The Southern African Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation (SARPCCO)

It has long been recognised that crime, and more specifically organised and transnational crime, can only be successfully combated through concerted effort at multilateral level. It is for this reason that a United Nations Convention on Transnational Organised Crime is being drafted by an ad hoc committee that has been meeting in Vienna since January 1999.

The Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation (SARPCCO) came into being on 2 August 1995 at the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. At this meeting, police chiefs of the Southern African subregion, assembled within the framework of the ISDSC, decided to form an organisation through which they could enhance co-operation to meet their common goals. The ISDSC has subsequently recognised SARPCCO as the vehicle for policing matters in the region.

Overall, SARPCCO is the primary operational mechanism in Southern Africa for the prevention and fighting of cross-border crime, including the trafficking of weapons. Since its foundation, SARPCCO has become an important asset in the regionalisation of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol), by becoming its de facto subregional operational arm since, for all practical effect, the SARPCCO secretariat and the subregional Interpol bureau in Harare are one and the same.117

The aim of Interpol is:

"To ensure and promote the widest possible mutual assistance between all criminal police authorities within the limits of the laws existing in the different countries and in the spirit of the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’;

To establish and develop all institutions likely to contribute effectively to the prevention and suppression of ordinary law crimes."118

Since SARPCCO itself consists of police chiefs as members and not of countries, the members have spearheaded a multilateral co-operation agreement on combating crime within the region.119 This agreement was signed on 1 October 1997 by Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe on the day of the official opening of the subregional bureau of Interpol in Harare. The agreement came into effect on 29 July 1999 after it was ratified by seven member countries.

A peculiar feature of the co-operation agreement is that it not only outlines what needs to be done, but also carefully sets out the conditions that would allow co-operation between police services. Indeed, the agreement provides that

"[t]he parties shall consult with each other as to the legislative or administrative steps that may be necessary to ... remove any legal obstacles or impediments that may be found to exist in the execution of the provisions of the agreement."120

Article 5 provides for the following specific areas of co-operation:

Article 4 of the agreement provides for the right of entry of police officials into member states. It stipulates, inter alia, that "[u]nder no circumstances shall the visiting police official act on his or her own, but shall at all times be accompanied by a member of the hosting police service and all actions to be taken shall be done by the hosting police official concerned."122

By the middle of 1999, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia have already ratified the agreement and it is expected that the other countries will follow in the near future.

Once the agreement enters into force and is ratified by Swaziland and Mozambique, it will replace the existing two bilateral agreements between South Africa and these two countries.

Collectively, the constitutions of Interpol and SARPCCO, and the multilateral co-operation agreement provide the cornerstone of police co-operation in Southern Africa.

The eleven founding countries whose police chiefs are members of SARPCCO are Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. According to Article 2(3) of the SARPCCO Constitution, "[m]embership of SARPCCO is not limited to the above-mentioned, and chiefs of police of other countries may, by way of special resolution gain membership of SARPCCO." On this basis, Mauritius was admitted to SARPCCO shortly after its admission to SADC, making SARPCCO an organisation of twelve members to date. Despite this constitutional openness, the common understanding and practice thus far have been that SARPCCO member countries will be restricted to the Southern African subregion and, more specifically, to SADC member states, although the DRC and the Seychelles are not yet members of SARPCCO.123

SARPCCO is committed to observe the following principles:

While these principles are familiar in conventional international discourse relating to police co-operation, they imply a break with the previous politicised policing culture in the region. Accepting such principles provides an impetus to a more appropriate, democratically accountable policing culture. The various regional police services can then measure their effectiveness, standards, professionalism and ethos, as well as their operational practices in comparison with one another. In other words, the police services that had traditionally been insulated from external oversight will now not only strive to be accountable to the usual domestic constituencies, but will also be accountable to a regional constituency.

As outlined in its Constitution,124 SARPCCO’s objectives are to:

The objectives of SARPCCO can only be pursued through an appropriate multilateral policing forum. Significant progress has already been made in putting such structures in place. The various SARPCCO substructures are:

The following sections comment on each in turn.

