Germany, UNDP support criminal justice services in Iraq
The United Nations Campus in Bonn, Germany. Photo: Deutschland.de
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Germany and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) signed a donor agreement of 826,250 euro on strengthening Iraq’s criminal justice services and improving their capacities to conduct effective interviews in line with international human rights commitments, according to a press statement issued by the UNDP.
The project promotes the application of the new regulations on unified Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for criminal investigations, the statement mentioned.
Seeking to enhance criminal justice services in Iraq, the project offers capacity building for criminal investigation police officers, investigative judges, and relevant directorates, and extends the implementation of the Model Police Station Pilot Initiative from Baghdad and Basra to all over Iraq, the statement explained.
“Strengthening law enforcement and criminal justice capacities must go hand in hand with human rights protection in order to build public trust in a sovereign, stable and democratic Iraqi State,” Chargé d’Affaires of the German Embassy in Baghdad, Philip Holzapfel, said.
“This is why Germany continues to support these efforts, implemented by UNDP, enabling Iraqi police investigators to conduct interrogations more effectively and without recourse to coercive methods,” Holzapfel added.
UNDP Iraq’s Security Sector Reform (SSR) Program provides advice and technical assistance to the Iraqi security sector through partnerships with the office of the National Security Advisor, the Ministry of Interior’s Police Affairs Agency and local police, the Supreme Judicial Council, and Iraqi civil society organizations, the statement elaborated.
This contribution brings Germany’s total support for the SSR Program to 1,836,250 euro, the statement added.