GABON: ASSESSMENT OF THE NEED FOR INCREASED LAW

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIBREVILLE 000061 DEPT ALSO FOR AF/RSA: C. POMMERER;INL/AAE: A. ALTON; DS/T/ATA: T. GONZALEZ E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/2019 TAGS: PGOV SOCI KCRM ASEC GB SUBJECT: GABON: ASSESSMENT OF THE NEED FOR INCREASED LAW ENFORCEMENT AND JUDICIAL TRAINING REF: STATE 5448 Classified By: Poloff Leslie Doumbia for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (U) Per reftel, please find the requested information to help further define law enforcement and judicial training needs for Gabon. ¶2. (C) All responses are keyed to questions from paragraph 2 in reftel: -- Controlling the flow of illegal immigrants (including trafficking victims) and goods across Gabon's extensive maritime and land borders, with the Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, poses a significant challenge for Gabon's non-military security apparatus. Likewise, local crime is on the rise but generally limited to street crimes in high crime areas and non-confrontational burglaries committed primarily at night. Recent reporting also indicates that Gabon might be seeing an increase in drug trafficking (cocaine and marijuana) through its sea port at Port Gentil. -- Gabon's non-military sector's capabilities to effectively respond to these challenges is hampered due to corruption, lack of resources and training, and manpower issues. Specifically, law enforcement entities are generally ineffective at deterring crime. Response to alarms or emergency calls is often too slow (15 minutes or longer) to disrupt burglaries or invasive crimes. Police have a mediocre record in apprehending suspects after arrest. Communication and information sharing between the two major law enforcement agencies, the Gabon National Police (GNP) and the Gabon National Gendarmerie (GNG),has not been fully established. -- The police and related agencies could benefit from training in basic criminal investigations, interviewing techniques, the interpretation and application of existing laws, computer and software training and the development of an effective case management system. -- Gabon is generally an effective partner in the implementation of USG assistance. Currently, the government is working closely with a U.S. Department of Justice representative in the planning of an upcoming International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) project that will provide training, technical assistance, and limited material support to security forces and others involved in the government's anti-trafficking-in-persons efforts. The government has made several contributions to the overall effort, including providing meeting spaces and related materials, preparing presentations for the interagency workshop, and identifying and supplying qualified candidates for the training-of-trainers workshop. Also, post continues to send officers of both the GNP and GNG to the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Gaborone, Botswana. To date, approximately 25 members of Gabonese law enforcement agencies have completed either the advanced or basic ILEA courses. The training has been well-received and the feedback from the participants has been very positive. It is too early to assess fully the effectiveness of the training and its impact on host country agencies. -- France frequently provides bilateral assistance, including training for Gabon's non-military security apparatus. The French recently conducted a train-the-trainers workshop with 20 officers from the GNP. -- Currently, there is no existing or planned non-military regional training center in Gabon. --The Embassy POC for this initiative is Poloff Leslie Doumbia. Email: DoumbiaLW@state.gov. Phone: 241 76-20-03 ext. 4221. REDDICK