2. Summary Description of the Project including Project Objectives
The overall aim of the intervention is stated as follows: “Through development of the government’s capacity to bring justice to offenders of illicit drug-related crime, the project aims to assist the government in establishing credibility for implementation of its counter narcotics policy, at the same time, fostering respect for the rule of law and increasing the perceived risks associated with engaging in illicit drug related activities.” To this end the project supported the initial creation of a dedicated Counter Narcotics Criminal Justice Task Force (CJTF) permitting concentrating assistance to a small number of officials from across the chain of responsibilities while maintaining the necessary separation of powers required by due process standards.
This task force has been selected, trained, equipped and housed in order to enable the government to implement its counter narcotics policy and establish credibility of its commitment to the rule of law. To this end it should visibly investigate, charge, and sentence serious drug offenders and thereby visibly raise the perceived risk of engaging in illicit drug-related activities. In order to complement the work of the task force the project likewise envisaged the physical rehabilitation of prison facilities of appropriate size and high security standards, manned by suitably selected, trained, equipped, and supervised penitentiary staff. In order to ensure sustainable capacity building and adequate maintenance of professional, due process and human rights standards, both the task force members and penitentiary staff are to be mentored by dedicated international experts.
3. Major Finding of the Evaluation
By the standards outlined in the project document concerning the “expected end-of- project situation” AFG/U10 has achieved mixed results. The intervention can be distinguished into two main clusters: activities supporting the Counter Narcotics Criminal Justice Task Force (CJTF), and those concerning the rehabilitation and management of a high-security penitentiary facility intended to hold offenders processed and ultimately sentenced by the task force. The activities supporting the CJTF have by and large been successful, while those relating to the high-security penitentiary have faced more significant challenges.
Any criminal justice system consists of a number of distinct institutions carrying out a chain of responsibilities necessary to bring those suspected of crimes to justice, ranging from police investigation, over prosecution, adjudication, to correction. Given the largely dysfunctional nature of the Afghan justice system and the perceived necessity to quickly and visibly react to drug-related crime, it was decided that urgent measures would have to be taken without awaiting the reestablishment of the justice system in its entirety. The CJTF concept is therefore based on the selection of a relatively small number of officials from each institution involved in the chain of responsibilities who could be isolated from their peers and given the benefit of concentrated financial and technical assistance, while simultaneously maintaining the separation of powers mandated by the standards of due process. This underlying concept has been proven to be a useful tool and holds considerable promise as a model for channelling international assistance in Afghanistan and beyond.
During the formative period of the task force, UNODC provided crucial support in the selection and training of staff, the establishment of effective operating procedures and the provision of international mentorship. The responsibility for providing continuous support and mentoring has since successfully been transferred to bilateral international actors.