Ombudsman reaffirms responsibilities

Samoa’s Ombudsman has reaffirmed his responsibilities in regards to the police.

He was invited to speak at a staff meeting by the Ministry of Police.

The Ombudsman congratulated Commissioner Egon Keil and the force for doing good work in recent months.

“The role of the Ombudsman towards Police is not intended to obstruct or pass criticism of its work but to work alongside the Police officers to enhance the good work, and to help police officers to remain accountable and immune from undue criticism.

“A good Police force must be accountable for its actions and as servants of the public you are to be able to justify your actions as right and reasonable to retain the trust [and] cooperation of the people you serve,” Ombudsman Maiava Iulai Toma said in his address.

“Generally no-one is allowed to coerce anyone in a democratic state except the State itself. The Police have been designated to exercise the coercive powers of the State. These are awesome powers; so awesome that should they be improperly used they can do great harm and great injustice to individuals.

“Should they be used corruptly they have very serious consequences for society as a whole. It is for these reasons that special oversight powers are given to the Ombudsman with regard to misconduct in Police.

“Mistake is not misconduct. We all make mistakes. That is simply life, no-one is perfect. We learn from our mistakes so that we can move on as better professionals. So while mistake is not misconduct, covering up a mistake can be and covering up a mistake by lying is very serious misconduct”

Innocent people had nothing to fear when talking to the Ombudsman, unless they lied, he said.

In approaching the Ombudsman’s responsibilities with regard to misconduct in Police he stated:

“I have made known my intention for the P.S.U, to the fullest extent possible, to continue handling complaints made against police and for matters in their entirety to be dealt with through established processes within Police.

“Hopefully most complaints could be processed totally by P.S.U without [involving] my Office at all and for matters to proceed up, where necessary, to the Police Tribunal and eventually the Commissioner.

“On selected matters my office would consult with P.S.U on progress of active investigations and may suggest directions or areas for inquiries to move into. Such complaints would remain within Police processes for determination by the Police Tribunal and ultimate action by the Commissioner.

“In hopefully rare instances, matters may be taken completely out of police hands for investigation and determination by the Office of the Ombudsman.

“I hope these cases will be few, but the potential is there for specific matters to be taken out of police hands for independent investigation and determination within the processes of the Ombudsman’s office.

“My office is currently undertaking an investigation of an incident which happened at the market. Although I directed the investigation to take place, I have deliberately not involved myself in it, preferring for all facts to be gathered before I look at the matter as a whole.

“I therefore have no significant knowledge of the investigation as it stands. I can tell you, however, that from the outset the primary aim has not been to charge or condemn anybody.

“On the face of it an event of serious concern with markedly novel features had happened and a citizen had complained about the treatment by the Police. As Ombudsman I needed to know the true facts to form a view on the reasonableness or otherwise of the treatment given to the citizen.

“Additionally, as firearms were involved, in a novel way I wanted to know what the law was on the use of firearms by the Police, the policies that may be established with regard to firearms and practice that may be employed.

“With a full understanding of these aspects I, as Ombudsman, may or may not have something to say about such law, policy or practice,” Ombudsman Maiava Iulai Toma concluded.

The Ombudsman has general jurisdiction for good governance over all public agencies including Police. The Ombudsman (Komesina o Sulufaiga) Act 2013 gives the Ombudsman extensive powers to investigate, either on his own motion or on allegations brought to him, matters pointing to defective governance for all sorts of reasons including such things as unreasonableness, misuse or abuse of power.

Under this general good governance jurisdiction, the Ombudsman investigates and may make recommendations flowing from his investigations. It is important to note that he If he is not satisfied with an agency’s response to his recommendations he may refer the matter to the Prime Minister and make a report to Parliament.

Further to his good governance jurisdiction, the Ombudsman reviews the Professional Standards Unit (P.S.U.) under the Police Services Act 2009 and the Ombudsman (Special Investigations Unit) Regulations 2015. In this role, the Ombudsman is expected to periodically review work done by the P.S.U. and report on these reviews, primarily to the Commissioner of Police and others who are interested in the work and performance of the P.S.U.

The second distinct role of the Ombudsman is the protection and promotion of human rights.

Specifically this involves monitoring places of detention in Samoa, which in the case of the police means ensuring the human rights of those being detained are met, although this is of course a major consideration. It is also to ensure the human rights of Police officers are being met too.That means looking at whether Police have the necessary training, equipment and operating guidelines to ensure safety and security in the exercise of their duties and making suggestions for improvement.

In addition to the functions of the Office of Ombudsman under its Act is a specific responsibility with regards to complaints against Police Officers or Correction Officers and of any other disciplined forces that may be established and designated as such.

The Ombudsman’s concern is not the substance of the work of such forces but with how they conduct their work.

The Office is just now beginning to assume this function through the establishment of a Special Investigations Unit. Investigations are done confidentially and are not to be discussed with newspapers.

The Ombudsman will issue reports in appropriate instances should they serve the public interest.