.

After five weeks of hard training 46 Afghan Police officers on June 6th received their graduation certificates from the Interim Minister of Interior, Munir Mangal and the training departments of EUPOL Afghanistan and the NATO Training Mission (NTM-A). The students learned about non verbal communication, team building, methods of instruction, evaluation and all the other tools needed to become an instructor / trainer oneself. The graduates will now be sent to the regions where they will train recruits and other Afghan police officers. The so called Field Training Education Officer – Course (FTEO-C) was conducted by EUPOL trainers in closed cooperation with colleagues from NTM-A.

While on a visit to Afghanistan in the first week of June a group of six European journalists were confronted with a delayed Peace Jirga. EUPOL Afghanistan and the other organisers of this trip had to change the program accordingly and the European scribes soon learnt that the key word of life in Afghanistan is flexibility: be ready for changes and adapt. Of course a well organised mission like EUPOL can provide everything needed; from briefings like those given by Acting DHoM/Police Uwe Mainz and DHoM/RoL Karin Mueller to interviews with police officers from their countries and the chance to attend a training of Afghan police officers. EUPOL also took the group on a field trip to Mazar-e-Sharif in the north of Afghanistan. The group was joined by Ambassador Vygaudas Usackas, EUSR to Afghanistan. In Mazar they got to meet Governor Ata Mohammad Noor, who explained the security situation as well as the developments in his province and thanked the international community for its support. Governor Ata took time to answer questions about human rights, the freedom of speech and the chance of the Peace Jirga to pave the way to peace and reconciliation. He made it absolutely clear that the Taliban and other insurgents not only need to lay down their weapons to join the democratic process but have to clearly accept the Afghan Constitution too. Before flying back to Kabul the group visited Camp Marmal where EUPOL mentors gave an overview on the mission’s efforts and achievements in the north.

the EUPOL Intelligence Led Policing unit has delivered an Introduction to Intelligence Led Policing and Informant and Agent Handling and Analysis Training in Kabul and three provinces. More than 400 Police Officers have completed the training in Kabul, Faryab, Herat and Bamyan. Furthermore, the EUPOL Intelligence Led Policing is going to conduct similar training in Kunduz and Balkh Province in the coming months.
The Introduction Course aims to give police officers an understanding of Intelligence Led Policing, Informant and Agent Handling and Analysis work. The Informant and Agent Handling Course is a more advanced course on how to plan and execute Human Intelligence Operations in hostile environments. This course is tailored for middle management, or officers more senior than that. After completing the course, they will be able to identify students for the more advanced course, such as Agent and Informant Handling. The Analysis Course is designed for the specialists working with Police Intelligence Analysis.
The police students attending the course come from different branches, such as Police Intelligence Department, Criminal Investigation Department, Counter Terrorist Department and Counter Narcotics Department. The training has been arranged and delivered in the Provinces in close and good cooperation with EUPOL PRT Mentors, Commanders in the PRTs and the Afghan National Police.

There are ten EUPOL police mentors in the EUPOL Intelligence Led Policing Unit. The work of the unit is divided in two and focuses on two major projects, which are the Afghan Anti Crime Police Project and the Afghan Uniform Civilian Police Project.
One of the main strategic objectives for the EUPOL is to develop Intelligence Led Policing in Afghanistan. Intelligence Led Policing model (ILP) supports the leadership when making decisions on how to use their police recourses on a tactical, operational and strategic level. Like any work EUPOL Afghanistan does, this work is done in close cooperation with the Afghan Ministry of Interior and the Afghan National Police and with other international organizations working in policing, such as CSTC-A, DYNCORP, MPRI and LEGACY.
… Intelligence Led Policing is about increasing information gathering and how to analyse this information. In addition, a vital element of ILP is how to use the information to improve leadership and to be a proactive police.
Analyzing the information is part of the Afghan Anti Crime Police. The EUPOL Intelligence Led Policing Unit is also working to create and establish a Department of Criminal Intelligence, which would have its own Analysis and Evaluation Cell. Later on, there would be similar cells in every district. The analysis cells analyse and share their findings with different police departments to assist them in their work.

When the former German Minister for the Environment and now Head of Germany’s Green Party in Parliament, Juergen Trittin, visited the EUPOL HQ in Kabul on 22 June with his delegation, he made the importance of his visit clear by saying that EUPOL was at the top of his agenda while in Kabul.
He was briefed by HoM Nigel Thomas and DHoM Karin Mueller about the mission’s efforts and achievements and met with police officers from EUPOL and GPPT to discuss their views of and experiences in Afghanistan.
In an open discussion all parties agreed that, unfortunately, the media in Germany doesn't represent the restructuring efforts made by the international community in Afghanistan. They often only focus on the “War against Terror”. All agreed with Mr. Trittin’s view that there is no development without security and no security without development. Hopefully this view gives inspiration to us all in our efforts to engage here.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Afghan Authorities and international partners such as ISAF, EUPOL, GPPT and the Embassies of the USA and the UK to increase the security at the Kabul International Airport. All counterparts agreed to hold bi-monthly meetings regarding operational plans to undertake security preparations for upcoming political events. EUPOL and GPPT will have a key role in monitoring and supporting the Afghan Border Police officers working at the Kabul International Airport.

Another Aviation Security Training for the Afghan Border Police Officers who are in charge of security at the Kabul International Airport was launched on 21 June. The training was initiated by EUPOL and will be conducted in close cooperation with GPPT, ISAF and the Security Management Office (SMO). The training is based on the Train-the-Trainers concept. The participants will later be able to train their colleagues at different airports of Afghanistan. The four-week training will be delivered to eleven ABP officers.

The reform as well as the existence of the Afghan National Police (ANP) is unthinkable without the Tashkil. Therefore the understanding of Tashkil is essential for everybody mentoring or advising the ANP. It is EUPOL mentor Finn Sondergaard who is now bringing this knowledge to colleagues in the provinces too. Lashkar Gah, Chaghcharan and Bamyan were the first on his agenda. The other provinces where EUPOL is present will follow.
His briefing is meant to give an understanding of the Tashkil and especially the process for making changes to it. The Tashkil is the most important single document that authorises all personnel and equipment for the ANP. When it is approved by the Minister of Interior, it becomes a powerful legal document that allows recruiting officers to recruit, finance officers to pay, logistics officers to equip and build facilities for the ANP.

On June 22, the Ministry of Interior organised a workshop in Kabul on the Community Aspects of Civilian Policing. The workshop was opened by Tonita Murray, Senior Advisor to the Minister of the Interior, who welcomed the experts in working in civilian policing to share their experiences and ideas on community policing. As EUPOL Afghanistan has been requested to take a lead in Civilian Police Reform, EUPOL mentor Gary Menzel introduced Civilian Police reform, which was followed by presentations of Community Policing by EUPOL Project managers Jean Leroux and Carla van Maris. The other speakers were from UNDP, Afghan Women’s Skills Development Centre, NTM-A and GTZ.
After the presentations, there was also an opportunity to discuss Community Policing and the challenges of introducing it in Afghanistan. It was agreed that there will be a series of think thank meetings on Community Policing with internationally recognized experts.

EUPOL Afghanistan supported the Canadian Community Policing initiative by donating 7,000 notebooks and 7,000 pens and pencils to pupils of Ghulam Mohammad Farhad School. The Commander of Police District 12 and his staff made May 19th a memorable day for many children at the school in Kabul. The school was chosen for a Canadian led initiative, introducing ANP officers from PD 12 to the basic principles of Community Policing. The principal of the school thanked EUPOL Afghanistan and the friendly police officers for taking time to meet the children.
EUPOL Training Advisor Mark Hustins attended the school along with Marie-Josse Fournier, Mentor to the MOI, and agreed when she said, “The joy we brought to the children, teachers and police was well worth the effort. We were truly part of something special. To see the happiness and joy on the children’s faces as they received the notebooks and pens from the police was by far the highlight of our mission to date”.

EUPOL’s Kabul City Police Team (KCP) delivered Mobile Support Unit training to the staff of different Police Districts in Kabul. The course was organized for 25 participants including high ranking officers, sergeants and patrolmen. The main topics taught during the training were district based policing model, tactical response, critical incidents, community policing and practical training. EUPOL officers Andreas Huebner and Andreas Ladwig delivered the training at the KCP HQ. Participants of the course received certificates for their successful attendance at the course.

