Puntland rule of law institutions have for a long time aspired to build their criminal investigation capacity and foster inter-agency cooperation.
Since these institutions are in a process of re-building, they have lacked investigative abilities and interviewing skills during investigations. EUCAP Somalia has been requested to explore ways to help them realize this objective.
EUCAP Somalia’s Garowe field office police advisors held a Police-Prosecutor Cooperation workshop from November 30 to December 1 to increase inter-agency cooperation and promote criminal investigation capacity. 19 Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Security, and Demining, Demobilization, and Rehabilitation also attended the course.
The course began with EUCAP Somalia police advisors explaining how tasks and responsibilities can be organized, including investigation procedure and reporting.
A lecture on the evidence collection procedure, definitions of evidence presented by the Bureau of Forensic Science (BoFS) expert followed.
Group sessions with role-play exercise focused on improving investigation interviewing and enhancing the knowledge of the evidence. Here the emphasis was on statutory framework on crime definition, interviewing victim/suspect, initiation of investigation, importance of forensic evidence and evidence gathering.
While this type of trainings will continue in the future, some of the participants had a positive remarks towards this training.
The Workshop was opened by Brigadier General Mohamed Ali Hashi, the Puntland State Police Commissioner, and General Omar Bile, the Director of the Puntland Criminal Investigation Department. Gen. Hashi welcomed the attendees and praised EUCAP-Somalia for its assistance to the Puntland State Police:
“Without the assistance of EUCAP Somalia and the Puntland State Police, this workshop would not have been possible,” said General Hashi.
The learners, on the other hand, underlined the value that this workshop may add to their investigation procedures.
“Workshops like the Police-Prosecutor Cooperation are necessary for capacity building in Puntland. They increase participants’ knowledge on this essential subject and show them different roles the government agencies play in the investigation process,” said Second Lt. Abdiwahid Ayanle Yusuf.
By building the capacity of these officers, EUCAP Somalia continues to promote the rule of law in the Horn of Africa.
