Report on conclusions and
Recommendations of the Policy
Briefing Session presented to the
IV^th Ministerial Meeting

Annex Nº1

1. Human Security Perspective in Public Security Policies.

The Session agreed that public security encompasses a wide range of topics such as crime and corruption, terrorism, penal institutions, law enforcement institutions, and civil police issues, including the private security industry. As well, The Meeting concurred that there are two dimensions to consider in the field of public security, namely one objective dimension, which focuses on the real levels of security and current threats, and another subjective dimension, which deals with the perception of such threats by individuals.

In this conceptual framework, The Session remarked that mass media, especially when seen under the prism of technological advances and the globalisation process, plays an important role in the perception of security and insecurity. In this regard, Governments and mass media are encouraged to develop a concerted joint effort to responsibly promote social peace, while avoiding interference with the freedom of expression.

The Session agreed that the State plays an important role in enforcing security as a means for achieving the ultimate goal of guaranteeing the freedom of individuals. In this context, the Session addressed the need for reform of law enforcement systems and to reduce corruption wherever occurring, and thereby creating conditions of public security, both objective and subjective. Law enforcement is related to the wider concepts of social mediation and trans-institutional cooperation in prevention.

The Session also exchanged ideas about the need for the following: modernisation of police forces, for efficiency and better safeguarding of the rights of citizens; improved mechanisms for observation of police forces; and the possibility of exchange training programs (inter-agency or inter-national), which would expose law enforcement professionals to ideas for improving their own institutional settings. Success in creating conditions for public security strongly relies on making social partnerships between law enforcement agencies and individuals.

The Session also noted that military forces can be the source of human insecurity and violation of human rights, especially in situations of armed conflict. It was agreed that the reform of the security sector contributes to laying the foundations of confidence and accountability, particularly when armed forces are under the control of civilian and democratic institutions.

The Session also discussed the problem of the illicit trade in drugs, which is regarded as an important threat to public security. In this point, it was agreed, there is a need to re-examine the language of a “war” on drugs and to differentiate the dimensions of the very significant problems that drug related issues raise for daily life of all individuals.

In consideration of the problems of security and insecurity from the human security perspective, the following recommendations were presented for the consideration of the Network countries:

• Support modernization of public police forces and give attention to guidelines and rules for private security companies;

• Focus on promoting training of personnel, especially sharing best practices among countries and contexts;

• Promote communication among Human Security Network members on public security related themes, such as training public security personnel and observation of police forces;

• Promote the use of observation mechanisms, e.g., regarding discrimination on part of police;

• Support a pilot plan aimed at adopting alternative actions when addressing the drug problem based on the concept of human security;

• Promote examination of penitentiary systems and their role in long-term public security and development of safe communities;

• Support examination of the role of perceptions of insecurity as part of concepts of human security, with particular attention to the role of the media;

• Support modernization of military forces and increase cooperation among Human Security Network countries in the field of security sector reform.

2. Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Education focused on human security

The Session examined methods and motivations of human rights education as well as measures for situating human rights education within human rights issues more generally.

Regarding international humanitarian law education, The Session acknowledged the importance of the training and dissemination activities being undertaken by the International Committee of the Red Cross as an important instrument in facilitating the achievement of this objective.

The Session emphasized the role of human rights education in mobilizing each person to become a subject of his/her rights. In this point, The Session enhanced the relevance of human rights education within primary and secondary school settings, as well as at the whole community level. Human rights education should be a participatory process, encouraging critical thinking.

The Session also emphasized that human rights education is about creating a culture of human rights. This means the creation of a broad agenda where human rights education is about social and societal transformation, and as such should go along with education on the individual social responsibilities, in order to promote a culture of tolerance. In this view, human rights education extends well beyond law, because it is about the development of a new culture.

The Session noted that human rights as an advocacy tool has been quite successful, while human rights education has not had this same level of success at the policy level. In this view, The Session discussed how to relate human security and human rights acknowledging a wide academic literature on this subject. It was agreed that human rights provides a foundation upon which human development and human security are pursued.

The Session agreed that in promoting human rights and International Humanitarian Law education it is necessary to consider the following recommendations:

• Address human rights and International Humanitarian Law education with a global and holistic, trans-disciplinary approach including governments, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, academics, and civil society. Promote coordination of human rights education programs at the national level;

• Support research on the links between human rights education and human security;

• Actions towards promoting human rights education can be seen as support for creation of a global human rights culture, promoting participatory learning at the grassroots level as particularly important;

• In implementing legal norms, the following elements deserve close attention:

  • training of police and military personnel in human rights standards and on International Humanitarian Law;

  • incorporating human rights education into formal and informal education systems including schools and universities;

  • broad dissemination efforts, particularly through the use of the mass media;

• Promote International Humanitarian Law following the earlier policy commitments of the Human Security Network;

• Assume proactive and long-term strategies to prioritize human rights education policy. Actions toward this could include supporting a pilot program to link human rights education and human security;

• Promote relevant instruments such as the Declaration of People’s Decade for Human Rights Education in order to strengthen partnerships between governments, international organizations and all sectors of civil society.

3. Measuring Human Security: Human Security Index

The Session established that measuring human security is a complicated but necessary task. To accomplish it, an Index has to be created. This Index should reflect the situation of each country in particular and in its own context. Nevertheless, the situation of individual countries should be comparable with the conditions and situations in other countries.

To proceed with the task, it is important to use the concept of human security in a clear manner, particularly when it refers to aspects of violence and insecurity. In this point The Session revised the proposal of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), in order to approach the problem from 5 different dimensions (economical, social, environmental, political and cultural). According to FLACSO, the Human Security Index should adopt a global vision and a strategic action plan.

Also analyzed was a proposal from the University of British Columbia which is focused on measurements of violence, specifically data on conflict and criminal violence. This proposal emphasizes that data on violence and data on economic development need to be separate in order to establish causal relationships and that there is inefficiency associated with too broad a concept. The proposal underscored that it is necessary to avoid overlap with existing efforts such as the Human Development Report. The Session noted that reliable data is necessary for any projections aimed at conflict prevention and acknowledged that the important thing about using data in studying human security (especially given the shortcomings of available data), is maintaining the ability to identify trends, which will finally allow Governments to adopt measures to improve the security of individuals.

The Session agreed to consider the following recommendations:

• Methodologically, support continued research into the elements of human security and, in particular, promote relevant research in various regional contexts. Promote projects to establish and maintain reliable databases on causes of insecurity.

• Consider using broader measurements of human security but focusing Human Security Network efforts on one or two subjects with the objective of making an international impact.

• Promote the creation of a report on human security with the objective of obtaining reliable data to permit the development of effective policy making.