ACTION REQUEST: ASSESSING THE NEED FOR INCREASED

UNCLAS STATE 005448 MADRID FOR MALABO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV SOCI KCRM ASEC XW XY XI SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST: ASSESSING THE NEED FOR INCREASED LAW ENFORCEMENT AND JUDICIAL TRAINING SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph 2. OBJECTIVES -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Posts are requested to provide input to help further define law enforcement and judicial training needs for countries in West, Central, and North Africa. If necessary, partial responses are preferred over delayed reporting. Information from posts will be widely distributed throughout the Department, including to INL, AF, NEA, S/CT and Diplomatic Security. Department requests Embassies report on the following areas as soon as practicable, but no later than February 15: -- What are the key internal or regional challenges the host government's non-military security apparatus confronts? (ie: local/regional crime, trafficking of persons, narcotics, resource theft, smuggling, illicit small and light arms shipments, domestic and regional terrorism, etc.) -- What are the host government's non-military sector's capabilities to respond to these challenges? Where ability to address these issues is lacking, please provide details: what knowledge, skills/training, equipment, relationships, policies and/or procedures are responsible for the lack of capacity? -- Highlight any specific non-military security or judicial training requirements (basic, mid-level, specialized, institutional) and the intended host government recipient agency. -- Host government's willingness to accept and be an effective partner in the implementation of USG assistance. -- Other efforts by international partners in providing non-military security assistance and/or training to law enforcement and judicial institutions of the host government. -- Is there any type of existing or planned non-military regional training center in your country, operated by either an international partner or host country? -- Provide a non-military embassy point of contact for future correspondence and coordination on this initiative. -- For NEA/MAG Posts: In those areas where host governments have an expertise, please report their capacity and willingness to contribute non-military technical training experts if the need arises. Highlight any key regional issues of interest to MAG countries. BACKGROUND -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Late last year, INL began leading a series of interagency criminal justice sector country assessments in West Africa. In addition, INL is working with ATA on joint assessments for the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP) countries. Early findings suggest there is a need for additional capacity building in the region. There have been no Department decisions made approving the additional capacity building and program funding remains a challenge with no individual budget line dedicated to new training or capacity building beyond what has been requested in FY 09 and FY 10. ¶4. (U) This first step in soliciting posts' input will inform some of the INCLE budget and programming decisions. Posts are requested to reflect priority issues and associated training needs in their FY2011 Mission Strategic Plans. ¶5. (U) Recognizing other resources (Mission Strategic Plans, recent Department and interagency field assessments, and country assistance reviews) exist, this effort requests post highlight those existing priority areas within the law enforcement and rule of law sectors and gaps that exist which could be closed with additional assistance. REPORTING DEADLINE -------------- ¶6. (U) Department requests action addressee report on results of efforts by front-channel cable slugged for AF/RSA Christopher Pommerer, INL/AAE Aaron Alton, and DS/T/ATA Tony Gonzalez by February 15. The collective efforts of Post's Law Enforcement Working Group (LEWG) may be best suited to answer the questions posed in paragraph 2. If a LEWG is not established, input from the full country team would be helpful. POINTS OF CONTACT -------------- ¶7. (U) Please contact AF/RSA Christopher Pommerer at (202) 776-8562 or INL/AAE Aaron Alton at (202) 776-8779 or via e-mail for any necessary further background information or questions. BURNS