PDD-71

Fact Sheet on PDD 71: Strengthening Criminal Justice Systems

(In support of Peace Operations & Other Complex Contingencies) (840)

The State Department released this Clinton Administration Fact Sheet
on February 24.

(begin Clinton Administration Fact Sheet)

Presidential Decision Directive 71: Strengthening Criminal Justice
Systems
In Support of Peace Operations and Other Complex Contingencies

PRESS FACT SHEET

What is this PDD?

The PDD is a comprehensive framework for further interagency and
multilateral work designed to improve our capacity to conduct
effective civilian police operations and complementary police, justice
and penal system development (otherwise referred to as "criminal
justice development"). It identifies priority concerns and issues and
provides direction to the interagency community for pursuing concrete
initiatives.

Why now?

This PDD has been months in the making. The US participated in our
first civilian police (CIVPOL) mission in Haiti in 1994. As we began
to identify lessons learned from the Haiti and Bosnia missions, we
determined that a thorough review was needed. This PDD reflects the
results of that review. As demonstrated by growth in these types of
activities in recent years and months, and the difficulties we have
faced in mounting these types of operations in Kosovo, East Timor and
elsewhere, the time is right to begin to address these issues in a
more comprehensive and systematic way.

How will the PDD be implemented?

As the government entity responsible for U.S. foreign policy, the
State Department has been named the lead agency for coordinating U.S.
participation in CIVPOL and complementary international criminal
justice development activities. A lead office with responsibility for
this function will be created within the State Department's Bureau for
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) using the
personnel who currently conduct these activities in a less formal
capacity. An interagency working group also will be formed to manage
these issues. Thus, rather than creating a new bureaucracy, the PDD
institutionalizes existing relationships and capacities.

How will the PDD affect recruitment for international civilian police
work?
The PDD enables the U.S. to pre-screen and train potential CIVPOL
personnel prior to their assignment to a particular mission. They then
can remain in their regular jobs until called by the USG for CIVPOL
duty. U.S. CIVPOL officers are individuals from all over the U.S. who
volunteer to serve in international civilian police missions.

What concrete changes will the PDD produce?

The directives in the PDD will lead to concrete initiatives that will
enable us, inter alia, to pre-screen and train our civilian police
prior to specific missions so that they can be better prepared for
international service and can be deployed more quickly when missions
arise; to help other countries to prepare their police for CIVPOL
service and to standardize pre-mission training and screening; to
develop quick-start training programs for indigenous police that
appropriately complement other CIVPOL efforts and enable local
communities to assume law enforcement responsibilities at the earliest
possible time; to ensure there are suitable means to promote
longer-term aspects of criminal justice development once the
peacekeeping phase of complex contingencies has ended; and to ensure
that justice and penal system development issues are addressed in a
comprehensive way in both the planning and implementation stages and
that they proceed in tandem with policing efforts so that there is no
gap among enforcement, prosecution, and detention.

What will it cost?

The President has requested $10 million dollars in his FY2001 budget
for the State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement Affairs to implement these directives. Costs for
operations in specific countries will be determined separately and
will vary depending upon the scope of the U.S. presence and
engagement.

When will we start to see results?

Given the international demand for criminal justice activities in
peace operations and the importance of these activities to stability
in post-conflict states, we intend to move forward on all initiatives
expeditiously. The President has requested a report on activities in
support of the PDD within four months and regular reporting
thereafter. We expect that some initiatives can be implemented
relatively quickly. Others, such as developing a new system for
recruiting and training U.S. CIVPOL, will require major changes to
current practices and potentially new legislation, and thus will take
longer to implement.

What role will the military play?

The military will continue to play a fundamental role in peacekeeping
activities. Intensive efforts have been undertaken to ensure that our
military forces can perform peacekeeping functions effectively. This
PDD is designed to ensure that civilian police can do the same and
that military forces are not drawn in to law enforcement functions
because police capacities are not adequate. As we have seen repeatedly
in peacekeeping operations, cooperation and coordination between
international police and military forces are crucial. The PDD directs
that we look at ways to further this cooperation, such as through the
possibility of joint exercises between military forces and CIVPOL.

(end Clinton Administration Fact Sheet)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: usinfo.state.gov)