On the 13th of May, a delegation from Brussels headquarters, the EU Ambassador Vygaudas Usackas, Deputy Head of Mission/RoL Karin Mueller and several other members of EUPOL, visited Bamyan province.
The main purpose of the visit was to meet the EUPOL officers working at Bamyan Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) and to discuss the possibilities of enhancing EUPOL activities in the province. EUPOL currently have four officers in Bamyan and it is envisaged that the PRT can accommodate up to 14 EUPOL staff in the nearest future.
Whilst in Bamyan, the delegation met the New Zealand PRT commander, Provincial Governor Habiba Surabi and the Deputy Police Chief.

EUPOL Rule of Law Training Unit has started a new project. The project aims to enhance the capacity of the Attorney General’s Office to conduct advanced trainings for prosecutors. As a first part of the project, a number of train-the-trainers’ courses are delivered with different specialization modules. The first course specialising in investigative techniques started on 15 May. Over a period of 3 weeks, 10 prosecutors are trained in different subjects such as training methodology, crime scene management, forensics and interview techniques. The course is conducted in cooperation with the EUPOL Training Unit, the EUPOL CID unit as well as the Police Academy.

EUPOL RoL Anti-Corruption Mentors concluded the specialised computer training of 22 MoI Inspector General (IG) - Anti-Corruption Staff last week. Deputy Minister General Haidar Basir, General Macdonald from NTM-A/CSTC-A and Major General Akbari Wakeel, the MoI Inspector General, attended the graduation ceremony together with other senior representatives from UNDP and EUPOL.
“This training will greatly assist the MOI staff in recording and tracking corruption cases on a new digital case tracking system”, said Konrad Wudtke, the EUPOL Chief of Mentors for Anti Corruption. In the presence of BG Ann Macdonald and the Deputy Minister of Interior Haidar Basir, EUPOL AC Team jointly with JSSP, who developed the system, run a practical demonstration on the Digital Filing System. As the result of the Note of Understanding signed by JSSP and key government ministries and agencies to adopt a Digital Case Management System, the IG Office is the first office in the MoI provided by a powerful high technology instrument to fight corruption cases throughout Afghanistan.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, UNDP handed over special cameras and recording equipment to assist in evidence gathering of corruption investigations. This equipment was funded entirely by UNDP to support the anti corruption implementation program.

On May 19th, EUPOL Training Unit handed out the pilot version of the curriculum for the initial education of police patrolmen to the Head of Training and Education of the MoI, Major General Gul Nabi Ahmadzai. This is a brand new curriculum developed together with Afghan police officers. General Ahmadzai received the curriculum, including a comprehensive guide for teachers, from Major Amanullah Asadyar and first lieutenant Sayed Najibullah Sultani. This new curriculum is a product of the cooperation between EUPOL, NTM-A, GPPT and the MoI. In the future more curricula for other areas of training will follow.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Interior asked EUPOL Afghanistan to lead the restructuring of the Afghan Uniform Civilian Police. In March, EUPOL formed a project management team to undertake this task. Civilian Police reform aims to build a relationship between the police and the community. Community policing is one of the most significant ways to do this.
Community Policing - A New Philosophy
Community policing is a new way of interactive policing based on partnership between people and the police. Police officers and people work together in order to build better neighborhoods by identifying and solving problems in the communities. To make community policing work, each police officer has a designated location to work in. Thus the police will get to know the local residents and the neighborhood – and it will also help the people of the community to get to know their own police officers. Besides being a member of the community, the community police officer should be also a skillful negotiator. Law enforcement is the main task of any police officer. However, making arrests is not the only tool of law enforcement of the community police officers. In Community policing, the officers can prevent disputes, or even crime, by being present in the community, advising its inhabitants or by mediating disputes. This could be also done by consulting the community leaders.
Changing the Mindset on Policing
EUPOL Afghanistan will create a comprehensive model of community policing. This will be done in close cooperation with other international actors and with Afghan National Police. It is important that Afghan Civilian Police have a strong ownership of the Afghan model of Community Policing being developed with EUPOL assistance. Carla Van Maris, Project Manager, and Jean Leroux, Mentor AUP, manage the Community Police Project. "Carla and I are the project managers, but we will need the input of the entire EUPOL to achieve the goals of the project. The Kabul City Police Project, AUP, PC3, Rule of Law, Training Unit - just to name a few. To introduce a whole new philosophy of policing in any country is a massive task," Jean Leroux, Mentor AUP, stated. The project is vast indeed. Firstly, EUPOL Afghanistan will need to work with the officials at the Ministry of Interior and ANP to come up with the best model of community policing tailored for Afghanistan. As the role of the citizen is vital to successful community policing, the project must focus on changing the mindset of the general public. Building trust between police and the public takes time, especially in an environment where this form of policing has not been tried before, and people do not have a high level of trust in the law enforcement. The Afghan people need to trust their police in order to be able to work closely with them. The Civilian Police Project starts in the capital, but the Ministry of Interior wants to take it to the provinces as well. Thus EUPOL is designing a plan to introduce the project at the provincial level. The project is vast and implementation requires time and substantial financial resources. The community officers must be available for the members of public and the people need to be able to identify the community police officers easily, therefore the police officers will need new uniforms, vehicles and other equipment. The next challenge is to find the required funding for all of this. EUPOL Afghanistan plans to team up with other international organizations working in police training to successfully and in a timely manner bring Community Policing to Afghanistan. EUPOL Afghanistan Uniform Police team has produced a Mentoring guide for Community Policing.
Further information on Community Policing, contact:
Carla van Maris, or Jean Leroux.

EUPOL Gender and Human Rights department gave the first Gender and Human Rights training for the participants of Ring of Steel and of Mobile Support Unit training courses in the beginning of May. EUPOL has started to include a Gender and Human Rights training in these three week training courses to increase the Afghan police officers’ understanding of human rights.
The EUPOL Human Rights experts explain to the officers what human rights are and where they originate. As the training is tailored for police officers, the training includes also ‘policing specific’ topics, such as how to observe human rights during arrest, detention and investigation, and how to treat women, children and juvenile offenders. During the training, the trainees are also given examples of cases when police officers have violated human rights.
“The training was given in one of the Kabul police districts, in tents, without electricity, thus no flashy PowerPoint presentations with special effects. During the afternoon session, there was a sand storm and all the students had to hold the tent and collect my papers that had been blown from the table,” Apolonia Bos, the facilitator of the Gender and Human Rights Training, explains.
Bos emphasizes how important it is to teach the trainees that human rights are found in their Afghan Constitution, in the Police Law and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They are also taught that human rights, especially those related to women and children, are found in the Holy Quran.
There are always sensitivities when teaching about violence against women and sexual abuse. However, the ANP trainees were keen to learn about the issues.
“After I had spent one hour with the trainees, I noticed that they were very attentive and eager to learn more. So I decided to name these crimes and to teach them what abuse is. I also think that being a women and a westerner, it was easier to address these issues,” Bos says.
The training also highlighted why it is so important to have female police officers working in different departments of the police. Both of the groups participated actively and after each training session the trainees said that they were happy about the training and found the course very interesting.

To mark the anniversary of the 1950 Schuman Declaration, European Institutions annually celebrate May 9th as Europe Day. They open their doors to visitors to see where and how Europe functions. This year the Open Day in Brussels fell on the eve of Europe Day.
EUPOL Afghanistan, like other EU missions, was present at the Open Day. EUPOL Afghanistan provided informational material as well as gifts to visitors. In addition, there were Afghan Police uniforms on display. This was one of the major attractions in the Justus Lipsius building of the European Council since the Afghan police uniforms attracted hundreds of visitors to take their photos in front of them.
The highlight was the visit of EU President Herman van Rompoy. He visited the EUPOL Afghanistan display and asked about the mission and the fragile security situation we have to work in daily. This was also the most popular question asked by most of the visitors. Apart from the local Brussels’ public, a good number of EU officials took an interest in our efforts and achievements in Afghanistan. We also met former and potential members of EUPOL as well as colleagues from other missions who seem to share some of the same problems as us.

