DR of Congo: UN begins training future police instructors

The United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) today began training civilian police instructors in Kisangani.

This course is the first of two five-week classes; a second batch of 54 instructors will go through the training in early September, according to UN officials.

Each of the future police instructors was selected by UN staff from a list provided by the Congolese Rally for Democracy-Goma (RCD-Goma), the de-facto authority in the eastern city.

MONUC’s civilian Police Commissioner, Gen. Gerardo Chaumont, as well as RCD-Goma officials, attended the opening ceremony.

The Secretary-General, in his latest report on MONUC, highlighted the need for improvements in the DRC’s law enforcement practices, both in Kisangani and throughout the country. “As far as possible, the police force will have to be professionalized in order to protect it from undue political influence and to stress its civilian, non-military character,” he wrote.