Global Policy Forum

Afghan President to Eliminate Private Security Within 4 Months

Print
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has announced a crackdown on private security firms in Afghanistan; announcing that they will be eliminated within four months. The private security industry, which includes international companies and unregulated private militias, employs around 40,000 people and has a huge presence in Afghanistan. Karzai has previously stated that such firms serve as a parallel force to Afghanistan's national police and army, thus threatening the country's sovereignty. As in Iraq, private security firms have contributed to anti-American sentiment among Afghan people due to involvement in incidents leading to civilian death and injuries. There is little legal recourse in such incidents. Though the firms are theoretically subject to Afghan law, they can easily exit the country if facing prosecution.

 

By Laura King

Los Angeles Times
August 17, 2010

 


President Hamid Karzai will shut down all private security firms operating in Afghanistan within four months, his spokesman announced Monday, sending ripples of alarm through a Western community that relies heavily on such protection.

The Afghan leader had said for months that he intended to call a halt to the operations of private security firms, which are not regulated by the Afghan government and have long been a source of friction between the Karzai administration and the West.

In announcing a fairly near-term deadline for the shutdown, the president appeared to preempt efforts by NATO's International Security Assistance Force to register private security contractors and set standards for their behavior.

The deadline could be used as a bargaining chip by Karzai in the dispute over corruption in his government. Those tensions escalated when the president recently moved to assert control over two Afghan bodies responsible for tackling fraud and graft, after the home of a senior Karzai aide suspected of bribery was raided.

Dozens of private security companies, some foreign and some Afghan, are thought to have a workforce numbering around 40,000 people. They vie for billions of dollars in contracts, many handed out by the U.S. military.

Western officials have expressed agreement in principle with Karzai's demand to rein in the security contractors, but the timetable - if adhered to - could cause serious problems for foreign firms, diplomatic missions, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization force and others.

All over the capital, international organizations, together with restaurants, hotels and guesthouses frequented by foreigners, are surrounded by high concrete blast barriers and, almost invariably, private guards.

Karzai has said Afghan security forces would take up the slack, but few here consider the Afghan police and army ready to shoulder the burden of providing general security. And even with the troop buildup ordered by President Obama, which is nearing completion, Western military forces are already spread thin.

The U.S. Embassy, which makes use of private security, declined to comment on the decree "until we have seen and studied it," spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said. She added that the U.S. "supports President Karzai's intent."

 

< Prev   Next >
 

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.