2nd workshop for police officers winds up [Archives:2002/34/Local News]

MOHAMMED ABDULRAHMAN
YEMEN TIMES STAFF
The two-day second workshop for police officers organized by the Human Rights Information and Training Center (HRITC) in cooperation with the Danish Embassy was concluded on August 13 in Sanaa.
The workshop, which was under the auspices of the Minister of Interior, Mr. Rashad Al-Alimi, trained 40 officers from different security apparatuses representing various governorates.
In his opening statement, HRITCs chairman, Mr. Izzeddin Al-Asbahi stressed on the need to continue exerting greater efforts to solidify the ideas of human rights and the respect of human dignity in the minds and practices of police forces so as to have them abide by international declarations on human rights.
In his speech representing Minister Rashad Al-Alimi, Deputy Minister Rasheed Jurhum expressed his appreciation of NGOs role in the community to promote the understanding of human rights among police forces. He emphasized that the government is fully aware of the need to better coordinate with the NGO sector to reduce the negative phenomena and shortcomings of the police forces.
Mr. Ali Saleh Abdullah, Deputy Minister of Social Affairs also pointed out the need to strengthen relations between the government and the NGO sector, thanking the HRITC for its role in supporting civil society values.
The inauguration also included a statement by Ai Nasir Al-Khashi, Head of the Prison Authority, who insisted on the need to train and raise awareness among police forces about such vital issues as human rights, human dignity and pride.
The workshop included a presentation of a working paper by Dr. Mohamed Ahmed Al-Mikhlafi on the international declarations on human rights. Police officers participating in the workshop were then formed into working groups and started open discussions on the subject of human rights.
Lawyer Mohamed Naji Allaw presented a lecture on the rights of detained citizens and the stance of local legislations regarding those rights.
On the second day, Mr. Ahmed Al-Wadii presented a working paper on the treatment of prisoners, while Dr. Ihlam Al-Aqil gave lectures on the authority of police officers and what they are entitled to do and what they should not exceed concerning those prisoners.
Dr. Ali Al-Sharafi also spoke about the current laws that regulate the use of force and firearms and stressed the need to present aid to the victims of crimes in another lecture.
The workshop was concluded with a theatrical act by the Taiz theater house led by artist Fikri Qassim about the unlawful activities of some security men and described the main problems resembled in the lack of polices understanding of the human rights of prisoners and citizens.
After the workshop was over, Yemen Times met with some of the participant policemen who expressed their satisfaction with the quality of management of the event. Lieutenant Wahid Kalib of the Criminal Investigative Bureau in Aden said, We have benefited from this workshop tremendously and understood the ways we should be treating citizens, prisoners and others taking into consideration their human rights.
Police forces in Yemen lack education in human rights and hence many of them treat civilians and prisoners roughly he added.
On the other hand, policewoman Nazia Ahmed said There is significant deficiency in proper understanding and implementation of laws and regulations. We as policewomen are trying to be more flexible and alert to human rights of civilians during inspections and investigations. This is why policewomen have been warmly welcomed by large masses of the community.

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