Monitoring and Investigating the Security Sector (original) (raw)

Integrating Gender into Oversight of the Security Sector by Ombuds Institutions & National Human Rights Institutions

This guidance note on Integrating Gender into Oversight of the Security Sector by Ombuds Institutions & National Human Rights Institutions, developed by DCAF, OSCE/ODIHR and the OSCE Gender Section, is a practical resource for ombuds institutions and NHRIs, and those who support them. It can help an ombuds institution or NHRI engage more effectively with police, militaries and other security sector institutions to monitor and reinforce how the human rights of men and women working there are upheld. It can strengthen oversight of how well police and others meet the needs of communities

The Case for Public Oversight of the Security Sector: Concepts and Strategies

Public involvement in democratic oversight is crucial to ensure accountability and transparency across the security sector. The engagement of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the security policy domain strongly contributes to accountability and good governance: CSOs act not only as a government ‘watchdog’ but also as an index of public contentment with the performance of institutions and agencies responsible for public security and related services. Actions such as monitoring government performance, policy, compliance with laws and human rights observance all contribute to this process. In addition, advocacy by civil society groups representing the interests of local communities and groups of like-minded individuals helps to give voice to often marginalized actors and opens up the policymaking process to a wider set of perspectives. In this way, CSOs have a vital role to play not only in established democracies but also in post-conflict, post-authoritarian and undemocratic states, where the activities of CSOs can still affect the decision-making of elites that monopolize the political process.

Public Oversight of the Security Sector: A Handbook for Civil Society Organisations

2008

This Handbook provides structured guidance for civil society organisations (CSOs) on the role they can play in democratic security sector oversight. Many CSOs have facilitated security sector reform processes in transition and post-conflict states, yet much of their potential remains untapped. Similarly, the longer term role CSOs play in maintaining a democratically-managed security sector is sometimes under-emphasised in the developed and developing worlds. The Handbook is designed primarily for civil society and non-governmental organisations, but is also relevant to democratic institutions, democratic representatives, policymakers, SSR practitioners, researchers, security sector institutions, the media, and international organisations partnering with CSOs on democratic security governance issue.

Democratic Oversight and Governance of Defence and Security Institutions

Democratic governance of the security sector is now an established global principle. Moreover, in European democracies the policy and practice of national security - from community to strategic levels - is also determined by the European Convention on Human Rights which remains binding upon all signatories. The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe also regularly supplies opinions on the legislative requirements for aligning legal and institutional structures with democracy, human rights and the rule of law: the Commission has also specifically reflected on the norms and standards relevant to democratic governance of the security sector. These developments have served to emphasise the critical need for transparent and accountable security policies and practices, and, at the same time, to ensure such policies and practices are determined and managed in the interest of public security provision. In this chapter the author briefly overviews the key features of effective security sector governance for new practitioners.

Ombudsmen as Human Rights Institutions

More than 200 years since the inception of the ombudsman, it seems appropriate to reexamine where the institution stands today. This article asserts that the contemporary ombudsman is not merely or exclusively an administrative oversight body as so often assumed, and neither does it complete human rights-related tasks as an accompaniment or add-on. The ombudsman is as much a human rights institution as any other and has progressed beyond the parameters of an administrative oversight body. Clearly, this expanded role signifies an important reformulation of the “traditional” role of the ombudsman. However, this is not just a necessary response to the changing realities and demands of modern society but also a vital and natural evolution of the ombudsman to enable it to better fulfil its core functions. The article emphasizes the pressing need to fully integrate this new thinking into the study and operations of ombudsman offices around the world.

An Ombudsperson in the United Nations Security Council: a Paradigm Shift?

Anuario Mexicano de Derecho Internacional

La presente contribución describe brevemente el contexto político-jurídico, así como las preparaciones y negociaciones que precedieron y resultaron en la adopción de la Resolución 1904 del Consejo de Seguridad de Naciones Unidas y en el establecimiento del Ombudsperson para el régimen de sanciones sobre Al-Qaeda y el Talibán. Si bien se reconoce que aún falta mucho por hacer para garantizar plenamente el respeto al debido proceso legal de los individuos y las entidades enlistadas, los autores argumentan que dicho cambio institucional es un logro destacado en el marco del emergente Estado de derecho global.

The role of the international institutions in the protection of human rights and freedoms in the sphere of national security

Cuestiones Políticas

The need for qualitative changes in the field of national security also requires the transformation of international institutions responsible for the protection of human rights and freedoms. Therefore, the aim of the article was to identify the role of international institutions in the protection of human rights and freedoms in the field of national security. The main methodological tools were the observational method and the comparative legal method. There is currently a dynamic increase in the number of international treaties ratified in the field of human rights. International institutions are making many efforts to achieve the highest level of efficiency of adequate protection mechanisms. The authorization of an illegal war exposes states to prosecution in international courts. Everything leads to the conclusion that the competence capacity of institutions seems to be limited in the face of increasing violations of human rights in many regions of the world, which leads to the ne...

Oversight and Guidance: The Relevance of Parliamentary Oversight for the Security Sector and its Reform

2003

Regarding the nature and scope of security sector reform (and its opposite, the nonreformed security sector), the reforms are necessary for at least four reasons. Progression towards Conflict Prevention and Stability An unreformed security sector often fails to prevent and sometimes causes violent conflicts which leads to increased suffering and poverty 5. NGOs working in conflict zones report that an ill-functioning security sector is a key-impediment to peacebuilding and stability: Agents of security that do not play a legitimate and democratically accountable role in providing security for citizens not only are unable to prevent conflicts occurring but can also be a source of violence. 6 Effective security sector reform, on the other hand, in the sense of the provision of security in an effective and efficient manner under democratic control, can add to stability both internally and externally 7. Internally, security sector reform can take away causes which lead to instability in, for example, civil-military relations. Externally, a transparent and democratically controlled security sector can be regarded as a regional confidence building measure 8. Therefore, security sector reform can promote stability which is a basic condition for democratisation and economic development.