Introduction
This course is designed to introduce security professionals, primarily Law Enforcement Officers, but also those in the Corrections/Penal, Defence and Corporate environments, to a humanitarian-led dimension of security and policing.
Course Aims
To introduce the student successfully to concepts, methodologies, techniques and legalities relating to the humanitarian dimensions of policing and security practice.
Audience
Serving members of An Garda Siochana. Serving members of the Irish Prison Service. Serving members of the Irish Defence Forces. Security advisors for Non-Governmental Organisations. Corporate Security Advisors. Community Development Advisers/Specialists. Those with an interest in this wide-ranging area who may or may not wish to pursue further studies on its completion.
Implementation
There will be ten lectures comprising three hours each (this can be amended and adjusted to suit student needs and issues arising from the current Covid Pandemic).
It is envisaged that there will be up to four guest lectures during the course time, including one humanitarian law specialist.
Syllabus
Week 1 – Introduction to Human Rights
Week 2 – Principles of Human Rights based policing and security operations
Week 3 – s.42 IHREC Act 2014
Week 4 – Rights, Dignity of the Person, Right to Life
Week 5 – Liberty and Security vs Torture and Degrading Treatment
Week 6 – Community-based security, concepts and methodology
Week 7 – Fair Trials, law, punishment and protecting society
Week 8 – Personal freedoms and assembly
Week 9 – Freedom vs Responsibility and how security can be enhanced
Week 10 – Summary key areas and table-top operational exercise
Course Leader
Declan Power
Declan Power comes to this area from a solid platform of operational experience and doctrinal development having previously devised and taught Human Rights Awareness programs to international police and military officers across a series of United Nations peacekeeping and enforcement missions in Africa.
He has also taught’ Human Rights on Field Operations’ to the NATO Civil-Military Centre of Excellence (CCCOE) at the Hague.
During his service as a senior UN Civil-Military Coordination (UNCMCoord) Officer he was attached to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) where he regularly worked on field operations with UN police officers and local para-military forces promoting human rights issues and negotiating access for humanitarian agencies to engage in life-saving activities.
He also led a team in Darfur which developed an applied practical Human Rights-based training program for officers engaged in police liaison, peacekeeping and the ‘Saving Lives Together’ initiative which used Human Rights awareness training as a tool to limit excessive force such as kidnappings and attacks on civilian communities by protagonists in the Darfur civil war.
He is a graduate of the UN’s Humanitarian CMCoord basic instruction course, Field Officer’s course and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair’s Senior Staff Planning Course.
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