The Case Management System, part of the “digital case filing and tracking system” project developed by the Rule of Law Anticorruption Department, is now running.
Once crimes are detected on the ground by the Mobile Anti Corruption Teams, the investigations will be entered into this database, developed together with JSSP, in order to empower the MACT’s investigative tools and capabilities, thus improving the quality of anticorruption investigations in this country.
In order to allow the MACT’s members to use efficiently this new system, The Rule of Law Anticorruption Department has planned to deliver them IT training.
The first part of this training is ongoing, and the topics of the course are mainly focusing on general basic IT knowledge and Microsoft Office suite overview. The second part of the training will be held in the near future, and will focus on the Case Management System and its usage. The Rule of Law Anticorruption Department has prepared manuals in both Dari and English. The department is now providing the first 5 day course to members of the MACT in EUPOL compound within MOI, starting from the 2nd of May, 2010.
The training was highly appreciated by the Inspector General and he stressed several times that this kind of training is most urgently required to upgrade the professional standards and skills of the Inspector General staff.
The trainees were impressed with the professionalism y and quality of the IT training.

On Thursday 5th May 2010, EUPOL Mentor Michael Holdsworth handed over six safes for the use of storing sensitive documents for ongoing investigations. Colonel Omar of the Inspector General’s Office received these at the MOI. Each safe weighs over 300kg and they are, for added protection, also fireproof.
MoI needed the safes urgently. Prior to the arrival of these safes, sensitive documents were required to be taken home by investigators in order to protect the integrity of the evidence. As part of the EUPOL initiative to assist in capacity building of the MoI, a bid was made to the British Embassy in Kabul who kindly agreed to provide the funding amounting to over $8000. “I am extremely happy that we have been able to provide the safes for the MOI and the Regions,” Michael Holdsworth said. Colonel Omar also commented that he is very pleased with the new safes and would like to thank both EUPOL and the British Embassy for their continued support.

A three-day Tactical First Aid training course for Afghan Border Police at KAIA Airport was completed on the 4th of May. The first two days of the training course consisted of theory and practice. On the third day of the course, the participants took part in a field exercise. All twenty participants passed the field exercise and they were handed their certificates in a special ceremony. In addition, the three best participants got a certificate of a Trainer.
The training course was a joint EUPOL Afghanistan and GPPT initiative based on a request by ABP, and was implemented by German Military Medical Staff.

April 24/10 saw the successful completion of yet another Field Training Education Officer Course (FTEOC) delivered by EUPOL Training Department. On this day, 19 new ANP Officers became Police Trainers. This brings the total to 658 country-wide since January 2009 and 309 in Kabul alone. The FTEOC is a 3 week course that teaches the officers how to become Police Trainers. This course was the 9th cycle held here in Kabul.

The good cooperation between EUPOL and the German Police Project Team (GPPT) was highlighted by German Ambassador Werner Lauk during the inauguration of the new Police HQ in Fayzabad. Germany had financed the construction of this complex in order to provide sufficient facilities for growing the police administration as well as for the police training section in Badakhshan. It covers 2800 m2 for office and storage buildings, a fire station, sleeping quarters, rooms for training and a mosque. With a better and adequate infrastructure, the police in Badakhshan province now hopes to improve the security situation in the region.
The building project was implemented by GTZ, making use of Afghan construction companies and local labour.

The EUPOL CID and Training Sections, supported by Rule of Law Pillar, provided the second training package for the Major Crime Task Force, in cooperation with Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Department of Justice, US Army CID, Serious Organized Crime Agency and Australian Federal Police. The training was delivered to 30 ANP and NDS officers. Among the main topics taught to the participants were Crime Scene Investigation, Interviewing and Interrogation as well as legal matters regarding the cooperation with prosecutors. During a graduation ceremony held at Camp Falcon on the 22nd of April, the participants received certificates for their successful attendance in the course. Through their joint efforts, the international counterparts are developing MCTF’s capability of handling sensitive cases of corruption, kidnapping and organized crime.

The KAIA Airport will start producing new identification cards that meet international standards for the staff. On April 27, six staff members completed ID-Card training, after which they are capable for producing ID cards of improved standards. The computer training course was tailored for the needs of KAIA airport officials. The participants were from the Afghan Border Police, the National Directorate of Security and the Airport Management.
Furthermore, the EUPOL and GPPT mentors in close corporation with the Afghan Border Police, General Mr. Jabarkheil, Airport President, Dr. Rassuli and the National Directorate of Security created the rules and regulations for the issuance, the use and the safety features of ID cards. EUPOL and GPPT will also monitor the ID-Card-office to avoid the misuse of issuing cards for unauthorized people.

Commissioner William J.S. Elliott from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) visited EUPOL on 19th April 2010. The Canadian Ambassador, William Crosbie, and Defence Attaché, Col Matthew Overton were also in the Canadian delegation.
The main issues discussed during the visit were EUPOL’s Strategic Priorities, City Police and Justice Project and forecast of requirements for Canadian CivPol. During the visit the EUPOL, the Head of Mission, Commissioner Kai Vittrup gave Commissioner Elliott and his team a brief on the EUPOL activities.
Commissioner Kai Vittrup thanked the Canadian officers for providing support to the ANP through the EUPOL Mission and asked for their continuous support and contribution.

EUPOL mentors Michael Holdsworth and Olaf Kopischke attended a three day workshop at JFC HQ Brunssum to look at ways at building integrity in Afghanistan for the Security Sector. The Afghanistan Ambassador to Belgium HE Dr.Zia Nezam was invited to open the workshop. In his opening address he stressed on the importance in tackling corruption for the future of his country and the impact on good governance if not tackled. Michael Holdsworth on behalf of EUPOL gave the delegates a presentation on the EUPOL Anti Corruption initiatives.
“Unfortunately the workshop had no Afghan input either from the MOI, MOD, HOO and ISAF. Those delegates were unable to attend due to the suspension of flights over Europe. The results of the workshops will now be fed into ISAF and other key agencies to discuss the best way forward. A further workshop in planned for later this year in Kabul.” said Michael Holdsworth.

A high ranking delegation from Brussels experienced a time condensed visit at EUPOL.
High ranking delegations are well known at the EUPOL Mission in Afghanistan but the visit of three people during the last days of April was indeed very special. The Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability Civilian Operations Commander of the Council of the European Union, Mr. Kees Klompenhouwer, paid a very important visit to Kabul. The complete wording of the title might sound complex however the short version is Civilian Operations Commander of the CPCC. Mr. Klompenhouwer was accompanied by the CPCC’s Head of the Asia-Middle East Sector, Mr. Francisco Rodriguez-Lorenzo and Ms. Sophie Bondesson from the Brussels Support Element.
The schedule for the delegation was, of course not unexpectedly, rather tight. On the first day right after arrival a quick and intense briefing was given by Karin Mueller as Deputy Head of Mission/RoL and the relevant line managers on the cooperation between EUPOL and NTM-A and CSTC-A. Topics such as Afghan Uniformed Civilian Police and Anti-Crime Police where EUPOL is in the leading role were discussed as well as anti-corruption, training, human rights and gender issues. A dinner later at the EUPOL canteen left time for individual conversations.
The next day started early with the sunrise in the morning at 05.30 hrs. Due to the fact that the EUPOL Mission now has leased an aircraft, travelling has become easier. It is important to remember that this aircraft is available for all mission members and can be an extremely useful tool. The first destination was the Dutch PRT in Tarin Kot, Uruzgan. After just one hour flight time the Delegation could already shake hands with the Dutch EUPOL colleagues based there. The morning was used for important talks with the civilian Head of the PRT and the military ISAF counterpart. Of course there was also time for a round table talk with all the EUPOL colleagues presently in Uruzgan and a guided tour through the police training facilities. The delegation members were able to have a quick, deep and realistic briefing by the time they boarded the aircraft and headed west to Herat. After some quick pizza and sandwiches for lunch, a briefing was given by the Italian military leadership of the ISAF base Camp Arena. Afterwards, the Italian EUPOL members took the delegation to the Regional Police Command Center where the EUPOL members give their lectures to the Afghan colleagues. Thanks to the new opportunity of air travel everyone was able to return to Kabul in slightly more than 12 hours after initial departure from Kabul and just in time to visit the French party at Green village.
The third and the fourth days were spent in Kabul. The list of the key people the delegation met throughout these two days was quite impressive. On the Ambassadorial level the delegation met with representatives of the UK, US, Australia, the Netherlands and of course the EU. Several meetings were held with the leadership of NTM-A/CSTC-A. Last but not least, the delegation also had the opportunity to meet with high ranking members of ISAF.
As they headed back to Brussels on day five the delegation had gathered several on the spot experiences that should assist them in having a deep understanding of the new operational plan of the EUPOL Mission in Afghanistan. A final statement was given by Mr. Kees Klompenhouwer prior to his return to Brussels:
“EUPOL is going to climb another mountain. We are moving from coordination to cooperation with NATO on the basis of the City Police and Justice Programs. We will continue to improve things in Kabul, but our focus will increasingly be on the thirteen field offices. There is an increase of expectations in the delivery of results of our work. I count on everybody to give his and her best every day as we are all representatives of the EU.”

