Police and Human Rights

INTERNATIONAL POLICE EXECUTIVE SYMPOSIUM (IPES)

POLICE COMMUNITY RELATIONS: RACISM, POLICE MINORITY RELATIONS AND

MULTICULTURALISM

ARE POLICE AGENTS MEMBERS OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY?

By Sebastián Sal

Introduction

During the last century the Argentine Republic suffered many changes in its political map, switching from democratic governments to dictatorial ones between

1930 and 1983. This kind of changes have affected people’s human rights and the work type involved in police activities.

Furthermore, Argentina is suffering economic difficulties at present.

Unemployment, poverty and currency depreciation are, among other things, part of the social problem. This social problem - that involves approximately 50% of the population – has had very serious consequences. One of them is the increase in violent crimes ( kidnapping, robberies followed by murders and so on).

The Argentine Police Department is not excluded from this social problem, just because Police agents are part of the society.

Besides there is a new serious and unheard-of problem criminals do not respect police officers anymore; in fact, people loathe Police Agents (which actually happens almost worldwide).  Professor at the University of Buenos Aires, Business School – Argentina -. LLM University of Pennsylvania, Law School -USA- (1997). JD University of Buenos Aires –Argentina – (1988). Former Judiciary Officer (Secretario) of the National Criminal Court in Financial related matters (1994-2000). Former associate of Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal – Attorneys at Law – (2000- 2001). Currently working as a Partner at Estudio Muchart –Attorneys at Law- e-mail: [email protected] Because of that many Police officers have been murdered or beaten and wounded by criminals in Buenos Aires city and its suburbs for the last three years

(2000/2002); on some occasions without any ostensible reason.

That marks – but certainly does not justify - the behavior of Police

Officers who are acting more aggressively against some particular groups of people, usually minorities that are considered “usual suspects”1 .

In this article I will try to analyze the problem described above and how the Police Department are dealing with it .

Finally, I will conclude with a series of recommendations based on the

Argentine experience.

Argentina is a Federal country. For this reason the Police is divided into two: the Federal Police – with jurisdiction over Federal territories, such as Buenos Aires

City - and the Provincial Police. Each Province has its own Police Department.

As any other big cities, Buenos Aires city, is surrounded by suburbs.

Those suburbs are located in the Buenos Aires Province. Because of this, we have two police department jurisdictions at a very close distance, that sometimes collide: the

Federal Police and the Provincial Police Department of the Buenos Aires Province.

Most of the criminals have their bases in the slums located in the Buenos

Aires suburban area and commit crimes not only in the wealthy areas of the suburbs but also in the very same city.

1 Priest denounces police crime: Father Raúl Genz of the Santiago del Estero Catholic Church called the province a “police state” in his homily yesterday. According to the priest, “in this province we live in a police state where the people are constantly in fear. The police torture and repress.” Speaking to a congregation comprising people with complaints pending against the police force, Genz called for “a true democratization process” for the province. www.buenosairesherald.com/1_argentina/2_nation/0008/0008-15.html That implies a huge problem for the Federal Police Department, because they could not pursue criminals out of their jurisdiction. The Federal Police have to ask for authorization or cooperation to the Provincial one in order to follow criminals out of their territory. Besides, there exist a certain rivalry between the Federal and the

Provincial Police. All those things make it easy for criminals to escape from the Federal

Police. Criminals commit crimes in Buenos Aires city and look for shelter in the

Provincial areas.

The big slums in the Buenos Aires suburbs are usually considered a safe place for criminals. It is just that impunity that the slums give to the delinquents which make them commit more serious crimes.

As a consequence of the social problem and product of a weak economy, many people are being pushed into poverty. Everyday more and more middle and lower

– middle class people are entering the lowest class. Many of them are moving to the slums.

That make people feel anger and rage for their “new status”. Besides some parents can not afford their children’s education. The situation is specifically dangerous when teenagers are not going to school and are not able to find a good job, because of an incredible unemployment rate that has risen up to 20%. Teenagers have plenty of time, and the mix of rage, anger, unemployment, lack of education plus alcohol and drugs make them more aggressive.

