Punjab being ignored in US-funded training

Muhammad Tauseef A. Bajwa

Senator (1k+ posts)
LAHORE, April 19: A Punjab government official alleges that US-funded counter terrorism trainings and other capacity building programmes for Punjab officials have been delayed or cancelled only to avenge Raymond Daviss detention in Punjab, an allegation refuted by a spokesperson for the US embassy to Pakistan.


A senior Punjab government official seeking anonymity said the US had cancelled the training to avenge its official Daviss detention in a Punjab jail.
Spokesperson for US Embassy to Pakistan Alberto Rodriguez said the US had not cancelled any course other than when the primary instructors could not obtain visas to travel to Pakistan to present the courses.

The Punjab government official told Dawn prior to the incident of killing two youths by Davis on Jan 27, US officials had imparted trainings to the government officials of all provinces.

These trainings on counter-terrorism, forensic expertise, case trials and advocacy, education, teaching, social or public welfare and violence against women were being funded and arranged by the US government every year through the US Department of Justice, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other institutions, the official said.
He said the trainings had helped officials learn modern techniques on counter terrorism. He said only Punjab had been sidelined as such US-funded trainings were going on in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Sindh and Balochistan.

He said the bias of the US towards Punjab was so obvious that two officials of the Punjab government had been excluded from the training course to be held in South Carolina (US) this month. The US government instead replaced them with KP officials. Also, a prosecutor for the Punjab who was to attend a US-sponsored training on case trial management next month in Bhutan has yet to hear any word from the organisers.

The official said scores of officials were surprised about the indifferent attitude of the US that had deprived them of such important trainings. There were many officers from various departments, including police, public prosecution, law, social welfare and womens development, education and others who had to get the trainings. Now, the US prefers Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan officials, the official added.

Mr Rodriguez, however, said trainings were cancelled because trainers were not issued visas by the Pakistan embassy to the US.

In order to implement a police or prosecutorial training programme, we rely on subject matter experts from the US Government (USG) who are active federal judges, prosecutors and experienced police personnel, said the spokesper son in a written reply to Dawn.

We schedule courses in conjunction with their availability. Shortly after the Davis incident, at least one course had to be cancelled due to non-issuance of visas for the three trainers. He said instructors in the police training programme were now being issued visas for a 30-day stay in Pakistan, adding additional pressure to the training schedule to have the appropriate instructor at the right time.

Sending these instructors out of the country every 30 days is disruptive and affects the continuity of the instruction. It also doesnt help when the instructors with valid visas have their names appear in the press that is labeling them spies, he added.

He said the Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT), the organization responsible for providing training to Pakistani prosecutors and judges had a very ambitious schedule of training in basic trial advocacy, counterterrorism, introducing forensic evidence and case management.

To date, the US has trained more than 250 prosecutors from Punjab. During the Strategic Dialogue, the Government of Pakistan (GoP) asks us to include all the provinces but to focus on the KP province with specialize training for prosecutors in handling counterterrorism cases, he said.

He said USs 2011 program was in progress. However, the US has no visibility on its 2012 budget for this program, he said, adding that since January 2011, the US imparted trainings to the officials of Punjab and the KP on trial advocacy, a Judicial Training Program for 72 judges of Punjab, a lecture by the US federal judge for 70-Punjab law college students, a Trial Advocacy Training Program for 36 prosecutors at the time when Davis was in the police custody, and Prosecutor's training centres conference for Asia at Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 14-17, 2011. Four persons were selected to attend. However, for various reasons, all of these participants withdrew from this seminar, he added.

He said the US also organised a money laundering conference for Asia at Bali, (Indonesia) on April 37, 2011, and four people from Pakistan attended it.
The US government made a formal presentation to the Punjab Judicial Academy director general $15,000 worth of law books, he said. Besides this, the US presented the chief public prosecutor of Punjab anti-terrorist courts $27,000 worth of office equipment, he said.
He said the US had reached out to all the provinces and have scheduled their participation in future courses and seminars. We have also started to incorporate the police into training programs with prosecutors to improve the coordination and case management, Mr Rodriguez said.