During the second week of April, the Head of Mission made visits to Chaghcharan, Kunduz and Fayzabad. The visit to Chaghcharan marked as the inaugural flight of EUPOL airplane.
The Ambassador of Lithuania, Mr. Valteris Baliukonis, joined the EUPOL’s delegation visit to Chaghcharan Provincial Reconstruction Team. This is a province with 135 Lithuanians.
Following a meeting with the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Commander and the Japanese representative, the Head of Mission and Ambassador Baliukonis took the opportunity to award EUPOL staff members based in Chaghcharan the medals of European Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP).
After the ceremony the delegation visited the headquarters of the local police. Deputy Chief of Police, Col. Abdul Bashir, expressed his appreciation for the work of EUPOL in the province and requested more training resources from EUPOL. The delegation also visited the EUPOL training facilities at the ANP headquarters. The room inaugurated earlier this year has already served as venue for EUPOL Chaghcharan team's Management course, Fingerprint training and Field Training and Education Officer Course (FTEOC).
Kunduz
The second visit of HoM and his team was to the north of the country. In Kunduz, the delegation had a meeting with the Deputy PRT Commander and the representatives of GPPT and GTZ. The HoM had talks with the provincial Chief of Police, Mr. Mohamed Razaq Yaqubi. Mr Yaqubi expressed his gratitude for EUPOL’s presence in the province.
Fayzabad - The Oasis of the Badakhshan Province
On 14 April, the HoM visited Fayzabad, in the province of Badakhshan in the northeast of Afghanistan, where he met the PRT commander, the Civilian Head of PRT and the provincial police chief.
Enhancing the rule of law in Badakhshan is vital for a more secure province. People arrested in the province are either transferred to Kabul for prosecution, or sometimes they can buy their way out. The police do their best to fight drug business and corruption in the province. Drug production is still prominent in this region, as it is used as one of the smuggling routes. During the time of HoM’s visit, 4500 kilos of heroin, chemicals used for drug production and alcohol was destroyed in a ceremony attended by deputy by Deputy Minister for Counter-narcotics.

German Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry of Defense, Christian Schmidt, and Bavarian State’s Minister of Interior, Joachim Herman, paid a visit to EUPOL and the German Police Project Team (GPPT).
In this visit, it was mentioned that with an upcoming new strategy, the German Government wants to raise the total number of police officers significantly to 260 working for EUPOL and GPPT.
EUPOL Head of Mission, Commissioner Kai Vittrup, held his opening speech followed by the speech of the Deputy Head of GPPT, Bertram Welsing. The visit of Joachim Hermann was the first trip of a Bavarian States Minister of Interior to Afghanistan. In his speech, he emphasized the long period of trustful cooperation between the German and Afghan Police forces, which spans over five decades.
“I can see and hear that German police officers, including of course the Bavarian police officers and the civilian staff as well, no matter whether working for EUPOL or GPPT, are doing a good job” Joachim Hermann stated in his speech.

To improve the safety of the Kabul International Airport, EUPOL Afghanistan, in cooperation with German Police Project Team (GPPT), organized a Flight Line Driving Course. Airside Driving Course (Flight Line Drivers) at KAIA Airport was completed on 11th of April. Sixteen Afghan Border Police personnel passed the course, tests and were granted the vehicles and driver permissions to carry out mobile patrols on aprons, taxiways and runways according International Civilian Aviation Organization standards and regulations.
Furthermore six of the Afghan Border Police Officers passed the instructors level and can give the Flight Line Driving Course by themselves to their staff.

They say that the best way to invest resources is in education, i.e. in ‘human capital.’ If this is true, then what happened last week at Kabul University vividly illustrates this thesis, as well as EUPOL’s strategic allocation of available expertise and know-how.
Last month a certificate award ceremony for Defense Lawyers took place at the Independent National Center for Legal Training (INCLT) at Kabul University. The ceremony marked the first apex of an eight month course of lecturing and training on Human Rights and the Administration of Justice for prosecutors and defense lawyers conducted by EUPOL Human Rights Expert Alan Skurbaty and National Senior Legal Adviser Rohullah Esmati. Recipients of the trainings are INCLT “stage” students – graduates from Law and Shari’a Law faculties from all over Afghanistan, who already work part time either as practicing lawyers or at the Ministry of Justice and AGO. The training sessions, which started in July 2009, have been taking place once a week and are still continuing for those students who have not yet graduated. Thus far, a total of 14 sessions of 8 hours (112 hours) for two groups of 100 students have been delivered.
The training modules include:
1) power point presentations; 2) case studies; 3) reading materials – all translated into Dari, copied and distributed to all students before lecturing. The first group of students, the Defense Lawyers, has successfully completed the course. EUPOL and INCLT have created a special Certificate for all graduates, who pass the take-home exam of 20 questions from the covered materials.
The course in Human Rights and Administration of Justice is of particular importance as it helps students broaden their knowledge of international human rights, in particular with respect to such sensitive issues as women’s rights and the right to freedom of opinion.

On 18 January 2010, the Minister of Interior requested EUPOL “to take the international lead in the development of an operational implementation plan for reviewing, restructuring, refurbishing and retraining of the Civilian policing capabilities of the MOI Afghan National Police, referred to as the Afghan Civilian Police (ACP)” under the leadership of the MoI and in close cooperation with other international stakeholders in supporting the Government of Afghanistan. The goal of this reform is to reinstall the confidence of the public in the police and to re-focus the Civilian Police on its basic task: “to serve and protect.” For these goals to be achieved, the Police has to be visible and approachable as well as clearly different in looks from other security forces (by wearing blue uniforms and light weapons). Its main task will be to be available to the public.
In Phase 1, EUPOL is assessing the current structure and work process of the AN(C)P. This includes reviewing existing documents as well as carrying out interviews with representatives of relevant components like the General Police, the Traffic police and the Disaster police. The assessment team will visit five Kabul district police stations of different sizes, the Kabul Police HQ and the Police Training Centre (Police Academy) and interview the Police Management of districts and training facilities. In addition, a test will be conducted in a Kabul PD. Kabul City Police Project trainers will provide training on the job, mentoring and monitoring as to assess the current status of community policing within the police. The results of the test will be used in a “lessons learned” concept for the pilots, which will be conducted later.
In Phase 2, a Concept of Proposals for reviewing, restructuring, retraining (including the development of a training curriculum on community policing) of the AN(C)P will be developed. The concept will address: PC3 (Command, Control & Communication) from the MoI down to the level of a Police District; the hierarchical structure (chain of command); terms of deployment; career developments (“life long career”); gender policy; function positions; police activities (response and law enforcement); communicating systems at daily duty organisation; tasks and responsibilities of patrol-men, senior officers and non commissioned officers; community policing. In this phase, (international) partners will be consulted and exchange of information guaranteed by organising conferences with Regional, Provincial and District Police Commanders to discuss the concept and to consult them on the subject. The international partners will be involved, among others, through the International Police Coordination Board.
Phase 3 will be Trial and Error and will start with two pilots on the introduction of Community Policing a) at PD 3 in Kabul and b) at a PD in Mazar-e-Sharif. The intention is to involve female police officers in the concept of Community Policing, addressing the female and juvenile part of the community. More pilots will follow once the lessons learned have been integrated into a renewed concept.