The CPC is the supreme body of SARPCCO, consisting of all chiefs of police of member states. The CPC is responsible for formulating policy on all subregional police co-operation matters to ensure the efficient functioning of all SARPCCO structures and the attainment of the organisation’s objectives. The CPC fulfils its mandate through issuing directives and prescribing standard operating procedures. It normally meets once a year and, under extraordinary circumstances, as often as it deems necessary. The CPC chairperson is elected from among the police chiefs for a one-year term at the end of which a new chairperson is elected on a rotational basis. This rule seems to apply for all SARPCCO substructures.

Although the SARPCCOConstitution does not provide for membership representation at the political level, each annual meeting of the police chiefs is followed by a meeting of the ministers responsible for policing in member countries in order to give political power to the organisation. The endorsement by the ministers of decisions taken by the CPC allows these to be implemented at all levels of government in member countries.

To date, two permanent subcommittees have been established that report to the PCC:

Given the importance of sound communication and the sharing of information, all member countries are linked through an X-400 messaging system, and four communication courses have been presented at the Interpol bureau. In addition, three other courses have been presented on the role of civil police in peacekeeping operations (by the ISS on an agency basis for SARPCCO), drug interdiction and joint operation skills, with a total of 139 police officers receiving training under the auspices of SARPCCO so far. Interpol has also availed member states of its International Weapons and Explosive Tracking System (IWETS) database.126

The legal subcommittee is undertaking a comprehensive study of all legal matters that may inhibit police co-operation and other related activities in the subregion. The ideal towards which the subcommittee is striving, is the harmonisation of legislation, at least in those issue areas with high incidences of cross-border crime.

Between meetings of the CPC, PCC and the subcommittees, continuity is provided through a permanent secretariat. This function is provided by the Interpol subregional bureau in Harare. It consists of twelve officers seconded by various member states to Interpol, all of whom serve in Harare, and ten support staff members provided by the Zimbabwe Public Police. The head of Interpol’s subregional bureau for Southern Africa is simultaneously the head of the SARPCCO Secretariat. Although the subregional bureau hasassigned a desk to look after all SARPCCO’s affairs, including the follow-up of all resolutions and the co-ordination of the activities of all SARPCCO subcommittees, there is little practical differentiation between the work of SARPCCO and Interpol.

SARPCCO is funded by Interpol through an additional ‘special contribution’ paid by Southern African member countries, over and above their annual fees to Interpol. The annual budget for SARPCCO in 1999 is approximately Fƒ1 million.

Functional areas of responsibility have been allocated to liaison officers seconded to SARPCCO. At present, the organisation consists of seven functional areas together with substructures such as the head office and SARPCCO projects offices. The functional areas are:

Liaison officers are responsible for contact with all countries in the subregion on matters concerning crime, focusing specifically on cross-border crime, and the monitoring of crime trends with the aim of advising police chiefs on crime areas that need special attention. Analyses of crime trends are particularly important for defining strategies for joint operations that are to become the mainstay of the organisation in future.

Taking cognisance of the diversity of policing cultures among the subregion’s police services and their lack of experience with co-operation, SARPCCO has prioritised, along with the imperative of conducting joint operations (see below), the combating of cross-border crime, particularly through confidence-building, training and legislation.

As far as confidence-building measures are concerned, an important activity undertaken in this regard is the promotion of sports and cultural exchange programmes among police organisations in the subregion. Furthermore, all SARPCCO activities contain focused components aimed at enhancing mutual trust among police organisations, as well as between individual police officers.

At the outset, SARPCCO recognised that effective co-operation in matters of cross-border crime and policing is largely dependent upon the harmonisation of legislation and policing culture among police services in the subregion, the nurturing of mutual trust, and the establishment of effective communication and information exchange mechanisms. Nevertheless, cross-border crime has demanded immediate responses. As a result, SARPCCO had to institute practical measures to combat cross-border crime in the short term. Focusing on the most common transnational crimes, such as motor vehicle theft, drug-trafficking, arms-smuggling, and organised crime in general, SARPCCO has conducted five joint operations since 1997.128

The operation was undertaken between South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Launched at the beginning of 1997, it was aimed at tackling the spiralling incidence of motor vehicle theft. During the operation, 1 576 stolen vehicles were seized and 143 suspects arrested.

