restoring law & order and crime prevention - Peace Operations ...

32UNPOL is the United Nations instrument for re-introducing as well asreforming the Police system in the UN mission area. For the purposeUNPOL missions have been deployed in many parts of the world as part ofthe UN peacekeeping missions with a wide spectrum of responsibilitiessuch as monitoring of the local Law Enforcement agencies, overseeingpublic security and providing assistance in humanitarian activities. The roleof the UN Police in the UN peacekeeping missions has in the recent times,expanded to provide security and establish rule of law, mainly focused onthe protection of Human Rights of civilians, particularly to the mostvulnerable groups: women and girls, who form majority of the victims.2. Brief background of Police in UN peacekeeping operationsPolice component as a part of the UN military operation was for the firsttime deployed in the UN Mission in Congo. 34 This mission was set up bythe July 1960 resolution 35 of the UN Security Council in view of themutiny by the Congolese army soon after independence of Congo fromBelgium and also in the wake of attempt by the mineral rich Katangaprovince to secede from the newly established nation. To assist in restoringorder and also in order to fill the vacuum created in the law enforcementdue to mutiny by the local gendarmerie, the Force Publique, civilian Policeofficers from Ghana were deployed along with the military troops. ThisGhanaian police component remained under the military command and wassubsequently replaced by the police officers from Nigeria. The main logicfor deployment of the civilian Police officers along side the army was thatthe police officers were specifically trained and better suited than themilitary in dealing with routine law enforcement duties like crime34UN Police. At: http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/sites/police/background.shtml (last visited Jan 06,2010)35Security Council resolution 143 (1960) of 14 July, 1960