"EUPOL Afghanistan will continue to assist the Ministry of Interior (MoI) in building-up capability and structure in human rights and gender." Kai Vittrup, Head of Mission of the European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan made this promise attending a seminar co-organised by EUPOL, the Ministry of Interior and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. The seminar ‘Respecting and Complying with Human Rights in Police Work in Cooperation with Civil Society’ took place in Kabul on 27 February.
Human rights are one of the six strategic objectives of the EUPOL mission.
The objectives of the seminar were to create a common forum for the Afghan National Police and civil society to meet, and to increase understanding about particular human rights and how to practically implement these human rights in police work. “Human rights form an essential part of the Afghan Constitution,” Kai Vittrup stated in his speech. Following the objectives of the seminar, the agenda was divided into two parts. In the first part there was a round table discussion with the participation of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, the Civil Society and Human Rights Network and EUPOL. The second part functioned as a training session for Ministry of Interior personnel. There was also the chance to liaise with Afghan human rights associations.
A continued cooperation and improvement of human rights awareness and understanding within the Afghan police will be the essential future of the seminar. “EUPOL is committed to continue working with you, and to assist you in your challenging tasks whenever you need us,” was Kai Vittrup’s clear message to the audience.
The conference attracted a lot of media attention with over 10 TV stations and more than 20 journalists covering the event.

To fight corruption within the Afghan National Police, EU Police Mission in Afghanistan has signed a letter of agreement with the Attorney General’s Office on the establishment of a Military Anti-Corruption Prosecution Unit (MACU). The (MACU) will be established at the Attorney General’s Office in Kabul under the supervision of the Deputy Attorney General / Military, General Fatah. Case selection criteria shall guide the military prosecutors in Kabul and in the regions on what categories of cases would have to be referred to the MACU. EUPOL Afghanistan will assign mentors to and provide training for the MACU prosecutors. EUPOL will further support the implementation of a case file management and online case tracking systems. EUPOL will also support the MACU with office equipment.

51 Criminal Investigation Department officers from KCPC Police Districts and KCPC CID received certificates of participation in a Basic Criminal Investigation course last month.
The first and the second course were held in the KCPC training facility and were organized by EUPOL’s Criminal Investigation and Training departments. Participants were taught investigation techniques and the processes of Crime Scene Investigation, Forensic Awareness, Planning and Decision Making, Criminal Code procedures, Intelligence Gathering, Report Writing and Witness Statements and Interview Techniques.
The third and final course started on the 3rd of March and will end on the 18th.

“The press is neither your friend nor your enemy. Make the media your partner and communicate!” These simple messages were deeply discussed in Herat, when a group of local and international journalists, police officers, prosecutors, police spokesmen and international advisers met.
Paolo Colombiani, EUPOLs senior adviser in Herat, had the brilliant idea to bring these people together not only to discuss but to learn about the needs of a free press as well as the problems the media and police are facing in a fragile security situation. It was the first time ever that both sides have met in this way and been able to express their views and describe the problems which needed to be solved urgently. After their presentation EUPOL spokesmen Harald Haendel and Aziz Basam tried to build bridges whenever the heated discussion needed moderation. The documentation of the day long seminar will be sent to all police press officers of the Western provinces.

The EUPOL team in Helmand has completed the first comprehensive CID training in the province. The 8 day course took place at the beginning of February. The training course covered all the basic elements of crime investigation, such as crime scene management, the basics of forensics, intelligence gathering and report writing.
“The course was a great success. It taught a lot for both the participants and for us. The participants learnt many new things and we get to know how to make the course even better next time“said CID Mentor, Tanel Tiks.
One of the key elements for a successful course was having as much Afghan involvement as possible. For example, the local prosecutors taught about the Afghan penal code and constitution. Thus the participants did not only gain vital information but also got more familiar with the prosecutors by interacting with them.
Another key factor was the active involvement of local training officer, Captain Farid. The team was so happy with Captain Farid’s input, they are hoping he will participate future training.

The second module of the Advanced Police-Prosecutor Coordination Training Programme was successfully conducted in the month of February in Finland. The two-week training was organised by the Crisis Management Centre of Finland in cooperation with EUPOL.
23 Afghans took part in the training and learned about the Finnish model of police-prosecutor coordination in pre-trial criminal investigations, provided by prominent Finnish CID and prosecution experts in Kuopio, Mikkeli, Tampere and Helsinki. The Afghan trainees enjoyed the “Winter Wonderland” of Finland, the high quality of the lectures as well as the strong commitment of the lecturers. With no exception, all lessons generated lively discussion among the students and the trainers.
A Police-Prosecutor Coordination Manual Working Group has been set up to devise training manual, which will become an effective tool for the Afghan MoI and AGO in their own police-prosecutor coordination training. EUPOLs Rule of Law Department will host this working group. The training consists of four modules, leaving two to be conducted in Finland in May and in Kabul in July.

The EUPOL team in Meymaneh and NORAF commenced a security course for all female police officers in Faryab province in the beginning of February. The training course was done in cooperation with the Norwegian PRT in the province.
The course consisted of a basic pistol course for five days and a further five days on the subjects of mental awareness on/off duty, first aid and self defense.
There are sixteen female police officers, from 18-50 years of age, working in the Faryab Province. All of them completed the 10 day training.
Only half of the women have been educated at the Police Academy in Kabul. Six of the officers are able to read and write.
The ANP females completed the course with enthusiasm and great pride. All the participants were happy to be able to attend the course. “I’ve been in the Police force for more than 20 years, and this is my first course ever”, one of the participants said.
The EUPOL team in Faryab will continue to improve of the capacity of these female officers by teaching them to read and write, helping to boost their self-confidence in their daily duties and providing them proper equipment.

As the Afghanistan Justice Sector Support Program (JSSP) proved short of Justice Advisers, the Training Unit of Eupol was requested to deliver personnel to fill the void for their Police/Prosecutor Cooperation Program. EUPOL Training Unit was glad to assist and send a trainer to Gardez, Paktia, where the training of Crime Scene Module was to be conducted.
EUPOLs Gert Jan Hoolwerf was assigned because he had already experience in this kind of training at the Kabul City Police HQ.
The class consisted of 28 students from the ANA, ANP, judges, prosecutors and ANP CID-members. Quite a challenge compared to the usual CID-training for the ANP CID colleagues. From the start the students were eager to learn more about forensics and other specialized course topics in upgrading their knowledge. Because of the diversity among the students, there were discussions, through which the students became more aware of each others duties and responsibilities. At the end of the course the students took part in a practical exercise at the shooting range which was used as a mock crime scene. The exercise was attend by the Chief-Prosecutor of Gardez, Mr. Bismullah.

On 28 March, German Federal Minister of Interior Thomas de Maiziere paid a visit to EUPOL and the German Police Project Team . He was accompanied by two State Ministers of Interior, the Hesse Minister Volker Bouffier and Senator Christoph Alhaus from Hamburg.
As Federal Minister of Interior, Thomas de Maziere is in charge of all 170 German Police Officers currently deployed to Afghanistan. This includes over 140 Police Officers working for the bilateral German Police Project as well as those within the EUPOL structure. With an upcoming new strategy, the German Government wants to raise the total number of police officers significantly: to 260.
The visit of Thomas de Maiziere was the first trip of a German Federal Minister of Interior to Afghanistan in six years. In his speech, he emphasized the long period of trustful cooperation between the German and Afghan Police forces, which spans over five decades. “Building up a good reputation needs a long time. But I can see and hear that German police officers and the civilian staff as well, no matter whether working for EUPOL or GPPT, are doing a good job,” the German Minister stated before going into informal talks with all German staff members.
Danish Head of EUPOL Kai Vittrup held his opening speech in the German language. This completed a very positive image for the journalists from leading German media who were traveling with the Ministers. The overall German media echo on EUPOL was positive, whilst acknowledging the well-known general challenges of Afghan Police reform as such. “It is not a success story yet, but things are changing for the better,” Thomas de Maiziere was quoted in German newspapers the next day.