That rage and anger are usually directed against the government and official institutions, among them, and especially, we can find the Police. It is interesting to note that the Police have the duty to defend public figures such as politicians and congressmen. All those reasons make people hate police officers and become an interesting target for criminals, particularly for teenagers who like to prove their courage by killing a policeman or by robbing the police official weapon.

But, what have police agents done to deserve something like this?, or better, what is the Police Department doing for changing its image in front of the society?

Police Community Relations with Minorities

That joke2 – that seems to be funny – is not funny at all, because it shows a reality that is taking place in every nation. Discrimination is a delicate topic everywhere. Muslims suffer discrimination in almost all the Western European

2 The joke says: “ Is there place for making a complaint about discrimination here? ” . “Yes – answered the employee – but for Blacks and Vietnamese the office is at the back” countries and in the United States3. Catholics suffer discrimination in China4 and Russia

– among other countries5-; Jews suffer discrimination almost everywhere.

People are discriminated by the color of their skin, gender, sexual habits, nationality, the amount of money they have, and so on.

The same happens in Argentina where the three more specific topics of discrimination doing by Police Agents are sexual habits (specifically transvestites); nationality (Bolivians and Paraguayans) and politics (members or people who favor socialist and communist party).

For example the Buenos Aires City Cohabitation Code (Código de

Convivencia de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires) in its article 71 punishes sex offering and soliciting in the streets 6.

3 ANTI-TERRORISM MEASURES IN THE UNITED STATES By November, over 1,100 people, mostly Arab or Muslim men, had been detained in connection with the government's investigation into the September 11 attacks and its efforts to preempt further acts of terrorism. The government stopped updating the tally of those detained so firm figures were unavailable. After refusing to make any information about the detainees public, including their names, location of detention, or the nature of charges against them, Attorney General Ashcroft finally announced on November 27 that 548 detainees were being held on immigration charges and that federal criminal charges had been filed against 104 people. Senior law enforcement officials acknowledged that only a small number of those in custody were believed to have links to terrorism. The immigration charges were primarily for routine immigration violations, such as overstaying a visa, and the criminal charges also were primarily for crimes that seemed unrelated to terrorism, ranging from credit card fraud to theft. Another two dozen or so people were being detained as material witnesses. An unknown number of individuals were held in local and state facilities in relation to the investigation of the September 11 attacks. World Report 2002, Human Rights Watch. http://hrw.org/wr2k2/us.html

4 A few weeks before Christmas 2000, hundreds of "illegal" Protestant and Catholic churches and Buddhist and Taoist temples and shrines in Wenzhou were demolished. In March and April, several dozen house church leaders in Hubei province were detained; in May, twelve others were administratively sentenced in Inner Mongolia. World Report 2002, Human Rights Watch. http://hrw.org/wr2k2/asia4.html

5 In India: “Police violence, attacks on the country's minority communities including Muslims, Christians, Dalits and tribals, and violence against women continued to be serious problems, though some positive steps were taken to help better ensure women's and children's rights. Human rights defenders came under legislative assault through changes to laws and procedures aimed at restricting their ability to travel, hold conferences, and receive foreign funds. The U.N. World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR), held in South Africa from August 31 to September 8, paved the way for unprecedented international as well as national scrutiny of the problem of caste discrimination.” World Report 2002, Human Rights Watch. http://hrw.org/wr2k2/asia6.html

6 Capitulo Octavo Del Código Contravencional De La Ciudad De Buenos Aires (Decreto 451)Uso Del Espacio Público (Sustitución conforme artículo 16 de la Ley Nro. 42) Art. 71: Ofrecer o demandar para sí u otras personas, servicios sexuales en los espacios públicos. (conforme artículo 10 de la Ley Nº 162) The mentioned rule gives police agents a “weapon” to bother one of their favorite victims: Transvestites. It is incredibly strange that over 75 % of approximately

40.000 cases involve transvestites. I think it is incredible because the commonest sex offering in the streets is performed by women not by homosexuals. Also, it is easy to realize that almost 90% of the cases involve people who offer sex. That is discrimination as well, because usually, the ones who solicit sex are straight men, and they are not a minority, and they are not arrested in the same proportion as homosexual and women.

