Engaging with policing from a human rights perspective

The Police and Human Rights Program

The Police and Human Rights Program (PHRP) was established by AI Netherlands in 2000. The aim of the program (known as ‘police outreach work’ at the time) was to strengthen the campaigning and membership capacity of the movement. As such it supported the work of a number of AI membership sections and structures and provided advice to some AI staff of the International Secretariat. A special effort was made to support the development of AI policy on police engagement. Policing expertise has been provided to AI via the Program by external experts including (former) police officers. Additionally the program prepared two evaluative documents: 

• ‘Compilation of six experiences’ (2001) 
• ‘Lessons Learnt: Police and Human Rights Project April 2000 – March 2003’

At the end of 2003 PHRP commissioned a study to review recommendations on policing made by AI and other organizations to date, with the aim of supporting the ongoing work of AI on policing and identifying gaps in AI’s policies and expertise.

In 2004 the Program carried out a needs assessment for conducting training on policing for AI staff at the International Secretariat. This training has subsequently been carried out twice a year. The training materials used have been incorporated into the Resource Book issued by the Program in 2006, called Understanding Policing: A resource for human rights activists.

Additionally, the Program has carried out a study on UN police assistance in post-conflict situations, contributed to materials developed by the European Platform of Police and Human Rights, provided support to AI staff at the International Secretariat and sections and structures throughout the movement.

The Program has established a network of police experts, including (former) police. Their input has enhanced the effectiveness of both AI country visits and campaigns – and has helped to increase understanding of policing.

Objectives of the PHRP 

• Providing input to AI staff and members and other human rights activists on content by issuing materials on key elements that ensure fair and effective policing and developing and offering training programs on policing and human rights. 
• Providing support to staff of AI on specific policing issues as well as on the development of strategies for addressing police reform. 
• Providing advice to AI’s membership sections and structures. 
• Maintaining and enlarging AI’s network of policing experts, including police officers willing to contribute to the Program’s work as well as to future activities of the AI movement.

Three steps when intending to initiate work on policing

Engagement with policing can be initiated as part of a campaigning strategy but can also be initiated without case information on human rights abuses, for example in countries without major human rights problems.. In any event, any work on or with the police should always start with an analysis of the police in that particular context (step 1), based on which a strategy can be formulated (step 2) that can subsequently be translated into a project plan (step 3).

Step 1: Analyse the police

• Carry out contextual analysis:
  • Situational analysis; including country reports by Amnesty International and other NGOs about the current human rights situation
  • Legislation and policies under which police operate (including Police Act, Criminal Code, Criminal Procedures Code and other regulations governing policing)
  • Accountability mechanisms (internal and external)
  • Internal structure of the police
• Conduct self-analysis
• Formulate main concerns and specify
• Evaluate whether more information is needed and specify accordingly

Step 2: Develop a strategy

Step 3: Project planning: define objectives and how to achieve these

Understanding Policing: A resource for human rights activists

This comprehensive Resource Book has first been published by AI Netherlands in 2006 as part of their Police and Human Rights Program. A slightly updated version has been released in 2007.

Understanding policing starts from the assumption that police are crucial to the maintenance of order and the creation of an environment in which people can feel safe and secure. It argues that civil society can play an important role in enhancing police respect for human rights, but that in order to do so they need a thorough understanding of police realities and complexities.

Understanding policing covers the following chapters:

Part I: Introduction
Chapter 1 Human rights and the police
Part II: Achieving the objectives of law and order
Chapter 2 State responsibility for law and order
Chapter 3 Police functions
Chapter 4 Operational independence
Part III: Police powers
Chapter 5 Police use of force
Chapter 6 Arrest and detention
Chapter 7 Criminal investigation
Part IV: Enhancing police professionalism
Chapter 8 Police accountability
Chapter 9 Recruitment, selection and training
Chapter 10 Engagement with policing

In the appendix a tool is included for making a contextual analysis; an analysis believed to be essential for developing an effective strategy targeting the right actors. The tool can be downloaded separately.

