UNSC Briefing on Police Commissioners

[Monday, 14 November 2022]

Statement by Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj

Permanent Representative of India to the UN

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Thank you, Mr. President. 

2.    Allow me to thank USG Lacroix for his briefing today. I also thank the briefers Ms. Christine Fossen, Police Commissioner, UNMISS; Mr. Mody Berethe, Police Commissioner, MONUSCO and Dr. Emma Birikorang, Deputy Director at the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) for their valuable update and insights.

3.       I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to all peacekeepers for their supreme sacrifice, and for their contribution to the restoration of peace and stability in their respective areas of deployment. Sadly, 16 police officers from India have lost their lives, including 2 police peacekeepers Shishupal Singh Bagadia and Sanwal Ram Bishnoi during crowd violence against MONUSCO bases on 26 July this year. We pay homage to their sacrifice and convey our sincere condolences to their families and friends.

4.    India fully supports the Secretary General’s Action for Peacekeeping initiative and it’s "Declaration of Shared Commitments on UN Peacekeeping Operations”, aimed at making UN peacekeeping an efficient and effective tool of the UN Security Council for maintaining international peace and security. 

Mr. President,

5.    India has deployed close to 3000 Police officers in around 24 UN Peacekeeping operations. In fact, India was the first country to deploy an all female Formed Police Unit in Liberia in 2007. Around 170 Indian police personnel are currently serving in UNISFA, UNMISS, and MONUSCO, playing a significant role in strengthening the law enforcement efforts of the host governments.

6.    UN Policing plays an important role in situations of armed conflict. UN Police also helps in the capacity building of host states, especially in areas such as the rule of law and civilian policing. It is therefore, important that we acknowledge the important role of our police keepers and make efforts to make this more effective and efficient. To this end, I submit the following points: 

One, the primary role of police in UN peacekeeping missions is to train and grow capacity of the host nation to enable them to build sufficient expertise and skills in policing, which is an important task in the enforcement and maintenance of the rule of law. While a rapid deployment of Formed Police Units may be required in certain contexts, such deployment should be based on clear and achievable mandates supported by adequate resources.

Two, the timing of deployment and the role of police in peacekeeping varies according to specific contexts. Their capabilities and responsibilities are distinct from military peacekeeping troops. Their mandates thus should be clearly aligned with the tasks that they are trained to handle, and distinct from those of the peacekeeping troops.

Three, and as well all know, Armed Groups, terrorists and transnational organized crime work hand in glove in the contemporary conflict environment. Therefore, it is essential that UN police and military contingents operate together and with other agencies. Developing joint training and operating protocols is critical in this regard.

Four, the triangular consultations amongst the Security Council, the UN Secretariat and the Police contributing countries are of paramount importance while making policy decisions on the role of UN Police in peacekeeping operations. The PCCs should be involved at all levels of decision making on police deployment, planning as well as transition and exit strategies.

Five, a closer coordination between UN Police, the host government’s law enforcement machinery and the civilian population is essential to improve the efficiency of policing on the ground. Community policing should be a norm rather than exception.

Six, and as mentioned by others as well, women police officers and peacekeepers play an indispensable role in UN peacekeeping operations, in particular, during high visibility patrols and search operations as well as in reaching out to communities where only female police officers may be allowed to interact with female members of the community. 

They help promote gender equality and can act as role models by inspiring local women and girls to pursue careers in law enforcement. The Indian female formed unit in UNMIL which I have talked about earlier had helped increase participation of Liberian women in the security sector from 6% in 2007 when they were first deployed, to 17% when they left the mission in 2016. This contribution has been repeatedly acknowledged by the then President of Liberia and Noble laureate H.E. Ms. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. India’s individual police officers, particularly women officers, notably Ms. Kiran Bedi, have also contributed immensely to UN peacekeeping. In more recent times, Indian woman Police officer, Ms. Shakti Devi, who was deployed in the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, was awarded the International Female Police Peacekeeper Award in 2014 for her contribution in the creation of a Women’s Police Council in Herat. Going forward, India will remain committed to enhancing the footprint of our women in UN policing.

Seven, the harnessing of technology is as important for the Police as for the military. In this regard, we are of the view that the police need to be equipped with state of art technology towards anti-riot, crowd control and other policing tasks.

Mr. President,

7.    I conclude by stating that as a longstanding contributor, India looks forward to continuing its active and positive contribution to UN peacekeeping operations. India has expertise in the investigation of serious and organized crimes, investigation of trans-border crimes, cyber forensics, IED forensics, financial fraud investigation, amongst other aspects and we stand ready to share our experience through providing targeted training of UN Police Peacekeepers of friendly states as well as by offering deployment of Indian Police Officers to the various field missions as well as at UN headquarters.

Thank you!