Humanitarian - Australian Red Cross

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.
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