LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – In Afghan rule of law, all Afghan citizens are considered innocent until proven guilty, and the evidence collection process helps ensure a fair judicial process.
U.S. military and civilian advisers with 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, advised 20 members of the Afghan National Civil Order Police (Gendarmerie) 4th Kandak, 1st Brigade, on the evidence collection process, June 3, at Patrol Base Pul-e Alam, to ensure every arrest and case can be proven in a court of law.
When an arresting unit detains someone, they have 72 hours to transfer a case to a prosecutor. In situations without evidence, detainees are released within 48 hours, said U.S. Army Reserve Capt. Nathan Macht, a Downers Grove, Ill., native and a rule of law officer with 4th IBCT, 3rd ID.
“The prosecution process is important here because that’s the whole reason we take detainees,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Shawn Brennan, a Morgan, N.J., native and a rule of law officer with 4th IBCT. “If we’re just catching people and releasing them, we’re not really accomplishing anything. We are trying to take insurgents off the battlefield while at the same time enabling the Afghan criminal justice system and building their capacity to do evidence based operations.”
Brennan conducted the rule of law portion of the training to explain the importance of evidence collection, humane treatment of detainees, and proper documentation of every event and piece of evidence.
After, U.S. Army Capt. Jason Imboden, a Redding, Calif., native and a 4th IBCT SFAAT adviser along with Mike Heath, a Copperas Cove, Texas, native and an embedded police adviser, went over techniques to gather evidence. The training concluded with a scenario in which ANCOP (G) members made an arrest, collected evidence and filled out required forms.
ANCOP 2nd Lt. Abdul Hamid, the officer-in-charge of the ANCOP (G) unit, said, “We are here learning and we are happy with this training.”
Brennan said the ANCOP (G) members know what they have to do and had a good knowledge of what their role and responsibilities are.
“You are the most important part of the puzzle,” he emphasized while speaking to the ANCOP (G) members. He emphasized doing their job well improves the odds that prosecutors can convict criminals.
As Afghan security forces take responsibility for security and promote governance, the ANCOP are using the evidence collection process to place the enemies of Afghanistan behind bars.