EU COPPS STRESS DONOR COORDINATION WHILE BUILDING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 000960

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC EAID PREL KPAL KWBG IS ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS
SUBJECT: EU COPPS STRESS DONOR COORDINATION WHILE BUILDING
AN EFFECTIVE PA POLICE FORCE



1. (SBU) Summary: The director of the EU's police reform
program, Jonathan McIvor, told the DCM and emboffs February
15 that a lack of credibility among the population is the
biggest problem facing the PA police, due in large part to
the fact that it is militants rather than the police that
"stand up to" the IDF. In addition, an over-emphasis by the
international community on training in the '90s, as well as a
politically-induced focus on ensuring Israeli security rather
than Palestinian law and order, among other problems, also
contribute to the challenges facing the police today. The EU
program, known as EU COPPS (Coordinating Office for
Palestinians Police Support) focuses exclusively on the civil
police, working to coordinate and focus donor activity on
police development, as well as helping the police themselves
develop a transitional plan. McIvor's office is working on
language to further define a mission statement and clear
roles for the PA police that he hopes will be included in
pending PLC legislation governing the police. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Jonathan McIvor, the EU-appointed police advisor
attached to the Office of EU Special Representative to the
Middle East Marc Otte, briefed DCM and embassy officers
February 15 on the EU COPPS program (Coordinating Office for
Palestinian Police Support). McIvor, seconded to Otte's
office from the Northern Ireland police service, was
accompanied by EU COPPS Program Director Henrik Stiernblad,
seconded from his position as a chief superintendent in the
Swedish Police. McIvor said that his team currently consists
of four members, a number that could increase slightly over
time as needs dictate. McIvor and Stiernblad are based in
Jerusalem, while the remaining two members are co-located
with the PA police, one in Ramallah (in the Ministry of
Interior) and the other in Gaza City.

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The Role of EU COPPS
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3. (SBU) McIvor said that the EU, mindful of the leading
U.S. role on PA security matters, has crafted the EU COPPS
program to be aimed solely at the civil police. McIvor
stressed that EU COPPS is intended to be a mentoring and
coordination effort, rather than what he termed a
"substitution mission" such as Bosnia or Iraq, where
international players have maintained law and order -- hence
the small size of the office and the emphasis on co-location
with police commanders. Having identified donor coordination
as one of the primary needs, McIvor said he sees part of his
role as ensuring "discipline among EU donors," so that they
contribute towards a prioritized list of needs rather than
simply providing from what they have on hand or can procure
from national sources. McIvor also mentioned that the EU
intends to consider in late February the possibility of
transferring the EU COPPS operation to the control of the
European Defense and Security Policy Mission.

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PA Civil Police: A "Fatah Employment Agency"
--------------


4. (SBU) McIvor said that there are some 18,600 police
working in WB/G: 12,000 in the Gaza Strip and 6,600 in the
West Bank. He speculated that the large imbalance in numbers
reflects the continued role that Israeli security forces play
in the West Bank and the greater freedom of movement for
police there in the Gaza Strip, due to a lack of Israeli
forces on the ground. Furthermore, the PA has traditionally
viewed the security services, and the police in particular,
as a "Fatah employment agency," so the number of police is
not truly reflective of the number needed.

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Lack of Public Confidence is the Biggest Problem
-------------- ---


5. (SBU) Much of the physical infrastructure of the PA
police has been destroyed, from the precinct offices to
computers and vehicles, McIvor said, but the larger problem
facing the police is their lack of credibility among
Palestinians. From the Palestinian perspective, he
continued, the biggest threat facing the population is the
Israeli army, against which stand only militant organizations
such as Hamas. Civil police can only flee or stand inactive
during IDF incursions. Police credibility also suffers from
the organization's connection to the unpopular Palestinian
Authority. Furthermore, McIvor said that the PA police force
is relatively new, created only in 1994, and views itself
more as the protector of the nascent Palestinian state (like
an army),rather than as the less glamorous keeper of public
order. An over-emphasis by the international community on
training in the '90s, as well as a politically-induced focus
on ensuring Israeli, rather than Palestinian, security, also
contribute to the challenges facing the police today.

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Closely Followed by an Unclear Mission
--------------


6. (SBU) McIvor said that the police lack a clear mission
statement, a situation that will not be remedied by the
adoption of pending PLC legislation regulating the police.
His office is working on inserting language in the draft law
that will clearly define roles and obligations, rather than
focusing on ranks and rates of pay. Stressing that
"accountability is key," McIvor acknowledged that the police
do not act without direct orders, and are not empowered by
the laws and regulations currently governing their activity.


7. (SBU) Once such foundations are codified in a basic law,
McIvor intends to work with the PA to develop a
transformational plan. Saying that what he gets currently
from the PA are "aspirational statements and wish lists,"
McIvor said that PM Chief of Staff Hasan Abu Libdah has
promised to provide a list of empowered interlocutors,
possibly including individuals from the PM's office as well
as some district-level representatives to work with McIvor to
develop the plan. He said that Nasser Yusuf, the
acknowledged leading candidate for Minister of Interior is a
"smart guy," but worried whether Yusuf might be too
"operationally focused," to the detriment of long-term
planning.

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The System, and not Just the Police, Needs Re-Vamping
-------------- --------------


8. (SBU) The police lack a community policing ethos, McIvor
said, but often manage to successfully mediate problems in
the community -- a skill honed in the absence of authority to
do much else. McIvor pointed out the existence of parallel
family- and tribal-based justice systems that prevail in much
of the Arab world, including in PA-controlled areas. The
Norwegians, under the EU COPPS umbrella, are interested in
programs to promote community involvement with and acceptance
of the role of the police, he added.


9. (SBU) Stiernblad pointed out that not only do the police
need assistance, but that the entire criminal justice system
also needs attention. The PA lacks a criminal procedure code
and clear regulations governing the conduct of the entire
process, from apprehension, through the investigation, the
trial, and eventual incarceration. Right now, for example,
the police are in charge of maintaining convicted felons, a
task which Stiernblad feels should be spun off to a separate
prison service as in other countries. These issues are
fundamental elements of state-building, he concluded, and not
just ones of security.

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