OSCE holds police reform steering group meeting in Tajikistan

A regular meeting of the Police Reform Steering Group was held at the Department of State Traffic Inspection of the Interior Ministry of Tajikistan on 27 March 2015.

The meeting was attended by the Interior Minister of Tajikistan, Lieutenant General Rahimzoda Ramazon Hamro, the Heads of the Interior Ministry departments and independent units, and representatives from the Interior Ministry Academy, civil society organizations. Also attending were representatives of embassies of the Russian Federation, the United States, Germany, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Japan, China, Azerbaijan, Great Britain, France, Turkey as well as the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the European Union and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Participants discussed different issues as well as the candidates’ list for the Public Councils on Civil Society Assistance to the Police Reform and the Sub-Working Group on Gender-Sensitive Issues.

“The development of effective partnerships between the civil society and law enforcement is a core principle of police reform in Tajikistan,” said Senior Executive Officer at the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, Sean McGreevy. “The Public Councils will allow citizens to take direct and indirect participation in discussions on police reform, and will give the Government of Tajikistan insight into citizens’ requests and expectations.”

Ramazon asked the participants for support in creating a donor mechanism to co-ordinate further assistance.