Helping to turn war into peace: Halifax cop joins UN mission in Sudan

From the Halifax "Daily News"...

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The heat can be unbearable, not to mention the constant threat of disease, violence, or the accidental tripping of landmines hidden in the southern-Sudanese countryside.

But more than malaria, typhus, or the 56-degree [Celsius] heat in Khartoum, it's the lack of simple items that most police officers would take for granted that causes Robert Fox to shake his head in disbelief.

"The police there don't even have notebooks," Fox said. "There are no written reports. Nothing is written down."

Fox, 27, is one of two Halifax Regional Police officers attached to the United Nations mission in war-torn Sudan, assigned to train the country's police force.

In a nation wracked by decades of civil war and tribal conflicts, even the most-basic elements of police work can be a challenge.

Take the notebooks, for example.

In Canada, like most Western countries, police are trained in the art of note-taking, knowing that every word [that] they write could be used in a court case.

Here, police notebooks are professional-looking, compact pads with helpful reminders about the rights and cautions given to an accused person.

In the Sudanese village of Yei, where Fox and Galloway are working with local police officers plucked from the ranks of the country's army, even finding children's notebooks and pencils is a task.

During one course, Fox insisted on providing the trainees with notebooks. He got the budget from the mission and bought two children's notepads and pencils for each of his students.

Then he set to work explaining the importance of writing down the statements of witnesses, accused persons, and victims of crime.

"They are not backward people," Fox said. "They just haven't been able to advance."

Since becoming independent in 1956, Sudan has been locked in a series of bloody civil wars.

But the admiration [that] Fox has for the people trying to overcome years of hardship is obvious.

"They are very eager to learn, and they are fast learners," Fox said.

Even so, some of the conditions [that] he's encountered in remote areas of southern Sudan can only be described as primitive.

After years of fighting, firearms are a common sight - and sound. Newcomers are warned to stay out of the long grass, for fear of tripping landmines.

Bombed-out tanks and artillery pieces litter the countryside. Malaria, typhus, and other diseases still plague the population. The life expectancy for a Sudanese man is less than 50 years.

Until recently, police didn't even do patrols, preferring to wait at local police stations until they were called. But in a region where phones and two-way radios are rare, police were seldom summoned. Police vehicles are rare, and the concept of walking a beat and simply talking to citizens is a foreign concept for men trained by the Sudanese army to kill.

"We tell them that by merely walking through an area, they can prevent crimes," Fox said.

That simple idea, something [that] Halifax police do every day, was a difficult concept for the Sudanese police officers to grasp.

But after Fox took a group of officers on a foot patrol of a market area, the officers were greeted by enthusiastic shopkeepers thanking them for their presence.

"It's really rewarding when you see the lightbulbs turn on," he said.

He had another lightbulb moment teaching traffic police the fundamentals of directing traffic, taking an accident report, and investigating crashes.

Shortly after giving his traffic class, some of his students were called to investigate a fatal motorcycle crash. The responding Sudanese officer, one of Fox's students, investigated the crash as taught, sketching the accident scene and taking measurements.

With fatal motorcycle crashes a frequent occurrence in the southern part of Sudan, traffic is a major concern for police.

"But nobody has shown traffic police how to direct a vehicle simply by using their hands," Fox said.

Fox knows [that] it's a slow process bringing accountability and professionalism to the fledgling Sudanese police force.

But the United Nations mission is making a difference.

In a country where women are frequently the victims of domestic violence, and are often excluded from traditionally male roles, it's been a major accomplishment for the police mission to insist that female officers also receive training.

"Everything's new and humbling, at the same time."