EUPOL conducted a three-day Informant Handling and Intelligence Analysis Course for the Afghan police in Kabul. The main topics of the course included intelligence-led policing, source handling and intelligence analysis.
As many as 90 ANP officers working for the intelligence participated in the course. The participants were from different zones and police districts of Kabul.
“This course is very valuable, so you should use this opportunity to learn. Never say that with 30 years of experience you cannot learn more. Ask lots of questions and participate,” said Gen. Saed Abdul Ghafar Saedzada at the opening ceremony.
The training course was a good opportunity for both ANP officers and EUPOL mentors to exchange information. Many questions were raised concerning intelligence and information-sharing, which were answered by EUPOL mentors. At the end of the course the ANP officers received certificates of appreciation for their successful participation in the course.

Control of key facilities at Afghanistan's largest civilian airport were handed over to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on 25th March 2010.
Through this act, ISAF returned approximately 12,000 square meters of KAIA South military part to the civilian Kabul International Airport after several years of military use. In a remarkable ceremony, the Afghan National Flag was hoisted in front of the former KAIA military terminal. Shortly afterwards the hand-over document was signed by NTM-A Commander LTG William Caldwell and the acting Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Dr. Mohammadullah Batash. The contracts signed included a donation of several buildings and a terminal from ISAF to the Afghan Border Police. The “new” terminal will be used for cargo as well as for domestic flights. From now on, General Jabarkhel of the Afghan Border Police will be responsible for civil aviation security within the entire area. Up to 150 new Afghan Border Police Officers will perform their duties at the new part of the airport. Most of them already received, or will receive in the near future, an advanced police training. This will be done in close cooperation between GPPT and EUPOL mentors. "This hand-over is significant in that it allows GIRoA to further develop their civilian capacity at the airport," said ISAF Deputy Commander General Sir Nick Parker.

EUPOL’s CID Mentors and EUPOL’s Training Unit organised a CID training for Kabul City Police CID staff. The training was delivered in different phases to as many as 100 ANP officers of the Kabul City Police. EUPOL CID Mentors Leandro Lupari and Jani Ortamala and EUPOL Training Advisor Alfredo Meli were the trainers of the courses. The main topics taught at the courses were Investigation Techniques and the Processes of Crime Scene Investigation, Forensic Awareness, Planning and Decision Making, Criminal Procedure Code, Intelligence Gathering, Report Writing and Witness Statements and Interview Techniques.
EUPOL Training Advisor Alfredo Meli said “in order to make the students fully understand about the topics, they must learn how to develop a skill. The ‘Role Play’ method gives different participants different roles and this method can be very useful for the better understanding of others.” At the end of each phase, participants received certificates of appreciation. The mentoring phase of the program will start in April 2010.

Police officers at the Kabul Central Training Center began their inaugural five week course in becoming police trainers.
The Afghan Police Training Team (APTT) is an initiative of the Minister of Interior Affairs, Mohammed Haneef Atmar, and forms an integral part of his Afghan National Police Strategy.
The 53 students from various precincts will commence lessons in how to teach fundamental police tactics to other police officers. After the first three weeks of the "train-the-trainers" program, the participants will be divided into teams. Each team will consist of an officer and noncommissioned officers undergoing a further two weeks of collective training to complete their readiness for the field. Partnered with coalition forces at the district level, these teams will then focus on basic training and further literacy education. As part of the APTT, the trainers will be responsible for conducting the basic training of ANP in the framework of the Focused District Development program; mentoring other police units and conducting personnel asset inventories of weapons accountability, entitlement accountability, drug testing, and biometric surveys. They will also serve as anti-corruption officials and provide policemen to operational police units when immediate replacements are necessary. APTTs will serve as independent officials within the Ministry of Interior Affairs and report to the Deputy Director of Training and Education. The joint effort between NTM-A, CTAG-P and EUPOL is seen as a fundamental step in Afghans taking control of the future of their police training and it will be carried out over the next month.

EUPOL’s Border Police section organized a fake-documents-detection-training for the Afghan Border Police (ABP) working at Kabul International Airport. The fourteen-days training was delivered to 26 Border Police Officers, focusing on how to recognize falsifications and fake documents. EUPOL’s ABP Mentor Michael Frost delivered the training, which was organized at the request of Deputy Head of Immigration Captain Habibullah.

Alan Skurbaty
EUPOL Human Rights Expert
As is well known, close ties with the community are essential for the creation of a credible national institution tasked with providing security and justice for a local population. With respect to the police – in this case the Afghan National Police (ANP) - such credibility can be gained by emphasizing accountability, community service and adherence to human rights, and by relying less on their coercive powers. There is also an urgent need to depoliticize and institutionalize ANP appointments and procedures.
In order to help the ANP achieve these goals, and to do this in constant interaction with civil society, in September 2009 EUPOL launched monthly EUPOL-Civil Society Organizations (CSO) meetings where pressing human rights-related problems are discussed in an informal, though focused, manner. The MoI (specifically the Department of Human Rights and Gender) is taking an active part in these meetings and this police-civil society interaction serves to bring down the barriers and mistrust that still exist between the two.
These meetings are thematic and devoted each month to different human rights concerns, such as, for example, women’s rights and police, juvenile justice, torture, democratic policing, and so on. The topic of the last meeting on 22 February 2010, which gathered more than 35 participants, was “Torture and Law Enforcement.” Two CSO representatives – one from the Afghan Independent Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), the other from the Civil Society Development Center – gave short presentations on the issue of torture in Afghanistan, including real cases from recent investigation activities of the AICHR. This was followed by very intense and constructive discussions between all participants, aimed at finding ways to contend with the problems in a complementary way.
It is hoped that the success and format of these monthly meetings will lead to their logical conclusion: the creation of a standing Police-CSO Liaison Board, with representatives of civil society, including academics, lawyers and human rights activists (and with meaningful female representation), to advise the ANP on community needs in the capital and the provinces. If this institutionalization process is complete in the foreseeable future, it will exemplify EUPOL’s mandate in action: how cooperation with the Afghan National Police can create functional and sustainable institutions that can make the Afghan Police a source of security in the eyes of the ‘man on the street’, as well as a source of credibility for the Afghan Government.

Sometimes you get a different challenge in your old professional environment. That’s the case for new EUPOL Mission member Wolfgang Nikolaus from the German contingent. He just arrived at EUPOL and is going through the introduction procedures. Afghanistan and the international policing efforts in this devolving country are not new to the 56 year old German police officer, as he was part of the German Police Project Team for the last 7 month as a Training Adviser at the Police Academy.
This of course prepared him in an excellent way for his new challenging job up north in Kunduz province as a Mentor/Advisor for Intelligence-led Policing. “I really wanted to work for EUPOL and with the new job I can put all my Afghan experiences, as well as my professional background from Germany to good use.” Wolfgang stated shortly before getting on his flight up north.

EUPOL concluded Mobile Support Unit (MSU) training course for Afghan police in Kabul. The training was delivered to 22 ANP officers from five police districts, including Saroubi District. The topics taught at the course were Introduction to terrorism, Command and Control, intelligence, Critical Incident Basics, Critical Incidents Management, Checkpoint Training, Community Policing, District-Based Policing, Ethics and Code of Conduct.
EUPOL mentors for Kabul City Police Thomas Thomassen, Rafael Navea and Eric Sennersten facilitated the one week course. At the end of the course the participants received certificates of appreciation.

EUPOL concluded the 8th cycle of the Field Training and Education Officer Course (FTEOC) for the Afghan National Police. The training was delivered to 44 national police officers from different training departments of the ANP in the capital and the provinces. The participants were taught pedagogic and management skills by Jurgen Kartmann, Andre Wuillot, Markus Pink, Mark Hustins and Jurgen Graf. After the training the participants will be able to train their colleagues

EUPOL commenced 119 Call Center training for the ANP at the Afghan Ministry of Interior. The training will be delivered to different groups of the ANP working at the 119 call centre. The course began in early February.
The first group of six ANP officers already completed the four-day training.
The topics taught at the course were SOP and Job Description, Exercises on Call Taking, Fire Issues and Mine Awareness. Henrik Andersen (right) and Juhani Stick from the Training Section of EUPOL were the trainers of the course.

EUPOL Uniform Police Mentors, responsible also for monitoring the actions of Ministry of Interior Security Forces, organised a project to re-construct a better and safer entrance for the Ministry of Interior.
The Uniform Police Mentors discovered that the pedestrian entrance for the ministry did not meet any safety standards. Both the entrances, one for women and another for men, were run-down and did not even have proper doors or windows.
EUPOL Uniform Police decided to set a project to rebuild the entrance and succeeded in securing funding for it. The local contractor was able to complete the work in a month. Now the Entry Office is one of the best buildings of the ministry. The revolving doors, barriers and gates improve the security of the building significantly.

