Humanitarian - Australian Red Cross

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Military Police and IHL Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. Photo: ADF/LT Aaron Oldaker When we think of Military Police (MPs) our image tends to come from old war movies. MPs are the law enforcers. They arrive in jeeps when soldiers on R&R (rest and relaxation) have had too much of a good time and throw them into ‘the clink’! Of course this is a caricature. MPs do ensure that troops adhere to both military and civilian laws, but not in this simplistic way – and they do much more as well. Their role covers four key areas: law enforcement; security; military mobility and manoeuvring support; as well as internment and detention. In today’s conflicts, such as in Afghanistan, MPs are responsible for the internment and detention of captured persons, including their processing upon capture and treatment while detained. In terms of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), this is where the work of MPs and the Third Geneva Convention for prisoners of war (and related laws) most closely converge. During 2010 and 2011, our IHL team has had several opportunities to interact with MPs from the Australian 1st Military Police Battalion. Not only did a group of MPs attend our four-day Australian Defence Force Instructors’ Course in Melbourne, but in January Red Cross staff Pete Giugni (NSW) and Eve Massingham (QLD) joined MPs in the field, on a practical training exercise an hour’s drive from Townsville. The ADF had invited Pete and Eve to play the roles of members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). While the ICRC often conducts these exercises, in this instance Australian Red Cross stood in, role-playing detention visits that the ICRC conducts across the world. Two things struck our duo. The MPs were simulating their mission in Afghanistan, but still, when the call to prayer sounded five times a day and spasmodic blasts were heard, Line Creek village with its old country pub and corner store, seemed rather a quaint scene for such action. For the MPs the exercise was no lark. Carried out very seriously, the soldiers acted exactly as they would in the theatre of war. Pete and Eve’s second impression was the use of acronyms – initials for everything, thrown around at a bewildering rate. The exercise was in the MRA (Mission Rehearsal Area Activity) practising for a deployment to Page 12
TK (Tarin Kowt) in the DMT (Detention Management Team) managing the ISA (Initial Screening Area) and handling all roles apart from TQ (Tactical Questioning). How does a civilian keep up In real life, when an ICRC protection delegate visits detainees, there are strict standard procedures. On arrival, the delegate meets authorities and addresses issues of concern, and discusses how the visit will take place. ICRC will then check or establish a register of all inmates, conduct interviews with detainees without any witness, offer the opportunity of a Red Cross family message and conduct a thorough inspection of every part of the facility. The objective is to monitor conditions, prevent ill-treatment or disappearances and assist authorities in meeting their legal obligations. Independent reporting is provided to the prison authorities and their ministerial hierarchy and remains confidential. While ICRC visits – repeated, not one-off – in no way guarantee all is well, they do show the detaining authorities’ willingness to work with independent monitors and show prisoners that they are not forgotten by the outside world. In a typical year, ICRC staff visit as many as 500,000 detainees in more than 60 countries. Today, because most detainees are not prisoners-ofwar in strict legal terms (and different legal protections apply in internal armed conflict from international armed conflict), the ICRC, in agreement with authorities, visits a much broader range of people detained as a result of conflict. How did the inspection of the pretend ADF facilities go Fortunately, very well. On the arrival of our team, an interpreter in civilian clothes was provided by the ADF and the visit began. The purpose of ICRC inspections is not adversarial. Rather, observations made are the starting point for discussions aimed at encouraging authorities to confirm or raise standards, if necessary, towards those set out in the law. During the tour of facilities the ICRC and the MPs examined and discussed various points – the size of cells and exercise yards, the requirement of organising family visits, even for socalled ‘high value’ detainees, sensitivity to local cultural practices and the ‘comfort’ of detainees being balanced against security concerns. This to-andfro negotiation is typical of the way the system works. What an experience – to travel with the ADF and see them in action, observing the IHL they had been taught, first and foremost by the Army’s own Command and Legal Officers, and supported by Red Cross. Yet the trip had its challenges too. Pete and Eve lived under tough conditions – coping with tropical humidity, and sleeping in the open air under the requisite mosquito nets. And, for a little extra spice, the exercise had to be abandoned, and everyone evacuated twice, just before Cyclone Anthony was expected and again when Cyclone Yasi struck. No rest for the MPs though. Post Yasi they were re-assigned, supporting ADF recovery efforts from Townsville to Tully. Between January and May 2010, the ICRC carried out an astounding number of visits in the Afghanistan conflict. Some 14,000 detainees were reached, including those held by the Afghan authorities, US forces, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and others in the armed opposition. The ICRC has had a delegation in Kabul since 1987. But Uruzgan province – a name now familiar to Australians – has been a difficult area for the ICRC since a tragedy in 2003. An El Salvadorian ICRC water engineer, Riccardo Munguia, was deliberately targeted, pulled from his car and killed. Almost all ICRC operations in the region were suspended, though they were supported from Kandahar. An ICRC office was re-opened in Uruzgan in 2009. It is from that base that the ICRC now maintains regular contacts with the ADF base and detention facility. In other words when ‘our’ Townsville MPs arrive at their Afghanistan posts they will see the ICRC practices on which they were trained replicated exactly. Familiarity and consistency of approach can only lead to greater IHL adherence. – Bev Patterson, Australian Red Cross About The Royal Australian Corps of Military Police The Royal Australian Corps of Military Police is a small highly trained and professional Corps providing command support and police support to the Army and the Australian Defence Force in peace, crisis and conflict on any operation, anywhere in the world. Their role covers four key areas: law enforcement; security; mobility and manoeuvring support; and internment and detention. One Military Police Battalion is the Army’s deployable Force Element of this Corps. About the ICRC The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an impartial, neutral and independent organisation whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence and to provide them with assistance. Page 13
Page 1 and 2: Humanitarian Winter 2011, Issue 15
Page 3 and 4: The inside The first half of this y
Page 5 and 6: Building our capacity to support of
Page 7 and 8: A new generation of young humanitar
Page 9 and 10: Critical humanitarian work - improv
Page 11 and 12: Australian aid-worker Kristen Proud
Page 13: Males in Black Vice-Chair Robert Ta
Page 17 and 18: Alice Willy washes her family’s c
Page 19: In all activities, Red Cross staff,

Humanitarian - Australian Red Cross

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