Driving Out Politics

Serbian policemen, or more precisely, a few among them decided to do something on reviving the long dead police union.  President of the Union of Members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Slobodan Pajic, better known by the public for the fact that he recently refused to accept a medal (VREME wrote about this), explained what is at issue:

"Since the early nineties, when the centralization of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was carried out, all union activities in the police were practically reduced to a minimum.  Members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs tried to meet several times in order to revive the existing organization, but all initiatives fell through: colleagues were being sent to Kosovo, they were molested at work, threatened with physical violence, and some were even beaten up.  Now we assessed that the time has come for us to go public with our demands because we believe that they will be supported by the majority of the members of the Ministry and by the citizens of Serbia."

DEMANDS: What are the members of the Police Union demanding?  Judging by the Statute and Program, adopted back in 1996 (which did not become outdated in the meantime - on the contrary), they are demanding better organization, free thinking and expression by policemen in regard to their jobs, control over work on all levels, protection of the profession from "influences by any given political organization or individual which would lead a conflict with existing regulations," better living and work conditions...
"With the total centralization of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, civic and municipal authorities lost all jurisdiction over officers of the peace on their territories because all authority has been concentrated in one center, more precisely at the top of the Ministry," states Slobodan Pajic.  "It happens often that there is no communication between local government and the local police.  This has alienated the police from the citizens, and it is well known that the police cannot function successfully without the participation of citizens, which was seen best in Kosovo."

That is not all.  "Relations have been changed: positions of leadership have been given to people from above, and these individuals sometimes are not qualified for such positions," Pajic continues.  "Instead of education, professionalism, ability and experience, the most important criterion has become obedience.  It happens that superiors hold back educated and capable policeman on purpose, forcing them into ranks that are sometimes 'two notches' below their qualifications, all this because they fear for their own jobs.  Employee meetings have been reduced to a minimum.  Figures and numbers are being sought, with numbers of solved criminal acts, number of criminal complaints and fines...  There is insistence on quality, but this goes against quality: courts are throwing out cases because policemen did not do their jobs properly.  No one is answering for this.  Even statistics do not indicate the number of cases thrown out.  There is also the problem of too many employees: at one time, during the nineties, policemen's training was reduced from six months to two months, resulting in poor selection and insufficient preparation.  This has damaged the reputation of the police which is best seen in what took place at the Intercontinental Hotel.  In my opinion, the fact that those suspected of [Arkan's - tr.] murder were caught as quickly as they were is as important as the fact that two of them are policemen.  This is a disgrace for the police."

Pajic also discussed issues of control:
"For instance, the Service of Internal Affairs of Belgrade has a Department for the Control of Legality, but it only acts when a citizen demands to have his rights protected, or when control over police activity is carried out.  However, there is not control carried out when the Chief of the Service of Internal Affairs or other superiors go against the rights of workers, making decisions without any legal basis."

Policemen who are in the Union of Members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia are demanding greater influence of their Union in making laws and regulations, especially where the work of the police is concerned.  They demand the right to strike, as long as "this does not compromise police activities, peace and order in the Republic of Serbia and the rights and security of citizens."  Beside this, they demand complete de-politicization which would not permit policemen to become members of any party.

EXPERIENCE: Ph.D. Budimir Babovic, member of the Forum for International Relations in the European Movement in Serbia and former Vice-President of Interpol for Europe, spoke to VREME about the experience of other countries with regard to unions and political activities of poliemen:

"In Canada, for instance, unions are prohibited for the federal police, but not for the provincial police.  There unions are very strong not only with regard to negotiating the terms of contract, but also as one of the institutions of police control.  In England there is a union but with a strict hierarchy, with the 'upper group' being an obligatory partner in all consultations the government holds on police issues.  In France where the so-called continental legal system is in force, as is the case here, there are several unions, with the pro-communist and pro- socialists unions being the strongest.  They are implanted in various ways into police organizations: some of them are more influential in higher police ranks, others are more influential in lower police ranks."

In Yugoslavia only the federal police has been denied the right to form unions.  Beside this, people from Montenegrin and the federal police forces have been prohibited from holding strikes or organizing politically.  This does not hold true for Serbia, which Ph.D. Babovic considers logical because the denial of the right to join a party would only effect the parties in power:

"In October of 1997 a discussion was held at the International Conference on Overseeing the Police in which the issue of denying policemen to join political parties was taken up.  Many participants criticized me for having put forth such a proposal in the draft of the ethical code for the Yugoslav Police.  The Canadian, John Westwood stated that this is an attack on the civil rights 'of those who chose to be policemen and not politicians or plumbers,' while Istvan Sikinger stressed that the Union of the Hungarian Police submitted a complaint to the European Court for Human Rights regarding a decree in the Hungarian Constitution that forbids policemen from becoming members in political parties and from taking part in any political activities.  It is my opinion that the crucial problem with regard to the role of the police, especially in Serbia, lies in the question of how to avoid a situation in which the ruling parties reserve exclusive control over the police.  It seems that prohibiting the ruling party from placing their posters and pamphlets in police stations, and from displaying their leader, would be more constructive for democracy at this point than the vain attempt of extending this prohibition to other parties."
Slboodan Pajic claims that the Program and Statute of the Union of Members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia is currently supported by around five thousand employees of the Ministry.  Whether all the remaining 145,000 policemen (Ph.D. Babovic's estimate) approve of the picture of Slobodan Milosevic which looks down at them from the wall of police chiefs' offices, is a question that is very much open to dispute.