EUPOL Afghanistan and the GPPT donated photocopy machines and digital cameras to the Immigration Section at the Afghan Border Police. There was a great need for these items as they are required when preparing high quality evidence for the state prosecutor and the court. The photographic evidence is useful for preparing internal files and presenting cases to the prosecutor.
The immigration section can also take copies of false passports, visas, flight tickets and other documents to present them as evidence to the court of law. Now equipped with digital cameras the police officers can make pictures of victims, witnesses and suspects. Images of clothes and other belongings are also central to the identification process, as are images of tattoos, scars, birth-marks and other distinctive features.

The Deputy Head of Mission, Karin Mueller, and Head of Project Management, Satu Elo, visited the New Zealand PRT in the province of Bamyan. The visit took place in the first week in February.
During the three-day visit, DHoM and HoPM met the PRT Commander, Deputy Chief of Police, Chief Prosecutor, Chief Justice and the Director of the Ministry of Justice. They also met Ms. Habiba Sarabi, the only female Governor in Afghanistan. The EUPOL Bamyan team had also organised a meeting with UNAMA and other internationals working in the province.
The EUPOL Bamyan Team currently consists of a Finnish lawyer, three New Zealanders and Danish police officers. They are supported by three local language assistants.

A EUPOL delegation comprising the Deputy Head of Mission, Karin Mueller, Rule of Law Training Adviser, Cornelia Schneider, and Criminal Investigations Division Adviser, Jani Ortamala visited the Mission team in Herat.
The purpose of the visit was to meet the EUPOL regional and provincial teams, to discuss the way forward and give direction for the implementation of EUPOL objectives. The delegation also wanted to meet Afghan partners in the police and the justice sector. The third purpose of the visit was to gather information on the role of different EUPOL projects, such as the basic police-prosecutor training program, the military justice project and the criminal investigation capabilities program.
EUPOL Senior Adviser Paolo Colombani and his team welcomed the visitors warmly. One of the highlights of the visit was the meeting with Maria Bashir, the only female Chief Prosecutor in Afghanistan.

EUPOL Helps to Improve Kabul Airport Security EUPOL Afghanistan, the GPPT and a local contractor Asman Abi have built a new wall at Kabul International airport to separate the secure and non-secure areas.
Previously there was not a sufficient wall separating the secure area in Terminal one. Thus passengers were able to receive items from the non-secure areas even after they had been through the security checks. Due to the new wall this is no longer possible.

Two German Ministers of Interior visited Afghanistan in the second week of February.
During their visit Uwe Schünemann from Lower Saxony and Lorenz Caffier from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern met representatives of EUPOL Afghanistan and the German Police Project Team. The aim of the ministerial visit was to gain information on the missions.
Acting Head of Mentors, Nigel Hughes, presented an overview of the EUPOL Mission and the Head of the GPPT, Dr. Markus Ritter, presented an overview of the actual state of play. Both ministers were convinced of the progress being made. They expressed their impressions to the media and highlighted the encouraged work in a difficult environment and the challenges taken by all the mission members.
Together with Antje Pittelkau, the EUPOL mentor to the Afghan Minister of Interior, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, the two ministers visited their Afghan counterpart.
The German media covered the visit positively as it came together with an announcement from the German Federal Minister of Interior, Thomas de Maizière, that the number of German police officers being sent to Afghanistan will increase significantly in the near future.
H.E. John Deady, Ambassador of Ireland to Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan visited EUPOL during his visit to Kabul. Mr. Deady, Isolde Moylan, Director for Asia Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs and Mr. David Donoghue, Political Director, Department of Foreign Affairs were interested in exploring the possibility of directly contributing to the police and rule of law sectors in Afghanistan through the secondment of personnel to the Mission. A detailed briefing was given by Nigel Hughes, Johanna Valenius and Sean Kerins on the various aspects of the Mission’s work. The delegation appear confident that a contribution will be forthcoming.

Twenty Heads of Delegations of the EU Member States, Norway and Canada were briefed on the latest achievements of EUPOL Afghanistan at EUPOL Headquarters on the 4th of February.
The Head of Mission, Kai Vittrup, welcomed the delegates to the event. His welcoming words were followed by brief progress reports from the Anti Corruption Team, Human Rights and Gender Unit, Anti Crime, Training Unit, the City Police Projects and the ANP Benchmarking project. The meeting was closed with a brief note on relevant strategic issues.
Anti-Corruption Officer, Pekka Kokkonen, presented the work of EUPOL Anti-Corruption Team. The team fights corruption by training police officers and enforcing these skills. One of the major efforts has been the establishment of the Mobile Anti Corruption Teams, the use of which has increased the numbers of reported cases of corruption.
“We focus on petty corruption at the street level. Our work has had a huge impact, not only on the numbers of reported cases, but also on how people perceive the police.”
The Norwegian RoL Senior Implementation Officer, Astri Holm, introduced the MoI Department of Gender and Human Rights that was established last year. The department monitors the actions of the ANP and develops gender and human rights policies for the MoI and the police. Currently, one of its main projects is to support Afghan police to recruit more women into the police force.
The Anti Crime Department has mentored and trained specialist surveillance teams. The Chief of CID, Kenneth Isaac, presented how the teams were trained to work, live and operate in various environments and gather evidence. The training has also included a test drugs operation at a building site.
The EUPOL Police Training Department is developing a coherent national education system for policing. Among the most recent training courses are the Field training and education officer (FTEO-C), 119 Call Centre Course, Rule of Law TTT and a course on Political and Diplomatic issues. The second module of Police Prosecutor training, organised in cooperation with the Crisis Management Centre Finland, took place in Finland during the second week of February. The Deputy Head of Training, Angelique Van Oyen, said that in the future EUPOL will try to develop a coherent national system of police education. It will be implemented by ANP and monitored by EUPOL training advisers.
Chief of Uniform Police, Andrew Mellor, (above) introduced the Mission City Police Projects. The projects are on-going in Kabul and six key provincial capitals, namely Herat, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif, Meymaneh, Tarin Kowt and Lashkar Gah.
Mellor stated that the keys to the successful implementation are Afghan ownership, security, resources and commitment of international partners. Roberto Arcieri, The Head of SPAR, said that EUPOL started benchmarking the ANP’s work in Kabul last December. The assessment will be expanded to all the regional and provincial teams.
In the opening ceremony, General Halim, the President of the Military Appellate Court and Afghanistan’s highest ranking Military Judge, said he appreciates EUPOL’s leading role in supporting the Afghan Military Justice Sector.
The Fair Trial Training is co-funded by GTZ and implemented by the Max- Planck-Institute for International Law. The training is organized by Gregor Kemper, EUPOL’s Military Justice Project Leader.

EUPOL started Fair Trial Training for military judges and prosecutors who are responsible for handling police corruption cases in Kabul on the 24th of January. During the course more than 60 military judges and prosecutors from Kabul and the regions are being trained in the premises of the Military Court of Appeal in Kabul.
The two week course aims to teach basic legal standards. The training also intends to improve cooperation between judges and prosecutors involved in the same type of cases.
In the opening ceremony, General Halim, the President of the Military Appellate Court and Afghanistan’s highest ranking Military Judge, said he appreciates EUPOL’s leading role in supporting the Afghan Military Justice Sector.
The Fair Trial Training is co-funded by GTZ and implemented by the Max- Planck-Institute for International Law. The training is organized by Gregor Kemper, EUPOL’s Military Justice Project Leader.

EUPOL delivered Traffic Regulations Training to the Kabul City Police officers. The five-day course was conducted at the Kabul City Police HQ.
The course covered Traffic Regulations, Rules and Legal Basis, Accidents and Traffic Investigation, Checkpoint Training, Anti Bribery and Anti Corruption and Traffic Safety. EUPOL mentors Thomas Thomassen and David Libianchi were the trainers of the course.
The training was attended by 26 police officers having different ranks from sergeants to colonels.
“The colonels had lots of experience of the traffic regulations and the sergeants were very keen to learn from the experiences of the senior officers” EUPOL mentor Thomas Thomassen said.
At the end of the course the participants received certificates of completion of the training.

