MISSING PIECES - Inter-Parliamentary Union

MISSING PIECES
respecting public service for a nation and the people living within its
borders. 4 JSSR is the process of improving the functioning of the justice
and security institutions, and parliamentarians and their advisors can
instigate inquiries into the appropriate use of force, and effective administration
of fair and impartial justice processes.
Although not covered in this theme, it should be noted that private
security companies raise similar challenges to official law enforcement
agencies when they misuse their guns. 5 Worryingly, they are rarely subjected
to the same rules, training procedures, and oversight mechanisms
as official agencies. Parliamentarians can investigate the standards that
apply to such entities and work to regulate their activities.
A VICIOUS CYCLE OF INSECURITY
Parts of the [Kenyan] security forces have traditionally been acting on
their own, not subject to any effective control from their own organisation
and not at all from the communities within which they are
operating. Consequently, there is a lot of distrust on both sides, which
does not help efforts to improve the security situation. 6
Although ideally the state would be responsible for the maintenance of
law and order, the reality is that the state is sometimes a primary source
of insecurity for citizens. Insecurity at the hands of the security sector can
take the form of a variety of threats, often involving guns.
1. Undisciplined policing
Poor training and lack of oversight of police officers can result in significant
insecurity for citizens. Under-training of police forces in high-crime
areas can lead to the excessive use of force—such as ‘shoot first’ responses
when a lesser use of force would suffice—and avoidable deaths and injuries
can result.
2. Militarised, repressive policing
Elsewhere, police and security actors repeatedly misuse guns due to a
systematic lack of accountability or are acting as enforcers for deliberately
repressive regimes or government. Repressive actions run the gamut of
coercive and abusive tactics, from systematic harassment and threats, the
use of excessive force, firing into peaceful assemblies, abduction, torture
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