Another clear case of discrimination is the misuse of the National law #

23.798 which prohibits to perform AIDS analysis without patient’s consent7. In some provinces of Argentina homosexual people are obliged to practice an AIDS analysis when arrested by police agents. That does not happen with the heterosexual population.8

A survey made by the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office established that physical and psychological abuse is transvestites’ first concern (31 %); the second is the indifference and discrimination suffered by “ordinary people” (12 %), and the third one is the abuse suffered by them because of police agents (11%) 9.

7 Art. 2º Law 23.798- Las disposiciones de la presente ley y de las normas complementarias que se se establezcan, se interpretarán teniendo presente que en ningún caso pueda: a) Afectar la dignidad de la persona; b) Producir cualquier efecto de marginación, estigmatización, degradación o humillación; c) Exceder el marco de las excepciones legales taxativas al secreto médico que siempre se interpretarán en forma respectiva; d) Incursionar en el ámbito de la privacidad de cualquier habitante de la Nación Argentina; e) Individualizar a las personas a través de fichas, registros o almacenamiento de datos, los cuales, a tales efectos, deberán llevarse en forma codificada.

8 Violación de la Ley Nº 23.754: En algunos lugares las personas homosexuales son obligadas a hacerse análisis para detectar la presencia del VIH en sangre, cada vez que se las arresta. En caso de ser VIH+, se las encarcela por considerarlas "enemigas públicas". Los jueces o las juezas dan la orden para esos análisis sin consentimiento de la persona involucrada, violando la Ley Nacional de Lucha contra el Sida (Nº 23.754) y tratados internacionales de los que nuestro país es signatario, como la Declaración Americana de Derechos y Obligaciones, y el Pacto de San José de Costa Rica (Capítulo XI) que tienen Rango Constitucional en nuestro país. http://www.cha.org.ar/derechos/informe%202001/6.htm

9 Informe preliminar sobre la situación de las travestis en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Año 1999. In the same survey 86 % of the transvestites answered affirmatively when were asked if they had suffered any kind of abuse by police agents .

Between January and March 2002 the Ombudsman started some legal actions against the Police Department for Police Abuse against transvestites. The abuse consisted of discriminatory treatment in precincts and unlawful arrests that homosexual people have suffered in Buenos Aires City.10

Another group that is an object of police abuse is that of “undesirable foreign people” usually harassed by police agents.

It is common for police agents to make a special supervision and control over

Bolivians, Paraguayans and Peruvians that are easily detected for the color of the skin and for the strong accent they have when speak.

Police can only stop and arrest people for identification for no longer than six hours. This way it is not illegal for police officers to request an identification document to people in the street, as long as the people are free to leave after showing their ID.11

Arbitrary arrest – in order to investigate criminal records – is a discriminatory action taken against these minorities. National Law # 23.950, allows police agents, in

10 Actuaciones 83/02, 137/02, 934/02, 1313/02, 1989/02, 2044/02, 2125/02, 2280/02, 2535/02, 2694/02, 2696/02, 2723/02, 2728/02. Abuso de autoridad por parte de agentes policiales: denuncias iniciadas por presunto abuso de autoridad imputable a efectivos policiales pertenecientes a comisarías de la Ciudad, irregularidades acaecidas durante operativos policiales, ejercicio abusivo de las facultad de detención, y tratamientos discriminatorios impartidos a personas homosexuales o travestis. Adjuntia En Derechos Humanos. Informe De Gestion Enero – Marzo 2002. Principales Actuaciones Iniciadas En Enero – Marzo De 2002

11 If it is not an abuse of police officers’ duties they can stop people in the street for identification. Sometimes the abuse depends on how long you are stopped. See “M., M. y otro” Cámara Nacional en lo Criminal, Sala IV. Published in Boletín de Jurisprudencia , 1985, Nro.1 pag.59. “Debe revocarse la sentencia apelada y absolver a los procesados del delito de privación ilegítima de la libertad, por cuanto ninguna ilicitud configura la actitud de los procesados al interceptar en la vía publica a los sospechosos, interrogarlos y exigirles la exhibición de sus documentos identificatorios , sin que sea válido cuestionar el procedimiento por su extensión temporal mientras este no resulta a ojos vista totalmente desproporcionada e importe, por si sola, un lado abuso funcional ; situación que no se da en autos por que los jóvenes fueron prontamente autorizados a circular.” Valdovinos, Campos, Escobar. (High Court Judges) very few and exceptional cases, to arrest people if there are serious circumstances or a

“suspicious behavior”12 that makes a police officer presume that a crime was or would be committed by an unidentified person.