Understanding policing contains several checklists and charts for assessing aspects of policing. For example a list is included with critical success factors for community policing. Moreover, it contains an overview of various policing philosophies in use, either by choice or by default, such as community policing, authoritarian policing, intelligence led policing, problem oriented policing etc.

The book pays considerable attention to the issue of police operational independence and its inherent requirement of accountability. A chart is presented for assessing accountability mechanisms used in the target country.

Understanding policing has a separate chapter discussing the dilemmas and possible solutions for NGOs seeking to engage with policing. It also describes (intervention) strategies NGOs may use, both local and international NGOs are discussed, to enhance police compliance with human rights principles.

To order a copy (€ 15) please contact the Police and Human Rights Program. Understanding Policing is also available on CD Rom for € 5,- (incl sending). You can contact us via e-mail.

Understanding Policing is translated into Russian. Please download the book from here
Understanding Policing is translated into Spanish. Please download the book from here
Understanding Policing is translated into Indonesian. Please download the book from here
Understanding Policing is translated into Potuguese. Please download the book from here

The ‘Contextual analysis’ tool

Police do not operate in a vacuum. They are bound by legislation and other regulations (including standard operational procedures (SOPs)), they work in a complex arena with many different (political, State, community) players serving many different interests, and under different systems of accountability. Additionally, whether police are indeed “representative of and responsive and accountable to the community as a whole” depends on recruitment and selection criteria and the quality of any training.

Any work on policing should always be based on a solid contextual analysis. In the attachment given below, a tool is presented to help in carrying out a contextual analysis of the police in a particular country.

Conference

'Engaging with police reform: The role of NGOs and civil society in police reform' on 10 & 11 November 2006 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The conference focused on civil society engagement with police as a means of improving police compliance with human rights principles. Engagement by civil society was defined in its widest sense possible and includes any intervention by non-State and non-police actors, including local and international NGOs, academics, international donors etc. The conference aimed to stimulate debate on how civil society can contribute to improving police responsiveness and accountability to the communities served, as stated in the UN General Assembly resolution adopting the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials.

The conference program can be downloaded here. 
The report of the conference can be downloaded here.

For information contact phrp@amnesty.nl.

Expert Meeting Policing High Crime and Violence Areas: Addressing the human rights dilemmas

Some 25 experts from the police, the academic world and ngo's including Amnesty International, participated in a seminar on 29-30 June 2009, hosted in Amsterdam by Amnesty International’s International Secretariat and Netherlands section. The participants came from over a dozen countries on four continents, and their (often life-long) expertise covered the topic of the expert meeting. The introductory discussion paper was prepared by the staff of the Police and Human Rights Program and presented key human dilemmas in policing high crime and violence areas. Each presentation was followed by questions and debate. Participants identified key challenges and discussions resulted in findings that can be transformed into recommendations for Amnesty International’s work: in research, policy development and campaigning strategies. Currently the Police and Human Rights Program is working on the conference report.

The expert meeting is part of a project of the Police and Human Rights Program on how to enhance the effectiveness of policing areas characterized by high levels of violent crime while respecting human rights. More specifically we are interested in exploring what role Amnesty International, and other human rights ngo’s, can play to enhance police compliance with human rights standards and develop public security policies. In a context where the state has little presence, the rule of law is compromised and community groups, criminal gangs or para-policing groups have de facto territorial control of socially excluded and marginalized communities, there is a risk of political and public tolerance of repressive policing, which may result in human rights violations. Also due to sensationalist media reports human rights defenders are increasingly challenged to get their message across. The conference program can be downloaded here

Forum

The Police and Human Rights Program wishes to provide a platform to share ideas, experiences and information that may be useful for those working within the global human rights community who are seeking to enhance police compliance with human rights principles in their respective countries.

