Combating Serious Crimes in Postconflict Societies - English Edition
A Handbook for Policymakers and Practitioners
This path-breaking volume presents broad guidelines and specific prescriptions for combating serious crime in societies emerging from conflict.
"This groundbreaking publication will be an invaluable tool in the hands of those facing the challenges of restructuring postconflict societies. Put together by seasoned practitioners and distinguished scholars, it explains what approaches have and haven’t worked, discusses the kinds of resources required, and provides a rich fund of practical examples and references...This book should be on the desk of every chief of mission and international official tasked with rebuilding societies traumatized by conflict."
— Jacques Paul Klein, former Chief of United Nations Operations in Croatia (UNTAES), Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIB), and Liberia (UNOMIL)
This path-breaking volume fills a major gap in the literature on efforts to rebuild societies emerging from conflict. Drawing on firsthand experience in tackling organized and other destabilizing crime in Kosovo, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, it distills that practical, hard-won knowledge into lessons and guidance for policymakers and practitioners who must face similar challenges. No similar work exists anywhere.
"Serious crimes" include any and all criminal acts that threaten post-conflict security, hinder political and economic reconstruction, or undermine public trust in nascent criminal justice institutions. From money laundering to murder, drug trafficking to terrorism, these crimes flourish where governments are impotent or officials are themselves complicit in illegal activities. Their impact on post-conflict societies of all types can be profoundly damaging--but they can be dealt with.
More than forty seasoned practitioners--judges and generals, prosecutors and human rights activists, scholars and government officials from across the world--participated in the discussions that generated the broad guidelines and more specific prescriptions presented in this handbook. Each of its chapters covers a different area of activity--initial assessment, reform of the legal framework, institutional reform, investigation and prosecution of serious crimes, and foreign assistance--providing not only general guidance but also real-life examples to illustrate the importance of adapting to local circumstances.
Easy to read and easy to use, with checklists and sidebars supplementing the succinct text, Combating Serious Crimes will be greatly appreciated by governments, international and regional organizations, and foreign assistance providers throughout the world. The police, judges, prosecutors, defense counsel and peacekeepers who address serious crimes on a day-to-day basis in post-conflict states will likewise find the book invaluable.
About the Editor and Contributors
Colette Rausch is Director of the United States Institute of Peace's Rule of Law Center. She directed the Department of Human Rights and the Rule of Law in the OSCE's mission in Kosovo, and worked for the U.S. Department of Justice on criminal justice projects throughout the Balkans.
Elaine Banar is chief of the Asset Forfeiture Unit at the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York. She was special legal advisor on organized crime matters for UNMIK and helped establish the first witness protection program in the Balkans.
Kristen Fennel worked for the U.S. Department of State's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. She helped develop and implement rule of law and police assistance programs in Kosovo, Bosnia, Albania, Indonesia, and East Timor.
Adalbert Gross is a senior police officer of the state of North-Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He headed the Local Police Development Section of the UN IPTF in Sarajevo, and was UNMIK police deputy commissioner in Kosovo.
Michael E. Hartmann is advisor to the attorney general of Afghanistan for the U.S. State Department/INL Bureau Justice Sector Support Program. He was the first UN-appointed international public prosecutor for Kosovo and previously served with UNMIBH.
Deborah Isser is Senior Counsel in the Justice Reform Practice Group at the World Bank. Previously, she was a senior rule of law advisor with the United States Institute of Peace's Rule of Law Center. Also, she was senior policy adviser at the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, focusing on economic reform and organized crime.
Brigadier Andrew Mackay is commander of the British Army's 52 Infantry Brigade. His extensive experience in postconflict environments includes planning for IFOR, SFOR, and KFOR; overseeing justice and security reforms in Kosovo; and training police in Baghdad.
Vivienne O'Connor is a Senior Program Officer at the United States Institute of Peace Rule of Law Center. Previously, she was the Rule of Law project officer at the Irish Center for Human Rights and co-director (with Colette Rausch) of the Model Codes for Post-Conflict Criminal Justice Project. She lectures widely on human rights law.
Major General David C. Ralston is commanding general of the United States Army Field Artillery Center and School. He was KFOR's chief of staff for operations and intelligence and previously served in Bosnia.