This operation was undertaken from 10 to 26 June 1998 between Lesotho, Mauritius, Swaziland and South Africa. Its objectives were to address motor vehicle theft, drug-trafficking, firearms-smuggling and other attendant crimes. The operation resulted in the seizure of 76 stolen motor vehicles, fourteen firearms, more than 20 000 rounds of ammunition, 116,94 kilograms of dagga and the arrest of 22 people in connection with these crimes.

This operation took place from 8 to 18 July 1998, involving Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. The primary aim was the combating of motor vehicle theft, but attention was also paid to other crimes. Operation Atlantic resulted in the seizure of 114 stolen motor vehicles, eleven firearms, 71 rounds of ammunition of various calibre, 27 910 kilograms of dagga and the arrest of 23 suspects.

This is an ongoing intelligence-gathering operation undertaken between Angola, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Although other crimes are mentioned as part of the aims of this operation, the main objective is to curb the smuggling and illegal dealing in diamonds and other precious stones. This operation has culminated in the seizure of 26,15 carats of diamonds, 2,24 grams of gold and the arrest of nine suspects.

The operation was undertaken between Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, with technical backup from South Africa. The main aim was to address motor vehicle theft and associated cross-border crimes. Apart from Operation Stone, which is an ongoing intelligence-gathering exercise, Sesani has been the longest SARPCCO operation to date. It started on 12 August 1998 and was only concluded on 24 February 1999 in Zimbabwe. During Operation Sesani, 180 stolen motor vehicles, 47 firearms, 15,1 grams of hard drugs (heroin and cocaine), 413 kilograms of light drugs (dagga and Khat) were seized, and 64 suspects were arrested.

The success of the operations listed above serves as an indication of what can be achieved when police agencies act together with a common purpose in the fight against crime. However, the recovered items are dealt with according to the different laws governing the disposal of such items in the countries concerned. This is the area where the most difficulties are experienced. In fact, of the 2 401 stolen motor vehicles seized since SARPCCO operations started, only thirteen per cent (314) have been successfully returned to the countries from where they were stolen by mid-1999. The main reason for this low rate of disposal of seized items is the complexity of the legal procedures concerning these cases. It is thus imperative that the countries in the subregion not only harmonise, but also simplify their legal procedures to facilitate the disposal of recovered items. Otherwise, the operations may succeed in apprehending suspects, but they will be of little use for the victims of such crimes. This task has become the main function of the legal subcommittee.

In less than five years, SARPCCO has become an important regional body. Its strength lies in the fact that, while traditional international bodies are primarily forums of discussion and exchange of information, SARPCCO has emerged as an instrument to combat and prevent crime. As such, it has shown considerable potential as an engine for joint action in areas beyond the safety and security realm. What is needed, is further regional political recognition and endorsement of its role, particularly at SADC level. The word ‘recognition’ is deliberately used in the sense that SARPCCO should be appreciated strictly from a professional policing point of view by avoiding any attempt of politicising the Organisation. The same considerations underlie the reluctance of SARPCCO to serve as an integral part of the ISDSC, since the latter will tie the organisation into a political structure.

There is, however, a clear lesson for the ISDSC to be learned from the SARPCCO experience, namely, the value of a permanent secretariat and the secondment of officers to serve in such a secretariat. Zimbabwe is at present making a significant contribution to SARPCCO, not only through the provision of support staff to the Organisation, but also by constructing a new building for the Secretariat, to be completed in 2001.

