United Nations General-Secretary Chief Concerned about Abuses of Afghan Local Police (ALP)

"UNITED NATIONS, March 15 (Reuters) - The U.N. mission in Afghanistan should place a greater priority on protecting human rights after Afghan security forces were accused of violations, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report released on Thursday. Ahead of a U.N. Security Council vote next week to renew the mandate of the political and development mission, Ban raised concern about the Afghan Local Police, which U.S. officials believe could become more important as foreign forces withdraw."

The UN Secretary-General says the Afghan Local Police (ALP) are increasing security but also need to be under control of the Afghan government. Unfortunately, his statement is ill-informed. He has mistakenly lumped the ALP in with the group of militias that operate independent of the Afghan government. The ALP come under the control of the District Chief of Police (DCoP) and are part of the Ministry of Interior (MoI). His concerns are misplaced. Read the rest of the story in "U.N. chief concerned about Afghan rights abuse", AlertNet, March 15, 2012.