EUPOL concluded a Communication, Command, Control and Intelligence Course for the Afghan National Police. The training was delivered to 19 participants from four different police districts in Kabul. EUPOL mentors Jani Harden and Jesus Arias facilitated the six-day course.
The course included different topics like District Based Policing Model, Command and Control, Police Leadership Principles, Introduction to Incident Reporting, Orders and Actions, Controlling the Scene of a Critical Incident and other topics regarding Intelligence and Reporting, Analysis and Storage of Intelligence.
At the end of the course the participants received certificates of appreciation for their successful attendance in the course. “The participants were very motivated to learn new skills taught at the training” EUPOL mentor Jani Harden said.

EUPOL Team in Herat assisted the ANP in the region to create new classrooms and offices. The newly refurbished classrooms inside the ANP Regional Centre Herat were ready for use in late January. The official inauguration attended by the ANP leaders of the region was held on January 27.
The new rooms were created by building new walls to divide an oversized space. The Italian PRT contributed, via their Civilian Military Cooperation (CIMIC) section, the cost of drywall dividers, painting and electric installation, as promoted by EUPOL Team in Herat, the leading body in developing the local ANP regional Training Centre. The furniture was funded by EUPOL HQ.
The Herat Regional Centre now has an additional three classrooms and two associated offices ready for use for future EUPOL and ANP training projects.

During the last six months EUPOL, UNDP and CSTC-A have established six mobile Anti-Corruption Teams (ACT). These teams, which operate under the authority of the Inspector General within the MoI, are an essential part of the Anti-Corruption Implementation Programme. Each mobile ACT consists of one Team Leader and six Inspectors. EUPOL provided the ACT with an office building near the MOI compound to be used as their main operational base. EUPOL also donated special investigation equipment and vehicles for the ACT undercover operations. Over the past few months, the mobile ACT members have had to pass a rather rigorous training programme, including basic inspectors training and basic detective and investigation training organised by EUPOL. Finally, the ACT members received special surveillance training and were carefully guided in their first Anti-Corruption Operations leading to the arrest of 24 Police Officers for taking bribes at checkpoints and public markets.
After the first series of successful Anti-Corruption operations in Kabul, Minister H. Atmar instructed the Inspector General to deploy the ACT to all Districts and Provinces of Afghanistan. EUPOL and CSTC-A are supporting these plans by carrying out a series of field assessment trips to ensure that the deployed ACT receive the required support from the provincial Inspector General staff.
ACT training will continue in the future in parallel to ongoing operations. One planned training will focus on modern financial investigation techniques in order to enable them to follow the flow of money in suspected corruption cases. These activities, combined with the introduction of a new digital filing and case tracking system, will provide the MoI with a new and powerful tool to counter corruption within the ANP.

On 21st January EUPOL concluded the second Basic Crime Investigation Course for CID officers of the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs (MoI). The training was delivered to 120 participants. 78 Afghan police officers took part in the course in December 2009 and 42 in January 2010.
The main subjects of the training delivered to the ANP officers in the past two months have been the Initial Action and Crime Scene Investigation, Forensic Awareness, Planning and Decision Making, Criminal Code Procedures in Afghanistan, Intelligence Gathering, Report Writing, Witness Statements and interview techniques. EUPOL provided the equipment needed for the future work of the newly trained officers such as Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) kits, laptops, printers and cameras worth 33.000 Euros. The Criminal Investigation Courses will be enhanced by further mentoring and advanced trainings on how to use the CSI kits, cameras as well as video cameras at crime scenes. In 2010 EUPOL will also organise similar courses at the provincial level. The event in the presence of the MoI’s General Head of CID, General Jamil Junbish, and was widely covered by Afghan media outlets.

The first meeting of the International Police Coordination Board (IPCB) in 2010 took place at the EUPOL HQ on 12 January. Under the leadership of Afghanistan’s Minister of Interior, Hanif Atmar, Ambassadors from International Donor Countries together with representatives of the international forces and EUPOL discussed a draft of the Afghan National Police Strategy (ANPS) for the next five years as well as the National Police Plan for 2010. The purpose of the ANPS is to provide strategic guidance for the continued development and operational capability of the MoI to meet the current and future challenges of stabilization and security of Afghanistan, explained Minister Atmar. He introduced seven strategic priorities based on the current assessment of the threat and national security requirements and the future structure of the Afghan National Police (six pillars). The Minister asked EUPOL to take the lead role among international advisers in supporting the MoI to reform the Anti-Crime Police pillar, including CID and for the Afghan Civilian Police pillar.
The MoI’s priorities for the period 2010-2015 are:
1. Gain the confidence of the public. 2. Protect the Afghan National Interests. 3. Eliminate corruption. 4. Improve police capabilities including leadership, command, control and communication, training, equipment and weapons to counter the specific threats in Afghanistan. 5. Reform and grow the Afghan National Police Tashkil to improve quality and quantity of the service provided by the police. 6. Improve morale and quality of life for police personnel. 7. Implement Intelligence Led Policing
There are five categories of police. Combined with the enabling capabilities of the MoI, there are six pillars of reform and growth for the police: 1. Afghan Civilian Police (ACP) 2. Afghan Gendarmerie (ANCOP-AG) 3. Afghan Border Police (ABP) 4. Afghan Anti-Crime Police (AACP) 5. Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF) 6. Enabling Forces (medical, logistical, administrative, recruitment, training and education, and headquarters)

EUPOL mentors for the Kabul City Police provided a management course for Deputy Commanders and senior officers of four Kabul police districts including Eastern Soroubi district. EUPOL mentors Fernando Trallero and Uwe Feweier taught management skills to the participants. After one week of training the successful participants received certificates.

EUPOL’s Training Section conducted the 7th Field Training and Education Officer Course (FTEOC) for ANP officers from the Ministry of Interior and the Afghan Border Police. 17 participants took part in the training organised by EUPOL trainers Juergen Graf, Mats Bohman and Henrik Andersen who taught the participants management skills as well as different pedagogical techniques. After one month of training they received certificates of appreciation handed over by Gen. Gul Nabi Ahmadzai, General Head of Training and Education Department at the MoI.

The EUPOL Criminal Investigation Department (CID) concluded its first course for MoI CID officers. For two weeks in December, 78 participants learnt about Initial Action and Crime Scene Investigation, Forensic Awareness, Planning and Decision Making, Criminal Code Procedures in Afghanistan, Intelligence Gathering, Report Writing and Witness Statements as well as interview techniques.
At the closing ceremony, Gen. Abdul Manan Farahi, Chief of the Counter Terrorism Department, thanked EUPOL for its support and assistance to the ANP while the participants received certificates of appreciation for their successful attendance.
“One of the key objectives of the EUPOL Mission in Afghanistan is to enhance the ANP investigative capabilities and advice the Criminal Investigation Department. These are the strategic aims of the mission,” says Robby Zocher, EUPOL CID Mentor.

The focus of EUPOL’s first CID conference for international mentors and advisors was on main achievements, efforts, challenges and lessons learned. Representatives from EUPOL’s Criminal Investigation Department, Regional Coordination and Policing Development Department, Training Department, Rule of Law, SPAR, Police Mentors, Regional CID advisors, from the GPPT and CSTC-A reviewed ongoing tasks and achievements as well as the communication deficits between CID Advisers at central and regional level. EUPOL’s Head of CID, Ken Isaac, highlighted the importance of becoming aware of the problems in the regions and strengthening the cooperation between the different structures of EUPOL. This would contribute to Afghan National Police capacity building and improve their capabilities and as such would have to be in the focus of the two-day-conference as well as in the future activities of EUPOL.
This is not a task for EUPOL alone, stated Kai Vittrup, EUPOL’s Head of Mission. He underlined the fruitful partnership and collaboration with the NATO Training Mission (NTM-A) whose role will be essential when it comes to manpower and resources to support the ANP.
During the conference, more than 20 presentations gave an overview of the different aspects of specialised police projects, surveiliance teams, the ANP policing model, biometrics and others. The participants agreed that a follow up of the conference is needed. The next conference in six month time will identify and develop more common areas of interest.