FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Trip Report – INL Visits Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic
While in Bishkek, PDAS Perez met with the head of the State Drug Control Agency to discuss ways to improve our counter narcotics cooperation efforts that are supported by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. At the Ministry of Interior, Minister Abdulla Suranchiev updated PDAS Perez on his police reform efforts and welcomed further cooperation with INL. PDAS Perez also met with the Kyrgyz Prosecutor General Aida Salyanova to discuss the valued work of the INL-funded DOJ Resident Legal Advisor (RLA) who is assisting Kyrgyz prosecutors to develop better evidenced-based prosecutions that bring criminals to justice. They also discussed how INL and the international community can assist Kyrgyzstan in asset recovery efforts.
Also in Bishkek, PDAS Perez joined the Kyrgyz Ministry of Justice and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime to launch the UNODC Forensic Crime Lab Refurbishment Project. INL provided $1.4 million to support the renovations of the crime lab, which is currently just a building shell, into a modern, fully equipped facility. The project will also strengthen the capacity of Kyrgyz forensic professionals to provide forensic services in line with international standards by providing training on effective forensic methodology and practices. The Kyrgyz Forensic Chief noted that the new facility will expedite the processing of criminal investigations, provide quality service to the criminal justice system and increase public trust in law enforcement.
PDAS Perez’s visit to the Southern Kyrgyz city of Osh afforded her the opportunity to visit a nearby Uzbek village and meet with a Community Security Working Group. In discussions with residents from the Amir-Tumur District, led by INL-funded NGO Saferworld, community members and NGO partners told PDAS Perez about their successes in overcoming ethnic and social boundaries in order to address quality-of-life issues within their communities.
PDAS Perez also visited a neighborhood in Osh and observed the INL-funded Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Community Security Initiative (CSI) mobile police responder units, and she observed how these converted minibuses are used to facilitate citizen access to the police and to rebuild public trust and confidence in the police. In many isolated villages, these units are the only government service that is delivered directly to the community.
PDAS Perez continued on to Tajikistan where, in addition to discussing our counter narcotics and law enforcement assistance with the head of Tajikistan's Drug Control Agency and the First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, she had the opportunity to meet with a group of Tajik female law enforcement officers who are participants in INL Dushanbe's Women's Empowerment Program (WEP). Since 2013, INL has trained more than 40 Tajik female law enforcement officers in a range of areas to include dealing with domestic violence and the prevention of human trafficking. Through the WEP, INL is demonstrating U.S. commitment to helping Tajikistan expand roles for female law enforcement. During the meeting with PDAS Perez, these women expressed how INL support has helped them better understand what they can do to improve themselves professionally and use their knowledge and expertise as the number and role of women in Tajikistan law enforcement expands.
While in Dushanbe, PDAS Perez visited the principal training centers for rank-and-file police and border guards. The director of the police training center briefed her on the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) plans for improving the facility to meet the educational requirements expected as part of the MIA's police reform. At the Border Guard Training Center, where INL supports training by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), PDAS Perez was briefed on plans to repurpose the facilities in order to train additional women from Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
PDAS Perez also traveled to the Tajik industrial city of Tursunzade, home of Central Asia's largest aluminum plant, to visit one of the 16 Community Policing Partnership Teams (CPPT) established by INL in the country. The CPPTs link community leaders and police to address mutual issues and concerns. The leader of the Tursunzade CPPT, a mullah, told PDAS Perez that based on its survey of the community the CPPT was focusing attention on youth, principally through programmed sports activities at a nearby school. PDAS Perez then viewed a karate demonstration by more than two dozen youth, including two slated to compete in a Central Asia regional championship that weekend.