Police officers commit serious abuses using that Law against illegal residents because they know that these people do not have any identification, and in this way policemen are able to collect bribes from that minority13, in a clear violation of human rights.

The Police Department have informed that during the year 1999, 22,672 people were arrested because the law # 23,950. Forty percent of those arrested people were foreigners. That proportion increased during the year 2,000 to the 46% 14 .

The third group is formed by people who favor the socialist and communist parties ideas.

Among those groups there is one called “Piqueteros”. The Piqueteros protest in an unusual way: they block every main highway or road in order to paralyze the commercial activity of the country. This group has a special preference to block the accesses to the Buenos Aires City.

12 The “suspicious behavior” is not an objective question. People can be stopped for identification, because police functions include the prevention of crimes. The “stopping for ID” must be done with prudence and fairness. See“Dell Aquila, S.G” Cámara Nacional en lo Criminal , Sala II. Published in Boletín de Jurisprudencia, 1991, Nro.3

13 See the 1995 CELS report about Illegal Arrest called “Detenciones por Averiguación de Identidad. Argumentos para la discusión sobre sus usos y abusos,” Tiscornia y otros, 2001.

14 La aplicación de estas normas se dirige y focaliza en determinados grupos sociales, tales como jóvenes, pobres, prostitutas, mendigos. Entre ellos, los migrantes constituyen un sector de la población sobre el que recae casi cotidianamente esta práctica de control policial. Según datos de la PFA, durante el año 1999, en las distintas dependencias, se registró un total de 22.672 detenciones en virtud de la Ley de Averiguación de Identidad; de ese total el 40 % de los casos involucró a extranjeros. De la misma manera, durante el primer semestre del año 2000, el 46 % de las detenciones recayeron sobre extranjeros. Políticas de Regularización Migratoria y Prácticas de las Agencias Estatales. Instituto de Estudios e Investigaciones. Defensoría del Pueblo de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires Julio de 2002 Obviously, the police power is directed to unblock the roads ( which I consider right) but I do not concur on the way they usually carry out their job. Many abuses and civil rights violations are registered during these riots.

Many people are also unlawfully arrested, and some of them are wounded or beaten illegally by police officers.

Some Socialist Parties in Argentina refer to the Police Department as the “most important criminal association in the country”15.

They think that the only way to have an honest Police Department is by retiring all the police hierarchy “which is involved in human rights violations and acts of corruption” 16

Are the Police Involved in life issues quality?

If we took into account the description that I have made above, the immediate answer to the underlined question is NO!

I am not sure if it is possible to see the “full picture” and understand what is going on in Argentina, related to the Police Department.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this essay the Argentine Republic suffered many changes in its political map, switching from democratic governments to

15 Se trata de discutir qué política hay que proponer a los trabajadores, a la juventud, al movimiento democrático contra la represión y la impunidad, para desarrollar la lucha contra la policía, la "mayor asociación ilícita para el crimen", mezclada hasta el cuello en cuanto negociado o crimen ocurra, desde el asesinato de Cabezas al de las tres chicas de Cipolletti, así como el narcotráfico, el contrabando, y tutti cuanti. Una policía que tiene las manos manchadas de la sangre de cientos de jóvenes víctimas del "gatillo fácil", o torturados y asesinados en las comisarías, que "en democracia", ha reprimido decenas de luchas obreras, y se cobró las vidas del obrero Víctor Choque en Ushuaia y de Teresa Rodríguez en Cutral Có. http://www.pts.org.ar/archivo/cartamst.html

16 En Semanario Socialista del 4 de noviembre, vuestro dirigente J.C. Giordano, figura pública del MST, justifica el apoyo al motín de Mendoza en nombre de la condición asalariada de los policías, y preguntándose "¿qué medidas hacen falta para depurar en serio a la institución policial?" propone una serie de "medidas de fondo". "Hay que pasar a retiro a toda la cúpula y jerarquía policial, involucrada en hechos de violación a los derechos humanos, corrupción y gatillo fácil." http://www.pts.org.ar/archivo/cartamst.html dictatorial ones from 1930 to 1983. This kind of changes have affected the people’s human rights and the crimes that police agents have to face.

