VZCZCXRO9716
PP RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #1056 1171124
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 271124Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8628
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS KABUL 001056 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
CODEL 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS, INL/AP, H 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR JWOOD 
OSD FOR FOURNOY 
CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-101, POLAD, JICENT 
KABUL FOR COS USFOR-A 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS AFIN AF
SUBJECT:  CODEL REED AND MOI MINISTER ATMAR DISCUSS POLICE REFORM 
AND CORRUPTION 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Senators Jack Reed and Edward Kaufman met with 
Minister of Interior Hanif Atmar on April 18.  Acknowledging that 
the Afghan National Police (ANP) is the weak link in Afghan security 
forces, Atmar emphasized qualitative improvements made over the past 
year through training and other reforms.  He was especially pleased 
to discuss creation of his own "Afghan FBI" and the growing 
effectiveness of his "119" tip hotline.  Atmar described the 
challenges of fighting internal corruption and developing criminal 
cases for prosecution.  Finally, he summarized his efforts to 
promote diversity within the ANP through high-level appointments and 
by recruiting women.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Minister of Interior Hanif Atmar met with Senators Jack Reed 
and Edward Kaufman on April 18.  Atmar began by noting the 2 
successes in the Afghan security infrastructure, the Afghan National 
Army (ANA) and National Directorate of Security (NDS).  The Afghan 
National Police, he said, is the weakest link, but part of that he 
blamed on original design problems and the fact that the ANA took 
precedence in securing the country and fighting the insurgency. 
However, training programs have led to a qualitative difference in 
the ANP now in comparison to a few years ago.  Four to six policemen 
lose their lives each day in defense of the country.  Senator Reed 
noted the importance of the ANP in holding territory gained from the 
enemy. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Admitting that police should be the ones fighting 
corruption, Atmar discussed his initiatives to ferret out corruption 
within the MOI and ANP.  He is setting up a merit-based appointment 
system, requiring personal asset inventories from all of his 
officers, and establishing what he referred to as an "Afghan FBI" 
(which we assume to mean his Major Crimes Task Force, set up with 
assistance from our FBI).  Fifty percent of the staff for that unit 
has already been polygraphed as an anti-corruption measure.  The 
biggest problem, he said, is lack of resources. 
 
¶4. (U) Senator Reed thanked Atmar for setting a good personal 
example for his staff, and said we want to help on resources. 
Comparing Afghanistan with the first 2 countries visited on this 
trip (Iraq and Pakistan), Reed said Afghanistan had made much more 
progress on security in a very short period of time.  Senator 
Kaufman noted the importance of faith in government and the ill 
effects of corruption.  MOI is a model for others, he said, and to 
say that progress has been very impressive would be an 
understatement. 
 
¶5. (U) Atmar told a story about his new MOI tip hotline.  He said 
the first thing he does in the morning is read his "119" report, and 
that in the past few days there had been 4 reports by the public on 
the placement of IEDs, all of which were subsequently dismantled by 
the ANP.  These were the first such examples of public cooperation 
with the police, which Atmar saw as a sign of growing trust.  He 
planned to send thank you notes to the individuals and do a public 
affairs piece for television on the hotline. 
 
¶6. (U) Discussing crime trends and prosecutions, Atmar told the 
senators that there were 11,000 crimes reported last year, one-third 
the number from the previous year.  More than 1,000 drug arrests 
were made last year, 300 of them against major traffickers. 
However, only one-third of these major cases resulted in 
convictions.  While the judiciary is one part of the problem, Atmar 
acknowledged the need to professionalize the ANP through such 
measures as training on evidence collection. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Finally, Atmar talked about diversity within the ANP.  He 
said he already had 3 Deputy Ministers from 3 different ethnic 
groups, and was hoping to fill the fourth slot from a fourth group. 
His challenge is to balance merit with ethnic diversity.  But he 
said he is most concerned about bringing women into the police, with 
just 600 currently on board.  One idea he is mulling over is to 
offer higher salaries for women. 
 
¶8. (U) CODEL Reed was not able to clear on this message before 
departure. 
 
RICCIARDONE