Police Reform

The sixth Police Reform Steering Group was conducted in Dushanbe

The regular Police Reform Steering Group was conducted on 18 October 2013 in the conference hall of the Department of State Traffic Inspection of the MIA of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The meeting has involved participation of the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan - Lieutenant General Ramazon Rakhimov, the Chairperson of the Police Reform Steering Group and the First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs - Major General Nurillo Oripov, the Police Reform National Coordinator - Colonel Zumrad Solieva, as well as the heads of directorates, MIA Academy and independent departments of the MIA, the Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan (OiT) Mr. Markus Mueller, the Head of Politico-Military Department of the OSCE OiT Mr. Alastair Livingston, Counter Terrorism and Police Issues Advisor of the OSCE OiT Mr. Ulf Billving and other OSCE officials, as well as the Head of the Independent Human Rights Protection Center Mr. Sergey Romanov, who is at the same time a Chairperson of the “Civil Society Assistance to Police Reform” Working Group, his Deputy Mr. Vatan Abdurakhmanov, and representatives of the Embassies and International Organizations, accredited in the Republic of Tajikistan.

The Draft Police Reform Program of Tajikistan for the period of 2013-2020 and its Implementation Plan, as well as presentations and speeches of the heads of MIA Directorates, Advisor to the Minister, National Police Reform Coordinator, and Counter Terrorism and Police Issues Advisor were presented during the meeting.

The Minister of Internal Affairs Mr. Ramazon Rakhimov has expressed his gratitude to the OSCE OiT, while opening the meeting, for its consistent methodical, consultative, and technical assistance, being provided to the MIA and has marked that “police reform implementation requires tremendous costs.” He has informed the participants that the Police Reform Program and its Action Plan had been sent to all relevant ministries and government agencies of the Republic of Tajikistan one month ago for review and feedback.

In his turn, the Head of the OSCE OiT Ambassador Marcus Mueller noted during his welcome speech that the police reform implies change of values within the police structure, when police staff will apply quite new approach during their service. He has emphasized that the ongoing reform is a long-term project and has both internal and external aspects, by involving the civil society and population at whole.

Moreover, according to him a multiethnic aspect is an important issue in the process of police reform implementation. “It is crucial that police officers realize themselves the police reform value and expectations from it in order to implement such a reform,” stated Ambassador.

The MIA representatives have marked that the Police Reform Strategy is a serious step in a democratic society. They have emphasized that 500,000 citizens have addressed the MIA with their petitions (complaints) by using the MIA website and hotline. 220 residents of Tajikistan were accepted by the Minister of Internal Affairs Mr. Ramazon Rakhimov during the visiting days. Thanks to the programs on capacity building of international organizations, including the OSCE OiT, the MIA RT staff was sent to the USA, Austria, Croatia, Poland, Turkey and other countries for study tours and participation in the different international events.

The National Police Reform Coordinator, Deputy Head of International Cooperation Department of the MIA RT Ms. Zumrad Solieva has made a presentation on “Police Reform (Development) Program,” and elaborated on the goals, objectives and the structure of the Police Reform Program and Action Plan.

During his presentation, Mr. Ulf Billving, the OSCE OiT Counter Terrorism and Police Advisor has drawn the attention of the participants to the Reform Implementation plan and noted that “procedures and provisions on the MIA personnel must become a subject of extensive discussions, including amongst the civil society, and require serious changes.” “The importance of establishment of the Public Councils and their further participation in the Police Reform process has a paramount importance for ensuring the participation of civil society within the framework of entire police reform,” stated Mr. Billving. He also emphasized that the particular importance has transparency, human rights and public access to information regarding the police reform process.

It was noted during the event that the Draft Program and Implementation Plan will be reviewed and finalized during a two-day (three-day) meeting of experts from relevant ministries and agencies of the Republic of Tajikistan, from the civil society and international organization. Further, the finalized versions will be forwarded to the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan for approval.