The Police Department was a strong arm of the Dictatorial Governments.

For that reason some of the actions that the Police Department is still taking seems to be tough, and performed with some kind of impunity.

The Argentine Police Department has suffered many changes since 1983.

We have to keep in mind that every country that underwent a dictatorial government had a very strong and tough police in order to help dictatorial governments control the people. That is why, trying to change the Police Department and its functions in this kind of countries is similar to a very accurate and difficult surgery.

A “police reform may connote something different: depoliticization (e.g., in post-communist Eastern Europe), decentralization (e.g., in post-war Germany), increased responsiveness to ethnic concerns (e.g., in Los Angeles or Bosnia) or better oversight systems (e.g., in New York City). But in Latin America and the Caribbean, demilitarizing public security -- ending the extraordinary military control ... and nature of policing -- is correctly viewed as a first step in the ability of elected civilian officials to exercise political power”.17

In my opinion, the Argentine case is a mixture between depolitization and demilitarization of the police power.

The scope of crimes has changed enormously since the beginning of democracy. What a democratic government faces first is crimes related with this new kind of “freedom” such as drug consumption and prostitution.

17 POLICE REFORM, HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRATIZATION IN POST-CONFLICT SETTINGS: LESSONS FROM EL SALVADOR by Chuck Call Department of Political Science Stanford University http://www.iadb.org/sds/utility.cfm/173/ENGLISH/general/533 Therefore, the new democratic administration and the Police started to confront different problems. Argentina had been a drug free country until 1983. Since then, drug consumption has been increasing day by day.

Drug crimes had been declared federal crimes. That gives jurisdiction to the Federal Police to investigate drug crimes all over the country. Besides, by using the mentioned law, they may ask for help to the provincial police power.

Related drug crimes have appeared, as money laundering. Finally, after an incredible long discussion, the Congress approved the Money Laundering Law in

2000. Before that Argentina did not have any regulation against Money Laundering. In addition, computer related crimes have also appeared.

An important event took place on July 26 ,1984 . The Argentine Republic signed the Human Rights Agreement - commonly known as Pacto de San Jose de Costa

Rica -.

This landmark started the “big change” in human rights in Argentina, forcing police officers to take many courses and seminars related to human rights problems.

The government idea was – and nowadays is – to create a new moral consciousness in police officers. This movement has had a great impact on the people of the country as well as on the police officers, since this Human Right Agreement was included in the National Constitution.

Furthermore, police procedural rules were changed gradually.

New rules were issued related with misdemeanor procedures. The following rights were established for criminals after being arrested: 1) The criminal is allowed to make a phone call to whoever he/she wants in order to let him/her know that he/she is under arrest and where he/she is, 2) He must be informed that he could remain silent, and that silence does not create any criminal presumption against him, 3) He must be informed of the crime he is indicted for before answering any questions asked by police officers, 4) He must be informed of all the proofs that the police have against him, 5) He will be “invited” to make a statement with the possibility of refusing to speak. That does not create any negative consequence on him/her, 6) Finally, once the resolution is made, he/she may appeal it. This appellation must be sent to the Ordinary

Justice in Correctional related crimes.

It is important to remark that for serious offenses police are not allowed to take any statement, neither to the criminal nor to the witnesses. Only the Judge with jurisdiction upon this kind of crime can do it.

If a police officer arrests someone because he/she is suspected of having committed a serious crime, they have to give immediate intervention to the proper

Judge. Any statement made by criminals in presence of police officers is not valid as a confession18. Nevertheless, if the criminal does make a statement in the presence of police officers, they should inform the judge in charge about it. Judges are able to use the criminals’ statements in order to obtain evidence, but not as a confession.

