POLICE-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF FIELD OPERATIONS SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE The Mission continues to provide assistance to the host country’s police services to effectively address contemporary and emerging security threats and challenges, including VERLT, terrorism, corruption, hate crimes and domestic violence, as well as to strengthen border management and cyber/ICT security. This is being conducted through training and expert assistance, as well as by fostering inter-agency cooperation and partnerships with civil society. The Mission moreover works closely with law enforcement agencies in advancing gender, youth and ethnic mainstreaming and promoting freedom of assembly. Activities Related to General Police Development and Reform Police Development and Reform within Security Sector Reform From 28 September to 30 November, the Mission organized one basic and one advanced BiH Security Policy training course for 30 officials from law enforcement agencies dealing with policing, working at different levels of authority, including from the BiH Border Police, the Intelligence Security Agency of BiH, the State Investigation and Protection Agency, the Agency for Forensic Examinations and Expertise, and the Police Support Agency of BiH. The courses contributed to the effective implementation of BiH’s security policy and the application of procedures that deal with emerging security issues by relevant BiH institutions. Complex and wideranging aspects of security were discussed and examined by participants, including the current state of affairs with regard to migration flows and asylum policy in BiH, trends in countering terrorism and violent extremism, the threat of cybercrime and cyber terrorism, and the need to further build integrity in the security sector, as well as to further improve public communication and inter-agency co-ordination in crisis management. Strategic Planning including Threat Assessments From 28 to 30 November, representatives of police bodies in BiH, including ministries of interior, the State Investigation and Protection Agency of BiH, the Intelligence-Security Agency of BiH, the Directorate for Co-ordination of Police Bodies in BiH, the Police of Brčko District of BiH and the Border Police of BiH participated at the “11th Annual Review on Compliance with OSCE and UN Commitments of BiH”, in Sarajevo. They contributed to the annual assessment, presented progress reports from their relevant areas of responsibilities, and produced recommendations and conclusions to be implemented in 2019. These conclusions and recommendations relate to areas of cyber/ICT security, arms control, combating terrorism and its financing, and democratic control of the security sector. Moreover, the conference participants called on the BiH Parliamentary Assembly Joint Defence and Security Committee to continue its activities on parliamentary oversight of the defence and security sectors of BiH, with the aim of improving coordination in the work of police agencies within the BiH MoS. Human Rights and Police Accountability In 2018, the Mission worked closely with the two entities’ police services of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on freedom of peaceful assembly matters. In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), the Mission contributed to improving the current legislative framework by providing, jointly with ODIHR, relevant comments to the draft Law on Public Assemblies and the draft Law on Prevention of Violence and Misbehaviour at Sports Events. The Mission organized one training course for Tuzla Canton police services on freedom of peaceful assemblies, held on 6 March. It co-organized with ODIHR two training courses for senior police officials from both BiH entities on international human rights standards in policing peaceful assemblies, held from 9 to 11 April in Sarajevo and from 12 to 14 April in Banja Luka. The Mission also facilitated the participation of selected senior police officials in a regional ToT workshop in Podgorica, Montenegro, in co-operation with ODIHR and with the participation of senior police officials from SEE. In late 2018, the Mission worked on translating and printing the OSCE-ODIHR’s publication, Human Rights Handbook on Policing Assemblies. Throughout the year, the Mission monitored some 120 public assemblies across the country with an emphasis on any contentious issues, such as the protests in Banja Luka and Kruščica. It regularly liaised with local law enforcement officials to gather additional information about police conduct and decision-making prior and during public assemblies. 51