Democratic Policing and Respect for International Human Rights Standards - Capacity building workshop for Administration Police Officers in Kenya

Geneva, 22 November 2010: How respect for humanrights and effective law enforcement can go hand in hand was the subject of a workshopfor 26 officials of the Kenyan Administration Police that took place at theKenya School of Law in Nairobi from 25 to 29 October 2010. Organised by the World Organisation AgainstTorture (OMCT) in partnership with the Administration Police in Kenya withinthe framework of a project supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthurFoundation, the workshop sought to familiarise the participants with the basic principlesof respect for human rights as an integral part of effective police work in ademocratic society. This was done within the context of Kenya’s internationalhuman rights obligations under United Nations Human Rights Treaties with particularreference to the recommendations made by key United Nations Treaty Bodies withregard to improving respect for human rights in law enforcement in Kenya. The workshop took place at a crucial time forpolice reform in Kenya with an increasing emphasis by Government Officials andsenior Administration Police Officials on the necessity to respect human rightsin law enforcement activities. The new Kenyan Constitution, approved byreferendum on 4 August 2010 and promulgated by President Kibaki on 27 August2010, contains a detailed Bill of Rights along with mechanisms to ensurerespect for them, including the possibility for victims of violations todirectly address the High Court for purposes of obtaining redress. TheConstitution also explicitly provides that Kenyan Police shall “comply withconstitutional standards of human rights and fundamental freedoms” and thatpolice staff shall be trained “to respect human rights and fundamental freedomsand dignity”. In addition, an in-depth reform of the police in Kenya is beingcarried out by the Police Reform Implementation Committee. The 26 participants in the workshop were lawenforcement officers with management responsibilities from all of Kenya’s eightregions and the purpose of the workshop was to build their capacity tounderstand and act on the principles of democratic policing and respect forhuman rights in their daily law enforcement activities and to enable them totransmit that knowledge to their colleagues and the officers under theirresponsibility. Workshop topicsIn a plenary presentation the workshop first dealtwith Kenya’s legal obligations under international human rights law withparticular attention given to selected recommendations of United Nations TreatyBodies with regard to law enforcement in Kenya. Then, through other plenarypresentations and working groups that focused on case studies, the participantsconsidered a number of specific issues related to democratic policing that wereapproached from the dual perspective of international human rights standardsand how those standards can be implemented practically in the daily work ofpolice officers. What democratic policing means and its consequencesfor law enforcement officials including issues of human rights, policedeontology and ethics was a key topic that included a discussion of examplesfrom police services in other countries. Other important topics dealt with werethe use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials; respect for humanrights in arrest and detention; ensuring respect for human rights in connectionwith interrogations and with regard to the prevention and detection of crime,in particular respect for human rights in connection with searches andseizures; and maintaining public order while respecting human rights. Throughoutthe workshop a main underlying theme was that, rather than hindering effectivepolice work, respect for human rights and the dignity of every person is infact an essential element to make that work successful and to create trust and confidencebetween the police and the community it serves. As part of the reform of the Kenya police, anindependent policing oversight authority is being prepared to monitor policeactivities including respect for human rights and thus an important topic ofthe workshop was ensuring effective accountability of law enforcementofficials. This included a discussion of the international rules onaccountability for law enforcement personnel and selected practices from othercountries. In this connection, there was a detailed presentation of the newKenyan oversight authority. In light of the specific recommendations madeby United Nations Treaty Bodies concerning the need to protect particularlyvulnerable groups in Kenya, a discussion took place on protecting the humanrights of women, children and other vulnerable persons in law enforcementactivities, in particular in relation to arrest, detention and interrogations. Here,OMCT’s work on the economic, social and cultural root causes of violenceprovided a framework for the discussion and enabled participants to address theissue of identifying and combating the use in law enforcement of subjectivegrounds for interventions with regard to vulnerable persons, for example in connectionwith arrest and detention. The Way Forward was the topic of the finalsession of the workshop. In small groups and then in plenary session, theparticipants made proposals for concrete and practical measures that could betaken to improve democratic policing and respect for human rights in the dailyactivities of law enforcement officials in Kenya. Opening and closing sessionsThe seminar was opened on behalf of OMCT by Ms.Anna-Lena Svensson-McCarthy, who expressed appreciation to the AdministrationPolice for the opportunity given to OMCT to assist in promoting respect forhuman rights through democratic policing as well as for the excellentcooperation in preparing the workshop. She then stressed that, through the newConstitution, including its impressive Bill of Rights, the police in Kenya nowhas an important tool to use, which should not be seen as an additional burdenon police activities but as a means of making the police work more effective.Indeed, with the new Constitution, the police in Kenya could, in her view, beconsidered to be the most prominent human rights defenders. In his subsequentaddress to the participants, Mr. Fred Mwei, Deputy Commandant and Chief ofPlanning, Training & Research, transmitted the greetings from theAdministration Police Commandant, Mr. Mbugua, and noted that he particularlyliked the reference to the police being human rights defenders. Referring tothe Bill of Rights, Mr. Mwei pointed out that it is effectively in force andneeds no implementing legislation. This meant in particular that policeofficers violating the rights contained therein, including the right to be freefrom torture and other forms of ill-treatment can now be taken to court and begiven stiff sentences in case of conviction. Consequently, police attitudes andconduct had to change. At the closing ceremony on 29 October, Mr. OmarShurie, Senior Deputy Commandant of the Administration Police and Commandant ofthe Administration Police Training College, delivered a statement on behalf ofMr. K. Mbugua, Administration Police Commandant, in which the Commandant underlinedthe importance of human rights and, addressing the police officer participants,urged them to familiarise themselves and comply with the new Constitution’sBill of Rights and in carrying out their mandate to pay particular attentionthe vulnerable groups and less privileged in society. It was important inreturning to their respective stations, that they carry the lessons from theworkshop with a lot of seriousness and share their knowledge with workplace colleaguesand apply the skills and knowledge gained during the workshop. He also thankedthe sponsors and organisers of the workshop, the World Organisation AgainstTorture, that have become important partners in helping offer better service tothe Kenyan people and in assisting the government’s reform efforts. During the closing ceremony the participants alsoexpressed their thanks for the knowledge and skills gained during the workshop,undertook to apply them in their daily work and to transmit them to theircolleagues. It was clear from their enthusiasm that a successful transition hadbeen made from an initial perception of human rights as a hindrance to theirpolice work to an understanding of how respect for human rights can be anessential and positive element in their work. Resource personsThe presentation and discussion ofthe international human rights standards with regard to democratic policing andthe recommendations of the United Nations Treaty Bodies was provided by Ms.Anna-Lena Svensson-McCarthy who was also responsible for the overallorganisation of the seminar. Mr. Klaas Stad, police officer from theNetherlands and an experienced trainer in democratic policing, in particularfor the International Committee of the Red Cross, dealt with the seminar’sissues from the point of view of the challenges active police officer face inrespecting human rights in their daily activities and provided information onthe approach and experiences in other countries. A presentation on human rightsfrom the Kenyan perspective was made by Ms Nanjala Wandibba of the KenyanNational Human Rights and Equality Commission and Mr. Mwinyi Masoud, SeniorSuperintendent, Administration Police, provided the participants with an indepth analysis of the nature and implications for police officers of the policereform process, including the independent policing oversight authority. For more information,please contact Ms. Anna-Lena Svensson-McCarthy; e-mail alsm@omct.org, phone +41 (0) 22 809 49 30 andfax +41 (0) 22 809 49 29.