QUESTION NO 251
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 1 JULY 2011
251. Mr D V Bloem (COPE-FS) to ask the Minister of Police:
Whether, given the number of recent allegations of violations by police members in respect of foreign nationals, wrongful raids into homes and strong-arm tactics to arrest suspects, knowledge concerning human rights is lacking within the SA Police Service; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
REPLY:
Apart from the Human Rights training presented during our Basic Police Development programme, a tailor-made Human Rights course is also presented at in-service police development component.
The SAPS developed an in-house Human Rights Learning Programme for this purpose and presents it through the internal training provisioning structures.
The Human Rights in Policing Learning Programme is presented in all the provinces on a regular basis.
This training is regarded as one of our priorities and every financial year Human Rights Policing courses are included in the official Training Provisioning Plan for the SAPS.
Provincial trainers for this course are regularly trained on national level to ensure capacity at all the provincial training delivery points.
Human Rights is also incorporated in Module 5 of the Station Management Learning Program which is a compulsory course for all Station Commissioners. It is also part of the Basic Police Development Programme.
Human Rights is also featured as a cross cutting topic in all operational courses dealing with victims, complainants, suspects, colleagues, arrestees, use of force, etc. Specific human rights are also addressed in other courses like Victim Empowerment Course, Youth and Children at Risk Learning Program and Domestic Violence Course which are presented at national level and in all the provinces. The trainers are also trained on national level during frequent Train-the-Trainer Courses.
Members of the Organization have full knowledge and understanding of Human Rights.
Reply to question 251 approved by the Minister
