Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|
07MANILA1033 | 2007-03-30 08:44:00 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Embassy Manila |
VZCZCXRO9717 OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM DE RUEHML #1033 0890844 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 300844Z MAR 07 FM AMEMBASSY MANILA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5901 INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE |
UNCLAS MANILA 001033 |
1. (U) Funded by State's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, staff from the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) of the Department of Justice has been in place in Manila since August 2006. Initially with only one Senior Law Enforcement Advisor, the staff now also includes three contract staff, who sit at the headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP), where they have received excellent cooperation and support, and work at numerous locations around the Philippines. 2. (U) In November 2006, ICITAP staff conducted an initial Crime Scene Specialist (CSS) course in Zamboanga City in Muslim Mindanao to provide basic training -- collection, documentation, and preservation of evidence -- to PNP investigators and crime laboratory personnel. In January 2007, 23 PNP investigators from the island of Jolo -- where the Armed Forces of the Philippines is currently engaged in a major offensive against the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group -- received training in a modified version of the ICITAP CSS course. ICITAP-trained PNP staff are next preparing a two-day seminar in March and April 2007 that will target about 250 PNP patrol officers and other first responders in Mindanao, as well as local government officials and politicians, to educate them on the importance of securing crime scenes and preventing the contamination and loss of evidence prior to the arrival of qualified crime scene investigators. This course material relies heavily on the CSS curriculum. ICITAP staff separately also plan to conduct at least seven more iterations of CSS training throughout the country between April ) July 2007, while continuing to encourage and support PNP,s own internal training efforts. 3. (U) Even in this brief period of activity, ICITAP's successes have included: -- ICITAP-trained PNP investigators collected and documented evidence that led to the positive DNA identification (which FBI headquarters subsequently verified) of ASG leader Khadaffy Abubakar Janjalani and ASG operations and logistics chief Abu Sulaiman, each of whom was on the U.S. FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list and each was the subject of a USD 5 million Rewards for Justice program offer; and, -- ICITAP-trained PNP investigators successfully handled the scene of the murder of a PNP officer by suspected ASG operatives and collected evidence that will be used positively to identify a suspect and to enable local prosecutors to conduct a trial once there is an arrest. 4. (U) The ICITAP staff is now engaged in supporting one of the key items in the PNP's own Integrated Transformation Program -- the model police station project. Given that the PNP has insufficient resources to begin transformation on an agency-wide basis, the project will professionalize operations -- through training and advice in various core competencies such as respect for human rights, financial management, internal affairs, and policy development -- at eight selected police stations around the country. ICITAP will evaluate development at each station and provide certificates of achievement when stations meet core competencies. ICITAP envisions that the PNP will learn valuable lessons during the process, which it can then gainfully apply to the professionalization of all stations in the Philippines. Visit Embassy Manila's Classified website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm KENNEY |