If you have any such information or issues to share please send an e-mail to phrp@amnesty.nl and we will place it on this website, giving others the opportunity to respond.

Downloads

Amnesty International materials

• 10 Basic Human Rights Standards for Law Enforcement Officials (1998). AI Index: POL 30/004/1998.
• A 12-Point Guide for Good Practice in the Training and Education for Human Rights of Government Officials (1998). AI Index: ACT 30/001/1998.
• Guns and policing. Standards to prevent misuse (2004). AI Index: ACT 30/001/2004.
• Policing to protect human rights: A survey of police practices in countries of the Southern African Development Community, 1997-2002 (2002). AI Index: AFR 03/004/2002.
• Rights at risk: Amnesty International's concerns regarding security legislation and law enforcement measures. (2002). AI Index: ACT 30/001/2002.

The European Code of Police Ethics

• Recommendation rec(2001)10 and explanatory memorandum. Adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 19 September 2001. Download.

Relevant UN human rights standards for policing

All of these are available through the website www.ohchr.org.

• Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms (Basic Principles)
• Body of principles for the protection of all persons under any form of detention or imprisonment (Body of principles)
• Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials (UN Code of Conduct)
  • Resolution adopting the code: Resolution 34/169 adopted by the General Assembly, 17 December 1979
  • Guidelines for the Effective Implementation of the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials. Resolution 1989/61 adopted by the Economic and Social Council, 24 May 1989 and endorsed by the General Assembly in its Resolution 44/162 of 16 December 1989.
• Code of Conduct for Public Officials
  (Resolution A/RES/51/59, accepted by the General Assembly on 12 December, 1996)
• Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (CAT)
  • Optional Protocol (OPCAT)
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
• Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
• Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power
• Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
• Geneva Conventions
  • III Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War;
  • lV Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War
  • Geneva Protocol l Additional to the Geneva Conventions.
• Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors
• International Convention on the Elimination of Al Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
• ‘Milan Plan of Action’ (of the 7th UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders. Adopted by the General Assembly A/RES/40/32, 29 Nov. 1985).
• Principles on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
• Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions. Resolution 1989/65 adopted by the Economic and Social Council, 24 May 1989.
• Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Standard Minimum Rules)
• Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR)

General Comments
General Comments are authoritative, though non-binding, interpretations of and general recommendations to the standards as set out in the international human rights treaties, including the Human Rights Committee; the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; the Committee against Torture; and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. General Comments can be found in the Compilation of General Comments and general Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRI/GEN/1/Rev.8, 8 May, 2006). Download

Links

NGOs and academic sites
Altus, a coalition of 6 NGOs
www.altus.org
Association for the Prevention of Torture
www.apt.ch
Coalition of International NGOs Against Torture
www.cinat.org
Committee of the Administration of Justice
www.caj.org.uk
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
www.humanrightsinitiative.org
Human Rights Watch
www.hrw.org
International Committee of the Red Cross
www.icrc.org
International Council on Human Rights Policy
www.ichrp.org
Open Society Justice Initiative
www.justiceinitiative.org
On police accountability and oversight in 16 African countries
www.policeaccountability.co.za
Saferworld; On engagement with police and community based policing
www.saferworld.org.uk
Vera Institute of Justice
www.vera.org
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
www.wola.org

Council of Europe sites
Council of Europe, homepage
www.coe.int
Human rights, Police and Human Rights Program
www.coe.int/T/E/Human_Rights/Police/
European Platform on Police and Human Rights
www.grootaarts.nl/epphr/
(the Platform is not part of the Council of Europe but works to support the Council of Europe’s Police and Human Rights Program).

Professional/government sites
Association of Chief Police Officers (UK)
www.acpo.police.uk
International Association of Chiefs of Police
www.theiacp.org

Contact

Amnesty International – Dutch section
Police and Human Rights Program
PO Box 1968
1000 BZ Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 20 626 44 36
E-mail: phrp@amnesty.nl