18 Police Officers are allowed to take statement to criminals only in misdemeanors. As I mention supra for serious offenses police could not take statements, and the criminal’s enunciation could not be taken as a confession. See “Loiacono Domingo s/inf. arts 293 3er párrafo y 189 bis del C.Penal” . C.C.C. Fed., Sala I. Published by Boletín de Jurisprudencia , 1989, Pag 286 “Si bien el inc.1 del art. 316 del C.P.M.P. establece que los dichos efectuados ante la autoridad de prevención carecerán de valor probatorio y no podrán ser utilizados en la causa , parece claro que esa restricción esta referida a los efectos legales de la de la confesión - como reza la primera parte del artículo citado- y que debe ser vinculada a la prohibición de cualquier cláusula que torne obligatoria la autoincriminación .” Costa, Rodríguez Basavilbaso- Cortelezzi.(Federal High Court Judges)

All those situations, new laws and controls are changing police officers image.

Besides the increasing of violent crimes in the Buenos City area, have

given the police officer a “new status” since the year 2000. The people are

not yet “in love” with the Police ( I suppose it does not happen anywhere)

but they realize that police agents are necessary for deterrence, and in this

way the people start to appreciate the presence of policemen in the streets.

All these changes that are taking place little by little are bringing police agents

closer to “ordinary” people.

This way the Police Department is trying to change the face of the Police institution in order to involve the Police in life issues quality.

Complaints against the Police

Many complaints are filed against police officers and the way in which they are handled depends on the kind of legal action that victim chooses.

One of the options is to file a criminal suit against the police officer/s that was/were involved in the criminal conduct. That suit should be filed at the Judiciary

Power and will be handled by National Judges.

Another option is to make a complaint at the Police Department, but the big difference it that in this case the ones who will handle the investigation will be other police agents.

It is interesting to note that the Argentine Penal Code does not provide any sanctions against Corporations or Institutions themselves (except on customs matters). It is because of that reason that a person can not file a criminal suit against the Police Department. The criminal action file should be directed against the Institution’s

Directors and/or the person/s who effectively commit the criminal conduct.

The Argentine Criminal Legal System is an inquisitorial system. That means that judges, after listening to arguments and theories of the parties, formulate their own legal theories that sometimes may be different from the parties' legal arguments. The Common Law system adopts another system, in which the judge is only an Umpire, who chooses among the arguments of the parties.

In addition, in Criminal Law, Argentina's Judges are able to conduct the investigation. Judges try to look for the truth, and can produce evidence for themselves.

The parties can propose proof and require search warrants, but the Judge is the only one who can allow the evidences production.

The first step in Criminal Law Trails occurs in the "Instruction Courts".

That is a written step. If the Judge considers that the accusation is proved, and the accused is considered "prima facie" guilty, the case is sent to the Oral Trail. If not, the case is finished in this step. Oral Trial Courts are formed by three judges, without a jury.

The parties can produce new evidences in this stage that were not allowed in the

Instruction Court. The verdict of the Judges could be appealed by the parties.

In order to promote a legal action against the police officers the victim shall have three procedural possibilities to choose:

a) To introduce a claim or accusation against the police officer. In this option the victim shall not have the possibility of propose or produce proof or evidences against police agents. Besides, the victim shall not have the right to access to the criminal file. In fact, the victim shall not be a part in the criminal procedure and/or

Trial. b) To constitute the victim as a plaintiff (querellante). This option shall provide the victim full access to the criminal file. The victim shall have the possibility of proposing or producing proof or evidence against police agents. Besides, the victim shall have the right to appeal any sentence or decision that the Judge could take.

(Argentine Criminal Procedure Code (“CPC”) Article 82 )

c) To constitute the victim as an “Actor Civil”. An Actor Civil shall claim for economic damages. As Actor Civil the victim shall have full access to the criminal file, and the possibility of proposing or produce proof or evidence against police agents, but the victim shall not have the right to appeal an absolutory sentence. (CPC, Article

87, 91 and 95)

Besides, one part could be both, a plaintiff and an Actor Civil. This option is usually the most recommendable .

It is difficult to calculate how long a Criminal process in Argentina may last. It depends on many different circumstances (if the Judge is a diligent one; the evidences production, on the legal problems the defendant could introduce in the case, etc.); it usually lasts around a year for the first stage (“la instrucción”). Oral trials (the second stage) are faster than the first stage.

