WEBVTT 00:00.140 --> 00:02.140 Sure , so I'm Major Felix Rodriguez 00:02.140 --> 00:04.519 Cartagena . I am currently a legal 00:04.519 --> 00:06.820 advisor at the AFRICO Office of Legal 00:06.820 --> 00:08.764 Counsel . Yes , so the rule of law 00:08.764 --> 00:10.820 exercise is a one week exercise that 00:10.820 --> 00:14.189 combines academics . It combines , uh , 00:14.199 --> 00:17.750 a practical boarding demonstration , um , 00:17.879 --> 00:20.370 and it also does , uh , tabletop 00:20.370 --> 00:22.430 exercises and then some interactive 00:22.430 --> 00:24.930 mock trial , things like that . And 00:24.940 --> 00:27.530 what we're trying to do is get we have 00:27.530 --> 00:30.649 approximately 2425 countries , 70 00:30.649 --> 00:32.770 participants coming together and so 00:32.770 --> 00:34.849 what we did is we first asked the 00:34.849 --> 00:37.016 partners what they would like to train 00:37.016 --> 00:39.182 on what they would like to receive the 00:39.182 --> 00:41.405 training so that's how we got here . So 00:41.405 --> 00:43.627 what we did is we built it based off of 00:43.627 --> 00:46.319 law enforcement . And legal finish 00:46.319 --> 00:48.486 right so in the past the US has really 00:48.486 --> 00:50.569 done a good job of always addressing 00:50.569 --> 00:52.736 the rule of law , right ? So the , the 00:52.736 --> 00:54.569 US believes that the rule of law 00:54.569 --> 00:56.347 promotes better governance , it 00:56.347 --> 00:58.580 promotes democracy , uh , and it 00:58.580 --> 01:01.450 promotes better well run militaries and 01:01.450 --> 01:03.617 so it's always been a focus , but what 01:03.617 --> 01:05.745 we . this year is we try to do a more 01:05.745 --> 01:07.824 holistic approach to it instead of 01:07.824 --> 01:09.824 having a room full of attorneys or 01:09.824 --> 01:12.485 having a room full of first responders 01:12.485 --> 01:14.707 and um people that are gonna show up to 01:14.707 --> 01:16.596 the scene , for example , counter 01:16.596 --> 01:18.707 narcotics kind of bust what we did is 01:18.707 --> 01:20.818 we got all those people and people in 01:20.818 --> 01:22.904 between in the same room and so for 01:22.904 --> 01:25.015 example we we did for every country , 01:25.015 --> 01:26.737 so I said it was about 24 , 25 01:26.737 --> 01:28.848 countries that showed up at the end . 01:28.848 --> 01:30.626 Every country sent at least two 01:30.626 --> 01:32.571 individuals . One would be a legal 01:32.571 --> 01:34.793 advisor and then the other one would be 01:34.793 --> 01:34.750 either an operator , first responder , 01:34.760 --> 01:36.871 or maybe a commander who someone that 01:36.871 --> 01:40.790 is involved in this process of uh 01:40.790 --> 01:42.846 issues that really affect the region 01:42.846 --> 01:45.980 and affect us also in uh at home . And 01:45.980 --> 01:48.147 so they sent , they sent them , and so 01:48.147 --> 01:50.313 what we did this week is we started on 01:50.313 --> 01:52.424 the first day sort of focusing a very 01:52.424 --> 01:54.424 strategic , hey , why are we here , 01:54.424 --> 01:54.260 sort of the question , right ? So why 01:54.260 --> 01:56.593 are we here ? And we talked about , hey , 01:56.593 --> 01:58.482 what , what is this region , what 01:58.482 --> 02:00.704 issues are you seeing ? what issues are 02:00.704 --> 02:02.871 we having ? and we know that it's IUUF 02:02.871 --> 02:02.559 for fishing , we know that it's counter 02:02.559 --> 02:04.726 narcotics , we know that it's a lot of 02:04.726 --> 02:07.580 illicit activity . Um , and so once we 02:07.580 --> 02:09.899 did that , then we were able luckily to 02:09.899 --> 02:12.179 have people from many agencies 02:12.179 --> 02:14.100 including the UNODC , including 02:14.100 --> 02:16.529 Interpol , some agencies from the US , 02:16.539 --> 02:18.650 so we had Customs and Border Patrol , 02:18.650 --> 02:20.820 FBI and CIS , and so we did a law 02:20.820 --> 02:22.931 enforcement day we're like , hey , we 02:22.931 --> 02:24.987 want to hear from uh the operators . 