Regional co-operation, co-ordination and the harmonisation of policy remain problems within Southern Africa, although recent years have seen steady progress in this field. SADC and SARPCCO have only recently started to interact with each other. In fact, SADC ignored SARPCCO in the drafting of the SADC Protocol on Combating Illicit Drug Trafficking, despite the fact that only the subregion’s various policing agencies could and inevitably will end up implementing the core components of the protocol.

Recent developments to co-ordinate and collaborate on policy on small arms within the region haVE been remarkably successful, but illustrate the challenges that the lack of an effective division of labour holds for Southern Africa.

The framework for co-operation in the region is the Southern Africa Regional Action Programme on Light Arms and Illicit Trafficking that was drafted at a meeting of EU and SADC government officials hosted by the ISS and Saferworld in South Africa in May 1998. The programme was subsequently endorsed by the EU and SADC Foreign Ministers Meeting in Vienna in November 1998. It recommends action by SADC governments and outlines potential assistance for this by EU governments in four areas:

Within the EU, there are four budget programmes through which SADC can obtain funding for small arms programmes. These are the Lomé Convention, the recently concluded South Africa-EU trade agreement, the Common Foreign and Security Policy budget and, of course, bilateral assistance programmes. Since co-operation and assistance between the EU and Southern Africa occur through SADC, the establishment of a SADC desk on special projects allows the Community to engage the region.

Small arms issues constitute only one of a number of areas of co-operation between the EU and SADC, regulated by an annual ministerial meeting.

Progress on small arms control has advanced rapidly in Southern Africa. Reviewing the success of Operations Rachel (below), the SARPCCO annual general meeting that was held in Gaborone, Botswana during July 1998 decided to expand regional anti-crime operations and identified firearms-trafficking as one of its priority areas.

According to the present chairperson of SARPCCO, Commissioner Edgar Hillary of the Royal Swaziland Police,

"The implementation of the Action Programme ... calls for the identification and strengthening of legal controls of weapon possession, use and transfer. This will involve the adoption of necessary legislation by member countries that have not yet done so and will of necessity, involve the process of harmonisation, through SARPCCO, of firearms legislation in the region ..."131

As a result of interagency discussion between SADC and SARPCCO earlier this year, the 1999 SARPCCO annual meeting in Swaziland in July 1999 adopted a Declaration on Firearms that effectively recognised SARPCCO as the lead agency on firearms issues in the region. This decision goes some way in harmonising the regional response towards small arms. SADC still remains responsible for policy within the small arms issue, but the fact that the ministers responsible for policing assemble after each SARPCCO annual general meeting to vet and approve the decisions of SARPCCO furthermore ameliorates some of the more onerous co-operation challenges. This was followed by a SADC Council of Ministers decision in Maputo (August 1999) stating that:

"SADC should establish a regional policy for control of small arms and light weapons. SARPCCO should be appointed as the implementation agency of the SADC policy on small arms and cross border crime prevention. The Ministries responsible for Law and Order or Safety should be the SADC National Focal Points on the issues of prevention and combating of small arms and related crimes." Furthermore, "[a] working group comprising of Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland (chair), Zambia, Zimbabwe, the Secretariat and SARPCCO should be appointed to work out the SADC policy on small arms and develop a programme for the implementation at regional level."132

On 22 October 1999, the first meeting of the SADC working group held in Gaborone led to the appointment of the SARPCCO legal subcommittee as drafter of the SADC policy/protocol on small arms. The group started to work in this direction during November with the intention of submitting the protocol to the SADCSummit meeting in 2000.

Similarly, the EU-SADC Co-operation Executive Committee met in Cape Town in April 1999 and recommended the creation of a EU-SADC technical group on small arms issues. This was established at the EU-SADC meeting of senior government officials to take place in November 1999.

The April EU-SADC meeting was followed by an informal consultation between the two organisations on small arms held in Pretoria on 10 September 1999. The aim of the meeting was to exchange views on the possible areas of EU-SADC co-operation in the field of preventing and combating the illicit trafficking and the destabilising accumulation and spread of small arms. The group discussed, among others, an informal paper on the modalities of the future activities of the EU-SADC expert working group that would serve as a point of reference in future co-operation.