Speech by Jamila Bayaz

International Islamic Police Women’s Conference

held

October 21 to 15, 2007

at the

Serena Hotel

Kabul, Afghanistan

Police Women in the Counter Narcotics Department of the Afghan National Police
Lieutenant Colonel Jamila Bayaz
International Islamic Police Women’s Conference

With the permission of our guests and police professionals!

First of all, I would like to welcome our police sisters who have come from different Muslim countries to exchange ideas and to visit our police women in this conference.

I would like to introduce myself briefly:
My name is Jamila and my family name is Bayaz. I graduated from the Police Academy in 1981 with a diploma. I have been working as a police officer in the Counter Narcotics Department since it was established in 2004 under the Deputy Minister of Counter Narcotics, Ministry of Interior Affairs. I have been working beside my brothers as a police professional for 26 years now. I worked in the Counter Narcotics Directorate at Kabul International Airport for 10 years, and since then I have been working as an investigator.

It is clear to everyone that hashish, heroin, morphine and other sorts of illegal drugs are a hot issue because they threaten the lives of thousands of youths who are addicted to them. They also make them dependent on social welfare for their existence.

The drug dealers traffic drugs in different ways. They smuggle drugs in capsules in the body and in goods across global borders. To combat this problem and to be effective in preventing drug dealers, a three month training course, CJTF, was held in the Counter Narcotics Department and subjects such as criminal justice, counter narcotics laws, and short term punishment laws were taught to investigators by professional trainers from Egypt and Afghanistan. Apart from the investigators, attorneys and judges participated in the course.

Let me describe our working procedure: When a person from Kabul or the provinces is caught with drugs, we prepare arrest and body search forms and so on to send to the Criminal Justice Department. An investigator for the case is then appointed. During the investigation the investigator observes human rights principles and section 5, part 7 of the penalty sanctions, in which the rights of the suspects are set out, He/she has the right to remain silent and to have a lawyer to defend his/her rights. Also section 41 of the Counter Narcotics Law, which is read out for the suspect, explains the cooperation of the suspect with responsible staff. After some investigation the papers are then sent to the counter narcotics attorney together with the investigator’s comments, based on section 2.31 of the penalty sanctions. This section gives the investigator authority to keep the suspect for investigation 72 hours after arrest.

If there is sufficient evidence against the person involved in the case, he/she will be arrested and sent for prosecution. The presence of an attorney and the permission of the court are necessary for arresting a person or searching a house.

There are 17 police women working in the Counter Narcotics Department, including myself. Thirteen police women are working with male colleagues in the operations department doing operational duties in Kabul and the provinces. Two police women are deployed at the Kabul gates.

Since the establishment of the criminal justice system, 418 cases of drug trafficking have been evaluated and sent to counter narcotics attorneys. Out of 418 cases, I have investigated 100 cases myself and, from the beginning of the year 2007 to now, 230- cases have been sent to the assigned attorney after investigation. Fifty of the cases sent to the Attorney General’s Office have been investigated by me.

To finish, I would like to thank Ms. Tonita Murray and other international women who have worked hard to improve the skill and knowledge of police women. I would also like to thank Ms Tone Midttun, Charlotte Aadnevig and Kjaesti Helland from the Norwegian Police who previously worked energetically for Afghan Police women but are not at this conference today.

Thank you for your attention