Chapter 4 - Post-War Police Reform

Summary

The problems facing the police forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), outlined in chapter 3, presented a considerable challenge to the development of a stable and democratic state in which all citizens enjoyed equal access to security and justice. This chapter examines three particular attempts to address these problems. A large number of organisations have been active in police reform in BiH: thirteen of the twenty agencies included in an Office of the High Representative (OHR) matrix of criminal justice reform initiatives were active in police reform in 2004 (see in appendix 2). The work of each agency is not always easy to isolate as numerous organisations work together on shared projects or inherit mandates from one another. This chapter first examines major multilateral civilian police missions, under the auspices of the UN and EU been active in BiH since the earliest days of the peace. Following this, work commissioned by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) will be examined as an example of small scale, bilateral assistance, guided by a developmental agenda. Finally, the chapter will turn to the Police Restructuring Commission (PRC), a body that combines local and international representatives, and whose work has been supported by OHR and the European Commission. In no way does this exhaust the range of interventions in post-war policing in BiH; for example the European military mission, EUFOR, supports local law enforcement agencies in tackling illegal logging, locating illegal weaponry, and addressing organised crime. By examining these three particular cases of intervention, the chapter aims to provide a certain contrast of contexts, placing major multilateral projects alongside smaller bilateral schemes, and by placing projects developed in a framework of development and peace building alongside those linked into other policy goals, particularly European integration. A closing discussion draws on these to explore developments in BiH in terms of democratisation, state-building, and the nature of the intervening organisations.

CORE CIVILIAN MISSIONS AND THE POLICE IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

The General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP), introduced in chapter 2, provides for an International Police Force under the auspices of the United Nations.