02:25.380 --> 02:27.500 What issues are you having ? What do 02:27.500 --> 02:29.979 you want actual legal advice ? Like 02:29.979 --> 02:32.146 what what are you asking for ? What do 02:32.146 --> 02:33.979 you need ? And also what can you 02:33.979 --> 02:36.201 provide , right ? So what can . They do 02:36.201 --> 02:38.201 to make us better attorneys and the 02:38.201 --> 02:40.257 legal advisors better legal advisors 02:40.257 --> 02:42.479 and then on Wednesday we flipped it and 02:42.479 --> 02:42.089 so that was an international law day so 02:42.089 --> 02:44.490 then we had jurors come and legal 02:44.490 --> 02:47.889 advisors from Morocco from Ghana um and 02:47.889 --> 02:50.399 then we had , um , uh , Marine Corps , 02:50.649 --> 02:53.690 Coast Guard and Navy , um , attorneys 02:53.690 --> 02:56.490 as well talk about everything from how 02:56.490 --> 02:58.323 to collect evidence and preserve 02:58.323 --> 03:00.970 evidence for a court all the way to how 03:00.970 --> 03:03.339 to ensure a successful prosecution . So 03:03.339 --> 03:05.561 we're dealing with a lot of countries . 03:05.561 --> 03:07.728 We're doing 24 , 25 countries . So not 03:07.728 --> 03:09.783 only is it different jurisdictions , 03:09.783 --> 03:12.117 it's also different legal codes as well . 03:12.117 --> 03:14.061 So it's hard to get into the nitty 03:14.061 --> 03:16.283 gritty of how to fix legal finish , but 03:16.283 --> 03:18.283 what we can do is we can talk about 03:18.283 --> 03:17.979 best practices and we can address it . 03:18.529 --> 03:20.862 Holistically on the international level , 03:20.862 --> 03:22.918 so we did that on Wednesday and then 03:22.918 --> 03:24.973 yesterday on Thursday we were pretty 03:24.973 --> 03:26.973 lucky that we got to get out of the 03:26.973 --> 03:26.839 classrooms like , OK , so we've talked 03:27.089 --> 03:29.200 for a coup a couple of days about the 03:29.200 --> 03:31.311 law so we all have the the same basic 03:31.311 --> 03:33.422 understanding and for a lot of people 03:33.422 --> 03:35.645 it's just review . And then what we did 03:35.645 --> 03:37.811 was we got practical , so we were able 03:37.811 --> 03:40.033 to go out to La Deenora , the Brazilian 03:40.033 --> 03:42.089 ship , um , and they , uh , not only 03:42.089 --> 03:44.145 performed a boarding demonstration , 03:44.145 --> 03:46.200 they also gave us a tour . They were 03:46.200 --> 03:45.820 kind enough to do that , but we also 03:45.820 --> 03:47.940 worked with Interpol to do an 03:47.940 --> 03:50.051 interdiction , so it was , you know , 03:50.051 --> 03:52.162 like a mock , uh , finding drugs on a 03:52.162 --> 03:54.162 fishing vessel , then coming back , 03:54.162 --> 03:56.384 bringing them back , securing the , the 03:56.384 --> 03:58.551 suspects , and then , you know , doing 03:58.551 --> 04:00.218 the search and then doing the 04:00.218 --> 04:02.384 preliminary test and just kind of walk 04:02.384 --> 04:01.500 through what we've been doing in the 04:01.500 --> 04:03.779 classroom . And then the final thing is 04:03.779 --> 04:05.890 today . So today we're finishing with 04:05.890 --> 04:08.270 we're doing a mini mock trial , uh , 04:08.309 --> 04:10.910 we're doing , uh , another TTX because 04:10.910 --> 04:13.021 we did one yesterday , uh , but we're 04:13.021 --> 04:15.299 doing another TTX this time focused on , 04:15.299 --> 04:17.243 uh , counter narcotics and illegal 04:17.243 --> 04:19.132 fishing . And then we're going to 04:19.132 --> 04:21.299 finish with what I think is one of the 04:21.299 --> 04:23.299 most important aspects , which is a 04:23.299 --> 04:25.410 round table . So we're gonna have all 04:25.410 --> 04:27.632 70 participants , chime in , you know , 04:27.632 --> 04:29.910 what can we do better to work together , 04:29.910 --> 04:31.966 what can we do better to communicate 04:31.966 --> 04:34.132 and address these problems that affect 04:34.132 --> 04:36.132 everyone . And so that's what we've 04:36.132 --> 04:38.410 been hoping to achieve this week and I , 04:38.410 --> 04:38.049 it seems like it's been successful . 