Once the Criminal Process is started there is no possibility for the plaintiff to stop it, because the Court and the Prosecutor have the right to pursue the investigation. Anyway, it is more complicated for the defendant to face a Criminal

Process with a plaintiff. That is why sometimes the plaintiff can negotiate with the defendant the withdrawal of the plaintiff action. The process shall continue – with the judge and the prosecutor – and the defendant will suffer less pressure.

Usually the victim has all the legal guaranties in order to file a criminal suit against the police officer/s. Furthermore, they have more guaranties than the police agents, because prosecutors and judges are strongly pressed by Human Rights NGO’s and the media to convict police agents. It is a very common thing to say that in Argentina “criminals have more human rights than police officers”.

The situation is different if the complaint is filed at the Police

Department, because in this case the ones who will handle the investigation will be other police agents and it is very difficult for the Police Department to issue a conviction against one “of their pals”

Does police Training include lessons on community relations, crime prevention and related topics?

Democratic governments started with the most basic thing in order to change the

Police Institution: education.

Among other ordinary courses a Seminar on Toxicology for police officers was given in February 14, 1984. Besides, they improved the exchange of information with the Drug Enforcement Administration of the United States of America (D.E.A.). In this way some police officers were sent to Glynco, Georgia – U.S.A.- in order to receive instruction related with drug-dealers. A new department was created inside the Police

Institution. It was called “Dangerous Drug Office” .

Moreover, Police training was increased. On September 13, 1984, a new post- graduate course started up at the University of Buenos Aires related to Legal Chemical

Tests. New study plans were introduced into the police Federal School. Many credits on the fields of Criminal and Social Law are required in order to get the police degree at present.

On January 10, 1995, an agreement was signed between the Police Department and the University of Moron, in order to permit police officers to take seminars at the

School of Law and Engineering of that University.

Besides, many seminars were given related to counterterrorism tactics. The

United Nations Peace Force sent some argentine police officers to the Balkans.

Since 1996, psychological tests have been mandatory for police officers who take part in high-risk procedures.

Moreover, in 1996 a new internal norm was dictated by the Police Department:

No officer can be promoted to Chief Constable unless he has been in service for twenty two years and has a civil College degree.

On August 22, 1997, by resolution number 1431, the National Department of

Culture and Education created the New University Statute for the Federal Argentine

Police. That statute establishes the rules of admission in order to achieve the Law

Degree in the Federal Police College.

Although high standards of entry into newly reformed police forces are generally important for the effectiveness and reputation of a new police force, relaxing such standards to ensure representation of important political, religious, gender, or ethnic groups into the police force may be worthwhile if such groups would otherwise be excluded or severely underrepresented in police forces.19

19 POLICE REFORM, HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRATIZATION IN POST-CONFLICT SETTINGS: LESSONS FROM EL SALVADOR by Chuck Call Department of Political Science Stanford University http://www.iadb.org/sds/utility.cfm/173/ENGLISH/general/533 Nowadays, new plans are being implemented in order to create new schools inside the Police Department. These plans consist of creating Schools of Biological

Science, Business, Engineering in Telecommunications and Post graduates degrees connected with Banks, Hotels and Tourism, Ecology and Traffic Safety.

In fact a new division of the Police Department was created to help tourists that may have or face problems in Argentina. To be part of that Division it is mandatory to speak English, French or Portuguese fluently.

All these things are making Police Agents more humane and better trained in order to manage relationships with ordinary people.

Conclusion

I think that corruption is still within the Police Department – it is still common to see police officers trying to collect bribes from ordinary people instead of making out a ticket to them- but, I also think that Police Officers are nowadays much more concerned about human rights because they may suffer very tough sanctions if they commit any violation in this field. This way, people are more confident about the respect that police officers will give to people’ human rights.

So far, Argentine democratic governments have made a good job but they have to continue making efforts in order to definitively eradicate corruption from the Police

Department. But we do not have to forget that every police officer is part of a society that faces many problems, and that is a limit that goes beyond a Police Department. The

Police problems are exceeded by the social problems. Maybe it would be better to start to solve the problems of the society instead of the Police ones. I think that the problematic of the Police Department would be solved by itself this way.