GERMANY ON AFGHANISTAN POLICE NEXT STEPS: ESDP?

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 003195 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL KCRM PTER AF GM SUBJECT: GERMANY ON AFGHANISTAN POLICE NEXT STEPS: ESDP? REF: BRUSSELS 3672 Classified By: Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs Robert F. Cekuta for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. German agencies continue to disagree on the merits of turning to an ESDP mission to expand training of the Afghanistan police, even though Germany has made this proposal to the EU in Brussels (ref A). The MFA, which formally leads the German effort, sees a way to streamline operations and secure the participation of several dozen more police officers from several different countries -- goals mentioned in the recent Dubai II Conference. The Ministry of the Interior (MOI),which provides the personnel for the program, does not believe that a modest increase in training resources merits changing existing structures. Separately, a new agreement between Germany and Afghanistan spells out the terms of the stationing of German and possibly other police in Afghanistan. End summary. -------------- -------------- The View from MFA: ESDP Offers Resources, Structure -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) Foreign Ministry Counselor for Afghanistan Police Reform Gerhard Schlaudraff told Global Affairs Officer Afghanistan needs two or three times more police training assistance -- more than Germany can send -- if police reform is to succeed. At the same time, as came out in the October 1-5 Second International Civilian Police on Afghanistan (Dubai II),current police training programs have problems with duplication and miscommunication. Therefore, Schlaudraff said the German MFA is turning to the EU and hopes to transform the German program into an ESDP (European Security and Defense Policy) mission. Per ref A, the German proposal is under consideration in Brussels. The MFA hopes an ESDP mission will broaden participation and streamline operations. As to resources, the ESDP police training program from the start would allow more EU member countries, as well as third countries, to participate. Schlaudraff listed several who have expressed interest: Finland and the UK are each prepared to send ten officers, the Czech Republic is prepared to send five, Norway will put its existing program under ESDP, the Netherlands is considering sending its police, and so are Canada and New Zealand. He admitted France was not enthusiastic; the presumed stationing of ESDP mission police in PRTs would require some legal basis and creating such a foundation would necessitate NATO - ESDP coordination, which Schlaudraff said France is reluctant to discuss. ¶3. (C) Turning to the need to streamline operations, Schlaudraff said the ESDP initiative could address the recommendations of Dubai II by providing a clearer chain of command. For instance, all non-U.S. police training assistance could come under ESDP, resulting in only two entities responsible for Afghanistan's police training. Even with robust EU and third country participation, Schlaudraff said, the United States will continue to have the largest police training program in Afghanistan. Therefore, if the ESDP effort is to work it would be important to agree how the ESDP mission would fit into existing and proposed coordination structures, like Dubai II's proposed Secretariat. Schlaudraff said the MFA seeks U.S. support for SIPDIS the ESDP initiative; if the U.S. agrees with the proposal, it could lobby third countries to participate in it. Schlaudraff admitted the German MOI was reluctant to lose its leading role in rebuilding Afghanistan's police. Schlaudraff hopes an ESDP program chief would be a German national. -------------- -------------- The View from MOI: Changing Jockeys in the Middle of the Race? -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Ministry of the Interior Office Director for International Police Cooperation and Training Juergen Werner said his Ministry is less optimistic than the MFA on the merits of an ESDP mission. He agrees the size of the existing German program -- forty officers -- needs to double or triple, and that international police training officers need to be part of every PRT. That said, he disagrees that after four years, the existing structure should be "turned on its head" if the ESDP mission brings only twenty extra police officers. ¶5. (C) Werner also said an ESDP mission would not address one of the most serious problems that he said faces the police in BERLIN 00003195 002 OF 002 Afghanistan: the judicial system. Trained Afghan police are carrying out their work and making arrests, but "the corrupt judicial system is releasing all but those who cannot afford to bribe their way to freedom." Expanded police training would not solve this problem, Werner said, and he stresses the need for greater coordination between law enforcement and the judicial process. -------------- New Afghanistan - Germany Police Agreement -------------- ¶6. (SBU) German Federal Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble announced October 23 that he and Afghanistan Interior Minister Ahmad Zarar Moqbel signed an agreement, during the Afghan's visit that day, on rebuilding the Afghanistan police (faxed to EUR/AGS). An MOI press release says the agreement provides a new legal basis for the 40 German police officers at work in Kabul, Mazar-e Sharif, Kunduz and Feyzabad. Schaeuble said Germany has spent 70 million Euro on Afghanistan's police rebuilding since 2002 and that Germany remained dedicated to the effort. Schlaudraff and Werner said the text is mainly carried over from the 2002 agreement on the stationing of German police officers in Afghanistan, However, it contains revisions to enable the participation of third country police officers, to replace outdated language, and to take into account the creation of the Afghan government. TIMKEN JR