Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Ian Martin hands over a certificate during a police officer graduation ceremony held in Tripoli on 17 April 2012
UNSMIL provides ongoing advice and assistance to the Ministry of Interior on police matters, including strengthening the capacity of the police departments, mobilizing and coordinating international support to the Libyan police, assisting in the integration efforts of revolutionaries into the police service, and contributing to a safe and secure electoral process. In response to Ministry requests to improve the effectiveness of policing operations, UNSMIL has provided police advisors in Tripoli and Benghazi to assist the Libyan police in the areas of training, logistics, election security and media outreach. A UN police advisor worked with the Libyan-European Union border management assessment mission, which was completed at the end of May 2012. Two additional advisors have joined the Mission to assist in planning the strategic reform of the Libyan Police Service. At the Ministry’s request, UNSMIL submitted ‘Draft Terms of Reference for a High Committee for Police Reform and Development’, intended to design a police vision and reform strategy, and an implementation plan and methodology.
To assist the Ministry’s media development, UNSMIL conducted an assessment of the public information unit, identified human resources and logistics needs, and proposed structural changes to improve internal coordination and enhance cooperation with Libyan media.
To enhance police training, UNSMIL actively participates in the Ministry’s Training Working Group and helps design strategies to improve the effectiveness of police training centres throughout Libya. UNSMIL assisted the development of curriculums for new entry cadets (6 months) and for staff officers (one year), and organized in-service training for serving police officers, including a Trainers Development Course. UNSMIL also helped develop a training curriculum for the integration of revolutionaries into the Ministry.
UNSMIL has assisted in preparing lists of personnel equipment and uniforms for different branches of the police (traffic, patrol, motorcyclist, anti-riot, crime scene), and provided assistance for projects required by the Technical and Communication Directorate.
A monthly international coordination meeting has been organised by UNSMIL to assist the Ministry develop its priorities and plans, and to help coordinate international assistance to address the needs of the Libyan Police.
For the successful General National Congress elections in July 2012, UNSMIL assisted the Ministry’s election security committee to prepare and implement the election security plan. UNSMIL police advisors accompanied electoral field visits to district centres in Sabha, Obari, Azawiyah, Al Ziziyah, Gharyan, and Al Kums to oversee election preparation and readiness. UNSMIL also completed the development of an ‘election security handbook’ for to all security elements involved in election security. UNMSIL developed an electoral security-training curriculum and, with police advisors from several embassies in Tripoli, conducted a ‘training of trainers’ course for about 700 police, leading to the training of more than 7,000 police officers.
With support from UNSMIL, the Office of the Prime Minister convened on 20-21 February an inter-ministerial retreat to review jointly the most critical security challenges confronting Libya and immediate actions to address them. A priority action plan was adopted which recommended strengthening police deployment and security coordination in the lead-up to elections; securing the southern border through an integrated action plan against human trafficking, arms smuggling and other illegal activities; and strengthening inter-ministerial coordination and cooperation on security. UNSMIL continues to support this process.