Cops or Robbers? The Struggle to Reform the Afghan National Police

Cops or Robbers? The Struggle to Reform the Afghan National Police
UNAMA’s role in police reform has grown as the
focus has expanded beyond training and equipping
the ANP to a more comprehensive strategy
of institutional reform. UNAMA has played a
leading role in advocating for the need to prioritise
MoI reform, and in vetting senior police officers
for criminal and human rights violations as
part of the pay and rank reform (discussed in
more detail later in this paper). In this regard,
UNAMA’s network of regional and provincial offices,
and its political and human rights officers,
have proven to be a valuable resource for police
reform efforts. Finally, as co-chair of the JCMB,
UNAMA also has a responsibility to ensure that
police reform efforts are in line with the Afghanistan
Compact.
3.2 Police Sector Coordination
One of Germany’s responsibilities as the key
partner for police reform, stipulated in its
March 2002 Seat and Status Agreement with the
government of Afghanistan, was to coordinate
the international support to the Afghan police
force. Germany appointed a Special Ambassador
to head up this coordination. It also established
the Interagency Police Coordinated Action
Group (IPCAG), which serves as the main political
and diplomatic body concerned with police
reform issues. Chaired by Germany, IPCAG
meets every three weeks and is attended by
representatives of LOTFA donors, the EUSR, the
EC, and UNAMA. Italy, the UK and Japan also
participate to provide links to the other SSR
pillars. Germany also organised two international
conferences in May 2004 and February
2006 to improve coordination and develop a
regional approach to police and border management
issues between Afghanistan and its
neighbours. 81
Germany’s task of coordinating police reform
efforts has been challenging, in part because of
the confusion generated by the term “lead donor”.
While some countries understood lead donors
to be the major donor and implementer of
programmes in their respective SSR pillars, others
understood their role as coordinating policymaking
and donor support in their sector. The
US, for example, adopted a relatively long-term
strategy to design, build and pay for the establishment
of an entirely new Afghan National
Army (ANA), while Germany defined a fairly limited
role for itself in directly implementing and
financing police reform activities.
Germany did, however, take its responsibility
for leading police coordination efforts very seriously.
According to one European official in Kabul,
this created some confusion: “Germany was
very vocal about its lead role so others did not
think they had to worry about funding. The Germans
were very quick to deploy, which also led
others to think they did not have to worry about
the sector”. 82 When it became clear that the
German role in directly implementing and financing
police reform efforts would be limited,
the US became more active in the sector. The
dramatic increase in US involvement in the police
sector from 2004 onward has created its
own coordination challenges, given the inherent
tension in a situation where a lead donor is trying
to manage another donor that contributes 50
to 100 times more financial resources and more
than 10 times more personnel.
This awkward situation has inevitably placed
strains on the US-Germany relationship in the
police sector, although during 2005-07 efforts to
coordinate improved significantly. Initially, coordination
was fairly minimalist and consisted
primarily of a division of labour, with the US
80
81
82
AREU interview with UN official, Kabul, 23 November 2006.
The first conference in May 2004 ended with the “Doha Declaration on Regional Police Cooperation”, signed by Afghanistan and its
neighbours, the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the lead donors for security sector reform in Afghanistan. The second
conference in February 2006 concluded with the “Doha II Declaration on Border Management in Afghanistan — a Regional Approach”.
This was subsequently included in the “Declaration on Closer Cooperation on Border Police within the Framework of the Kabul Declaration
and the Reconstruction of the Police in Afghanistan”, which has been signed by Afghanistan and the neighbouring countries of
Pakistan, Iran, China and Tajikistan. “Assistance in rebuilding the police force in Afghanistan”, www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/
Aussenpolitik/RegionaleSchwerpunkte/Afghanistan/Polizeiaufbau.html.
AREU interview, Kabul, 21 November 2006.
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