OSCE support to Kyrgyzstan's police reform essential, Interior Minister says

VIENNA, 24 September 2009 - The OSCE's support to Kyrgyzstan's police reform programme is crucial for the country, Kyrgyzstan's Interior Minister, Moldomusa Kongantiev, told the OSCE Permanent Council today.

The OSCE's Police Reform Programme has helped improve the education and training of police officers as well as investigation methods, Kongantiev said. In addition, the programme has helped Kyrgyz police widen its reach both geographically and on a human level by supporting the development of a community-based policing approach, which brings police officers closer to the people they serve. The OSCE programme also has helped promote police co-operation with the public and civil society, he added.

"Central to the reform process is the paramount importance of ensuring that the Police Service is equipped and trained to provide for public safety, law and order and a code of conduct that respects citizen rights and justice. Strengthening mutual trust, confidence and the means for co-operation is an integral part of the change-process," he said.

"In this regard, the OSCE's Police Reform Programme provides - may I say - the backbone for this reform process."

Kongatiev said the OSCE support had underpinned work to develop a strategic plan for police reform that covers the years 2009-2012, adding that the country probably would request that the Organization provide continued support beyond 2012.

The Permanent Council, one of the main regular decision-making bodies of the Organization, convenes weekly in Vienna to discuss developments in the OSCE area and to make appropriate decisions.