Support for the 2005 Iraq elections

Background

The first national elections in Iraq for 50 years were to be held on 31 January 2005. The elections were to be overseen by the Independent Election Commission for Iraq (IECI). The Commission was staffed by Iraqi nationals who were independent of but supported by the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and the Multi National Force (MNF). However, neither ISF nor MNF had any experience of running and securing elections so an early decision was made that civil police expertise and advice was needed.

In 2004 ArmorGroup had been contracted by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office to deploy International Police Advisors (IPAs) to carry out mentoring in the Basra Province of Iraq.

By 2005 ArmorGroup had 140 IPAs in the region: the majority of whom had worked with and knew the local senior Iraqi Police Service (IPS) officers and were ideally placed to provide professional support underpinned by a local perspective and understanding of the cultural issues. ArmorGroup was therefore given the task of supporting the elections in Basra by mentoring the IPS in their role of providing election security.

ArmorGroup actions

Once the election date was announced, the immediate aim of ArmorGroup’s IPAs was to develop a close working relationship with all the relevant parties, achieved by the establishment of weekly planning meetings in the Joint Operations Centre (JOC) attended by members of the IECI, IPS, IPA and MNF.

There were some initial issues over the IECI’s cooperation, as it attempted to maintain its independent stance through the limiting of specific information, such as numbers of polling centres. However, ArmorGroup’s IPAs were perceived as neutral and were able to build a relationship with the IECI resulting in regular and constructive meetings which were able to resolve issues constructively.

A general plan for election security was developed by the key parties with roles and responsibilities for the day assigned to the IPS, Tactical Support Units and IPAs. A security risk analysis of each polling station, security centre and ballot box holding area was undertaken by the MNF/IPA, which enabled sound operational advice to be provided to the IPS on the manpower required for each location.

Training was conducted by ArmorGroup’s IPAs culminating in regular table-top exercises based on potential scenarios and incident response. The IPS perceived these exercises as both interactive and inclusive and excellent results were achieved. Other security measures recommended by the IPAs included: local curfews; road closures; security passes for authorised vehicles; and passes for polling/security staff.

On polling day itself security responsibility was led by the IPS, with MNF taking a low profile standby role. ArmorGroup IPAs assisted the IPS within the JOC and the MNF at each Brigade Operations Room.

Results

ArmorGroup brought expertise and credibility to this successful election security task and provided a substantial mentoring and training programme.

ArmorGroup’s IPAs knew the local personalities, established trust and understood the local situation. They worked with the other relevant parties to develop a clear plan which could then be coordinated by the IECI. Through this close cooperation and the training and mentoring provided by ArmorGroup’s IPAs voter turnout was almost 70% in the Basra region and the voting process took place in a peaceful and orderly fashion.