Features

May 5, 2008

How Security System Reform Can Prevent Future Abuses

Wall mural of child soldier in West Africa. Photo by Fiach Molloy.

Preventing future human rights violations to promote social reconstruction is a critical element of transitional justice. Police, military, and other security agencies, as well as nonstate security actors such as armed rebel groups, are often the most responsible for serious and systemic human rights violations. Reforming both the makeup and the operational foundations of an abusive security system is, therefore, of central concern to the ICTJ.

A “justice-sensitive” approach to Security System Reform (SSR) is guided by the following overarching aims: to build the institutional integrity of the security sector to discourage abuses and increase its responsiveness; to promote the security sector’s legitimacy to overcome a fundamental crisis of trust characteristic of a situation marked by the legacy of serious abuse; and to empower all citizens, especially the victims of state oppression and conflict-related violence.

 

The ICTJ’s SSR team has built expertise in several important areas of a justicesensitive SSR approach, including vetting and census and identification. Vetting—excluding from public service persons with serious integrity deficits— is now widely recognized as an important measure of SSR in countries emerging from conflict or authoritarian rule. It helps reestablish civic trust, re-legitimize security agencies, and disassemble structures within which individuals carried out serious abuses. Little systematic attention, however, has been paid to the topic and there are broadly varied views of and approaches to vetting. A dearth of analysis also affects the practice of vetting. As a result, many countries emerging from conflict handle such processes poorly and unfairly. To fill this gap the Center conducted a major research project, published a volume on vetting, and developed operational guidelines for the field.

Census and identification are critical first steps in initiating an SSR process. Post-conflict security institutions are often characterized by fluid boundaries, security agents who abuse their power and are linked to unofficial armed groups, and criminals who continue to impersonate security agents illegally. All can perpetuate a culture of impunity and abuse. Registering and verifying membership in the security system—and subsequently issuing identification cards—clarify the specific makeup of the security services and mark these institutions’ boundaries. The process not only provides reliable data for future personnel reform efforts, but also stops individuals from informally joining and departing from security agencies and allows the state to reestablish control over the security system. It can also contribute to building social confidence in the security sector and public accountability by helping the citizens distinguish between those authorized to use force and those who illegally impersonate security agents and should be sanctioned. The ICTJ recently published a tool book for practitioners on census and identification of security system personnel after conflict.

The Center’s core group of SSR experts has lent their highly specialized skills to a wide range of countries in transition, including every major region where we are active, as well as other countries where a full range of TJ options may not yet be available. For example, the Center has helped the UN Mission in Haiti develop a census of the Haitian national police; assisted the UN Mission in Liberia to develop a strategy to reform law-enforcement agencies and vet their personnel; presented a proposal for a census of the police to the government of the DemocraticRepublic of Congo; and currently advises Burundi on establishing and implementing a census of its national police service.

In addition to specific country program work on SSR, the ICTJ has continued to strengthen its well-established partnership with the UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). The Center has assisted in developing policies, procedures, and training tools for reforming law enforcement agencies in peace operation settings. We have developed a policy guide for conducting census and identification of law enforcement officials—already adopted by DPKO—and are working on similar policy guides on vetting, certification, and mapping of law enforcement agencies in post-conflict settings. The ICTJ has also provided training on a justicesensitive SSR to DPKO personnel before they have deployed to peace operations.

In early 2007 the Center organized a major conference in New York to explore the interface between SSR and TJ and to promote a constructive exchange between the two communities. More than 70 participants attended the meeting, including UN experts, renowned academics, representatives of permanent missions to the UN, and representatives of NGOs working on security, human rights, and transitional justice.

"How Security System Reform Can Prevent Future Abuses" was originally printed in the ICTJ Annual Report 2006/2007.