Lanterna Rally

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Lords: European Union Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2011-02-16

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13: 9780108473098

This report finds that the EU's Police Mission in Afghanistan risks failing in an area where the EU should be showing leadership. The Committee found that the Afghan National Police force is in a dire state due to high attrition and illiteracy rates, and corruption. The mission must pay greater attention to the most basic of policing skills, not least reading and writing, if it is to succeed. The EU is undertaking a vital task in Afghanistan, but it must address the reasons why the mission is failing before it is too late. Reasons include: too few staff - the small target of 400 people has never been met, demonstrating lack of EU commitment and meaning that the mission cannot cover many important parts of the country; the EU and NATO are not working together properly; insufficient attention has been paid to the Afghan judiciary where there are problems of capacity and corruption levels, which risk making police reform unproductive and seriously limiting prosecution levels. The Committee is also concerned that the timetable for building up Afghanistan's ability to police itself does not coincide with the departure of foreign combat troops.