The Mauritanian police are professional, follow the rule of law and operate transparently.
Project description
Title: Programme to Build and Strengthen the Police Structures in Selected Partner Countries in Africa; country component Mauritania
Commissioned by: German Federal Foreign Office
Country: Mauritania
Lead executing agency: La Direction Générale de la Sûreté Nationale (DGSN)
Overall term: 2019 to 2022
Context
Since 2009, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has been promoting police reform processes in Africa on behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office. The programme is currently implementing a total of eleven country and regional measures. All selected partner countries and regions show characteristics of fragile statehood to varying degrees.
After a long period of political conflict, the political situation in Mauritania has now stabilised. The peaceful transfer of power in June 2019 gave a clear signal for structural changes in the country to proceed. However, the security situation has significantly worsened as a result of the increasing presence of Islamist groups such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb region. It is possible that the instability in the region could also spill over into Mauritania. It is a very young state, so the police there do not have sufficient capacity to ensure the security of the population and comply with rule of law and human rights standards. In many police stations, there is a lack of clear organisational structures and processes to effectively perform tasks on behalf of citizens. Weaknesses in HR management mean that not all stations have skilled staff in key positions, such as forensics and IT.
Objective
The Mauritanian police contribute to national and regional stability professionally and transparently and in line with the rule of law, and the population regards them as a protector.
Approach
The project supports the police in Mauritania with conducting investigative and criminal proceedings in accordance with the principles of the rule of law. To do this, it makes use of instruments that increase the effectiveness and transparency of police stations. These include a digitalised case processing system and support for internal monitoring and disciplinary measures for any offences within the police service.
A digital personnel database enables information on the continuing professional development status of officials to be collected systematically, allowing HR managers to deploy officers in a more targeted way.
To strengthen forensics, the project supports management of the unit by improving the internal organisation, deepening specialist skills, running training courses and improving coordination between the police and the judiciary.
Through training measures in the area of youth protection and criminal law relating to juveniles, the project enhances the ability of the police to act in compliance with the law – and in accordance with international norms and standards – when dealing with juvenile criminals and under-age victims of crime. Youth protection measures are supplemented with measures to upgrade and equip youth brigades.
Last update: December 2020