By Sanjay Suri
VALLETTA, Malta, Nov 24 2005 (IPS)

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has recommended the creation of a new standard for policing across member countries.

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has recommended the creation of a new standard for policing across member countries.

The recommendation in the report presented to the Commonwealth heads of government meeting being held in the Maltese capital Valletta this week follows an 18-month study of policing by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an independent group based in New Delhi.

The CHRI expressed particular concern about the situation within Uganda, the Maldives and Zimbabwe. The group said the Commonwealth should remain engaged with Zimbabwe, even though the African country withdrew from the Commonwealth at the time of the last heads of government meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2003 after the Commonwealth expressed concerns about the denial of democratic rights under President Robert Mugabe.

”Over the last couple of weeks we’ve seen a lot of repression of the political opposition in Uganda,” Clare Doube from the CHRI told IPS. ”With Uganda hosting the next heads of government meeting, it is important that they are seen to abide by the Harare principles.” The Commonwealth declaration at the heads of government meeting in Harare in 1991 set out a norm for democratic standards for all member countries to follow. The Commonwealth is a group of 53 countries that were once a part of the British Empire.

The Maldives has ”persistently failed to fulfil its obligations in the Commonwealth by not abiding by the Harare principles,” the CHRI said in a statement. This should therefore be ”on the agenda of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group”, which is tasked with ensuring that member countries abide by the Harare principles.

But while the situation in these countries is the fallout of a political hampering of democracy, policing in other countries could be poor due to systemic faults arising from the Commonwealth legacy itself.

”Many countries have police acts in place that go back to the 1860s, that reflect a time when the police was the force of colonial masters rather than there to serve the people,” Doube said. ”So the situation is not what it should be.” Policing practices are cause for particular concern in countries such as India and Nigeria, she said.

The Indian Penal Code dates back to 1861. That has led to a situation where suspects facing trial are detained for months and even years without ever being found guilty. The police also have strong powers to detain suspects, and to ban assembly of people.

The Indian government has set up a committee for reform of that old police code. ”That is a good sign, but who knows what recommendations are accepted when the report comes out,” Doube said.

The CHRI is now seeking some nuts and bolts for the Harare principles. ”We would like to see an expert group set up to look at policing, that can come up with principles that member countries must abide by,” Doube said. ”That can be the basis for technical assistance to countries to reform their police services.”

The CHRI is seeking practical shape to a recommendation in a report prepared for the 2003 Commonwealth by Manmohan Singh before he became prime minister of India, that governments should commit themselves to a ”police force that responds to the law for its operations and the government for its administration.”

Some of its specific recommendations are:

National human rights organisations should be supported to engage with police organisations to focus on adherence to human rights standards;

A series of Commonwealth-wide exchanges should be undertaken for police ministers, police personnel, experts and civil society to encourage the spread of good practice in democratic policing;

A Commonwealth Association of Police Officers should set up to mutually assist one another and share ideas;

Regional efforts towards better policing through development of groups such as the African Policing Oversight Forum should be encouraged.

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