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MISPA IV Receives Reports from Political and Technical bodies and Civil Society Recommendations

The Fourth Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Public Security in the Americas (MISPA IV) of the Organization of American States (OAS), being held today and tomorrow in Medellin, Colombia, heard reports on the political and technical developments related to hemispheric security achieved by the General Secretariat and the Permanent Council of the organism, as well as civil society recommendations on the subject.

In addition, representatives of member countries decided that the meetings of MISPA IV would be chaired by the Deputy Minister of Defense of Colombia, Jorge Bedoya, and that the Vice Chair of the meeting would be the Minister of Public Security of Costa Rica, Mario Zamora Cordero.

Secretariat for Multidimensional Security

The Secretary for Multidimensional Security of the OAS, Adam Blackwell, said the work of his area is based on General Assembly resolution 2735 on the "Promotion of Hemispheric Security: a multidimensional approach," which has been developed "by designing and implementing a methodology that I call 'smart security,' an approach that provides a constructive and sustainable response to the mandates entrusted to us by our member states and which in turn drives a modern results-based multilateralism."

The head of the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security (SMS) identified five steps on which "smart security" is based: identifying problems through evidence-based diagnostics and data provided by security observatories and their statistics; developing programs and project proposals that take into account the specific needs of member states and subregional contexts; working on the basis of best practices or existing models adapted to other contexts; creating a multidimensional and integrated approach to ensure a systemic response; and evaluating the results, not just of the projects themselves, but also of the laws, tactics and strategies.

Ambassador Blackwell added that there should be "a sixth point, which relates to security indicators: it is time to position the concept of integrated solutions, time to change the traditional indicators that focus on the number of police, number of arrests, kilos of drugs seized, homicide rates and percentage of the population in prison, and talk, rather, of wider outcomes such as: the number of social workers, the number of centers for prevention and treatment, decreases in recidivism rates, reduction of the use of private security and increase in respect and confidence in state institutions."

Among the achievements of the Secretariat during the last year was the "Report on the Drug problem in the Americas," (Analytical Report and Scenarios Report) presented by the OAS in May and which was produced over two years by the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) under the supervision of the Secretary General José Miguel Insulza. In his presentation, Ambassador Blackwell cited the Report as a paradigmatic example of Multidimensional Security. "It was a pioneering report in many respects, because it not only brought together experts in the field to discuss the issue thoroughly, but it also brought together young people, mothers, representatives of indigenous sectors, private sector representatives, NGOs, police institutions, political bodies, and sub-regional representatives, among others. This was the reason why the results of the report were very different from other previous reports," he said.

Ambassador Blackwell also highlighted the progress made in the design of the Inter-American Network for Police Development and Professionalization, which, from a systemic approach focused on management of police knowledge, aims to reduce the asymmetries between the police forces of the region, improve cooperation between them and promote the professional growth of our police. "The Network will encourage the professional development of 200,000 police in the region, with the added value of the participation of universities in the region and the promotion of horizontal cooperation within five years."

The Secretary for Multidimensional Security of the OAS also recalled that last September a meeting was held in San Salvador with the 11 mayors of the "violence free municipalities” in El Salvador that was attended by government, civil society, the church and private sector representatives, as well as United States specialists in intervention and mediation, representatives of Honduras and Guatemala, and some former gang members to discuss best practices on peace processes, community empowerment and intervention in situations where gangs are operating. "The most important thing about this meeting was the convergence of ideas, issues and experiences among the different approaches, representatives and countries," said the OAS official.

Finally, Ambassador Blackwell said the framework of the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA) and in response to alarming indicators of armed violence in the Hemisphere, where more than 80 percent of homicides are committed with firearms, "we launched two successful initiatives that have marked more than 300,000 firearms and destroyed more than 35,000 weapons and about a million rounds of ammunition.”

Committee on Hemispheric Security

The Chair of the Committee on Hemispheric Security of the OAS and Permanent Representative of Haiti, Duly Brutus, summarized the process and results of the MISPA I, II and III and concluded that "we are on the right track." "However, we need to consolidate one of the essential pillars for the security of the region, that is to say, international cooperation," which is therefore the central focus of the MISPA IV.

Ambassador Brutus stressed that international cooperation is essential because "the greatest threats and the greatest security challenges in the region are transnational." Combating insecurity, he said, would help to address other problems facing the countries of the Hemisphere such as "extreme poverty, social exclusion of large sectors of the population, natural disasters and environmental degradation."

The Chair of the Committee on Hemispheric Security said that "the obligation of a state to ensure the legal security of its citizens is an inalienable right. We must in this sense be vigilant at all times to violations of this right. We must do everything so that the legal security of citizens is guaranteed by the state and by our international and regional institutions."

Technical Working Group on Police Management

The National Commissioner of Public Security of Mexico, Manuel Mondragón y Kalb, delivered ​​a report on the results of the Technical Working Group on Police Management of MISPA, which met in October in Mexico City. Mondragón y Kalb said that in the Mexican capital it was agreed to entrust the MISPA IV to promote the development of community outreach programs, strengthen the legitimacy of police institutions and contribute to the commitment of responsibility of the police and the community to reduce insecurity.

In addition, the Technical Working Group recommended that Police Management programs be implemented which would "promote the welfare of police and their families, in order to improve their quality of life." The third recommendation was to develop, at a strategic and operational level, and with the support of the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security of the OAS, an Integral Program of Police Training and Specialization, building on the experiences and capabilities of member states, and encouraging knowledge sharing.

The Head of the Mexican delegation also indicated that it was decided to suggest to the OAS General Assembly the establishment of a specific fund of voluntary contributions from member states and other strategic partners to finance the Integral Training Program. The meeting also recommended to the OAS General Secretariat to conduct a legal, technical and budget analysis to identify and define a way for the Police American Police Community (AMERIPOL) to form part of the Inter-American System, to strengthen the management and police cooperation it currently carries out.

Civil society

The sociologist Ana Clara Camarotti presented a summary of the main proposals of civil society held in a virtual forum coordinated by the OAS on "regional cooperation strategies to prevent and address threats to public security." Among its conclusions it requests that states develop public policies to address the problem of drugs that generate security and are respectful of human rights and the environment. It also calls for "recognizing that the particular problems and derivatives of the production, trafficking and sale of drugs belong to the field of security and environmental protection, not only to national defense."

It also calls for "strengthening the capacity of states to track, research, register and prosecute the trafficking of illicit firearms and ammunition;" review the proportionality of sentences for drug offenses; and incorporate a gender perspective to identify and address the differential impacts that the drug problem has on the lives of women. "Women make up the lowest links of the micro-trafficking chains. However, they are the ones who populate the jails, often in the company of their small children," said Camarotti.

Finally, Camarotti indicated that the Forum discussed the need to exchange experiences and knowledge among civil society organizations, universities and institutions in charge of security, "and create the space to make this possible," he concluded.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-452/13