The Rule of Law is key to ensuring long term security and stability in Afghanistan. It is an essential strand of the UK’s work to support the Afghan government in combating the narcotics trade, and will provide the foundation for sustainable economic development and the expansion of civil society.
The Prime Minister’s statement to the House of Commons on Afghanistan, on 7th December 2007, outlined the context for the UK’s engagement with the Rule of Law sector in Afghanistan:
“The challenge of supporting an Afghan lead on security goes wider than the armed forces to include the police and courts and prisons. Here we are dealing with decades of failure and corruption, and progress has been slow. By March 2008 there will be over 800 international police trainers, including 65 British, and this must be matched with a wider effort across civil society – which we will continue to support - on judges, courts and prisons - working with the grain of Afghan traditions but within international norms”.
2007 saw significant steps forward in the Rule of Law sector, with the deployment of the European Policing Mission (EUPOL), the roll out of a large US-led district level police training programme, and the completion of the National Justice Sector Strategy (NJSS).
We expect to see further progress in 2008, including finalising a shared vision for the form and function of the Afghan police by the International Policing Coordination Board (IPCB) and the creation of the governance and delivery mechanisms for the National Justice Programme.
The UK is working to support the Afghan Government’s objectives for Rule of Law, as articulated in the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) and specifically in support of the following ANDS goals for 2008-2013:
- Security: Achieve nationwide stabilization, strengthen law enforcement, and improve personal security for every Afghan.
- Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights: Strengthen democratic practice and institutions, human rights, the Rule of Law, delivery of public services and government accountability.
We provide support in three main areas: supporting an effective end-to-end Afghan justice system to deal with narcotics offences; in Helmand province where the UK leads the Provincial Reconstruction Team, and supporting multi-donor programmes across the Rule of Law sector.
POLICING
The reform of the Afghan police is one of the key areas of UK involvement in Afghanistan. There are over 80 UK personnel currently working with the Afghan police. They perform a variety of roles including providing training and mentoring to senior Afghan policemen, supporting US and EU police reform programmes, developing the capacity of the Afghan police in Helmand, and improving the capability of the police to disrupt the narcotics trade.
Case Study
The UK has played a central role in developing the Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA) since its establishment in 2003. The CNPA is the leading drug law enforcement agency of the Afghan Government, currently 2,265 officers strong with a presence in all 34 provinces across Afghanistan. The role of the CNPA is to conduct interdiction operations against drug traffickers. The UK provides experts in intelligence, narcotics interdiction, and criminal investigation to work with CNPA. Since 2003, the CNPA has seized drugs worth more than 100 million (at UK street prices) in Afghanistan.
JUSTICE
We believe that the long term solution to justice sector reform is a comprehensive Afghan-led strategy. For this reason we support the Afghan Government’s NJSS (National Justice Sector Strategy), and are keen to see the National Justice Programme (NJP) established and delivering effectively. In March 2008 the UK government contributed $5 million through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) to support the NJP. We have also deployed justice professionals from the UK to Helmand and Kabul to work on Justice Sector reform.
Case Study
The UK has provided substantial support to the establishment of the Criminal Justice Task Force/Central Narcotics Tribunal (CJTF/CNT) in collaboration with the US, Norway and other donors. The CJTF has been operating since May 2005, and is staffed by police officers from the Ministry of Interior and prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office, with the judges in the CNT being provided by the Supreme Court. As part of an international programme of institutional development support, training and mentoring has been provided to the judges, prosecutors and investigators to build their capacity to handle high-level narcotics cases. From January 2007 to June 2008, the CJTF prosecuted 329 cases, which resulted in 432 defendants being convicted and 156 acquitted.
PRISONS
Although there has been some progress, prisons in Afghanistan remain one of the weakest and most under-resourced components of the Rule of Law sector. Each of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces has a prison, though most are old and conditions very poor. The system lacks oversight and offers an environment for corruption, torture and other human rights abuses. It is estimated that there are currently 11,600 prisoners in Afghanistan, a massive increase since the fall of the Taleban with which the infrastructure cannot cope.
Case Study
The UK has provided a Senior Prisons Adviser and five prison officers to build the capacity of Afghan prison officers and promote the development of a robust prison sector by sharing UK best practice through training and mentoring . Their remit is to improve conditions for prisoners and to assist the Afghan government in the implementation of a fair and transparent prison system. These mentors work closely with central prison headquarters and those staff based in the high security unit at Pol-Charki prison near Kabul.