04:38.089 --> 04:40.311 We've had really good participation and 04:40.311 --> 04:42.709 uh . And really good insight to the US 04:42.709 --> 04:44.876 we've been learning a lot and it seems 04:44.876 --> 04:46.487 like our partners are really 04:46.487 --> 04:48.487 appreciating the uh the training as 04:48.487 --> 04:50.709 well . Yeah , so what , what we decided 04:50.709 --> 04:52.709 to do is one of the issues that our 04:52.709 --> 04:54.876 partners were mentioning was our first 04:54.876 --> 04:57.098 responders , right , just to try to use 04:57.098 --> 04:59.153 as big of a broad term as we can for 04:59.153 --> 05:01.320 anybody that just arrives on the scene 05:01.320 --> 05:03.320 first , um , they'll they'll arrest 05:03.320 --> 05:05.542 somebody , they'll find drugs , they'll 05:05.542 --> 05:07.598 illegal fishing , whatever the issue 05:07.598 --> 05:09.598 might be . And then a year down the 05:09.598 --> 05:11.709 road , then the court happens and the 05:11.709 --> 05:13.931 people that are just used to doing that 05:13.931 --> 05:17.290 very tactical level of enforcement have 05:17.290 --> 05:19.568 a difficult time in the courtroom with , 05:19.568 --> 05:21.734 for example , maybe a defense attorney 05:21.734 --> 05:24.130 if there's an inquisitorial system or 05:24.130 --> 05:25.908 maybe just a judge asking tough 05:25.908 --> 05:27.963 questions if it if it's that type of 05:27.963 --> 05:30.074 system and so what we try to do today 05:30.074 --> 05:32.186 is we were blessed in having . Um , a 05:32.186 --> 05:34.297 US Army National Guard officer who is 05:34.297 --> 05:36.529 an attorney , but in his civilian world 05:36.529 --> 05:39.179 he is actually a state judge and so 05:39.450 --> 05:41.172 having his , the wealth of his 05:41.172 --> 05:43.394 experience and knowledge being a former 05:43.394 --> 05:45.506 prosecutor , former public defender , 05:45.506 --> 05:47.728 what we asked him to do was , hey , can 05:47.728 --> 05:50.359 you do a block on . Sort of how do we 05:50.859 --> 05:53.081 Help people that might have to take the 05:53.081 --> 05:55.380 stand right and and so that's what 05:55.380 --> 05:57.547 we're hoping to do today . We're we're 05:57.547 --> 05:59.491 gonna start in a little bit and so 05:59.491 --> 06:01.602 we're gonna have a volunteers , so we 06:01.602 --> 06:03.324 have volunteers from different 06:03.324 --> 06:05.547 countries that they were nice enough to 06:05.547 --> 06:04.859 to volunteer for that . And so we're 06:04.859 --> 06:06.803 just gonna pretend like we're in a 06:06.803 --> 06:09.026 courtroom with , you know , we're gonna 06:09.026 --> 06:08.959 set up the the stage there we're gonna 06:08.959 --> 06:11.540 put , put them on the stage and then 06:11.540 --> 06:13.596 ask them questions , right ? So some 06:13.596 --> 06:15.651 friendly questions from one side and 06:15.651 --> 06:17.484 then a little bit more difficult 06:17.484 --> 06:19.762 questions and then break it down as to , 06:19.762 --> 06:19.410 hey , in the future if you get asked 06:19.410 --> 06:21.859 this . of questions like you know it's 06:21.859 --> 06:23.859 simple stuff like don't , don't get 06:23.859 --> 06:26.026 nervous , you know , speak to what you 06:26.026 --> 06:28.081 have experience with and um you know 06:28.081 --> 06:30.248 this is the kind of pressures that the 06:30.248 --> 06:32.359 defense attorney might put on you and 06:32.359 --> 06:34.359 so essentially trying to break that 06:34.359 --> 06:36.470 initial uh nervousness here in a in a 06:36.470 --> 06:38.692 relaxed setting so if one day they have 06:38.692 --> 06:40.915 to go into the courtroom or more likely 06:40.915 --> 06:43.081 they have to advise somebody back home 06:43.081 --> 06:45.303 um that will have to take the courtroom 06:45.303 --> 06:47.470 they have that foundation uh no I mean 06:47.470 --> 06:49.526 we're approaching the the end of the 06:49.526 --> 06:51.692 exercise and it's . Uh , like I said , 06:51.692 --> 06:53.915 it , it , it has been a very incredible 06:53.915 --> 06:56.081 opportunity , and we're learning a lot 06:56.081 --> 06:58.137 from our partners . Uh , I think the 06:58.137 --> 06:59.915 communication across , uh , the 06:59.915 --> 07:01.970 spectrum has really improved , and I 07:01.970 --> 07:03.803 think that our goal of improving 07:03.803 --> 07:05.692 maritime domain awareness for the 07:05.692 --> 07:07.803 entirety of the Ogame , I think we've 07:07.803 --> 07:10.081 achieved that significantly within our , 07:10.081 --> 07:11.915 uh , spectrum of the rule of law 07:11.915 --> 07:14.137 exercise and hoping that that continues 07:14.137 --> 07:16.137 through later iterations and future 07:16.137 --> 07:18.137 endeavors more maybe on a bilateral 07:18.137 --> 07:18.500 basis that come out of this .