Three Afghan attorneys working with the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A) Staff Judge Advocate’s Office in Kabul have been training and developing Afghan National Police (ANP) legal advisors over the past year to teach the law to other police. NTM-A attorneys have overcome logistical and security issues traveling throughout Afghanistan to provide training to ANP legal advisors in all seven regional legal offices located in Kabul City Police Center, Central, Afghan Border Police, Gardez, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat.
Advising and developing a cadre of trained ANP legal advisors across Afghanistan is essential to implementing and sustaining the rule of law. NTM-A’s Afghan attorneys train ANP legal advisors in two phases. Phase I or Basic Legal Training consists of a one week course of instruction that focuses on rule of law, Afghanistan constitutional law, police law, arrest and detention law and human rights. Phase II or Intermediate Legal training is two weeks and provides ANP legal advisors an in depth instruction regarding Afghanistan’s formal justice system, criminal law and procedure, police disciplinary rules and regulations, roles of the prosecutor, anti-corruption law, as well as practical exercises and leadership training. Upon completion of Phase I and Phase II legal training, ANP legal advisors are prepared to teach the law to other police personnel with the assistance of NTM-A Afghan attorneys and eventually progress to teaching by themselves.
A recent example of Phase II ANP legal advisor training was in Kandahar from February 14th -24th. Despite security concerns, and with only 48 hours notice, NTM-A Afghan attorney, Mr. Jamal, flew to Kandahar to present Phase II legal training for 24 ANP students. NTM-A is one of the very few groups to hold training classes on the law for ANP in the Kandahar area.
Training was conducted at the Regional Training Center (RTC) in Kandahar and was attended by members of the Kandahar regional legal office as well as personnel from CID, Human Rights, Counter Narcotics, Movement Control, Engineering and Coordination who are located at Zone Headquarters and Kandahar city’s various police precincts. Also in attendance were the ANP RTC Commander and an NTM-A legal advisor; both provided opening remarks and encouragement regarding the importance of the rule of law. The training was a joint effort by NTM-A attorney, Mr. Jamal and Colonel Khairullah, regional ANP legal advisor.
The student’s dedication to learning the law and the overall implementation of the rule of law became evident as the class progressed. An example of their commitment was recounted by Mr. Jamal upon his return from Kandahar. “One morning students did not begin to arrive until after 09:45 despite a regularly scheduled start time of 09:00. Moreover, the students arrived at staggered intervals. Upon inquiry of the students, Mr. Jamal learned that coalition forces blocked the route to the RTC due to IEDs. Undeterred, students displayed initiative and commitment to their training by taking an alternate route that was less secure and posed a significantly higher security risk.” The training continued and was a success, concluding with the graduation of 24 ANP students and the development of Colonel Khairullah as a legal trainer.
The training in Kandahar is just one example of the dedication and commitment by all involved to establish and sustain the rule of law in Afghanistan.
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