LEICA "Law Enforcement in Central Asia", launched on 1 September 2020, was officially presented. On this occasion the Project Director, Jérôme RIBAULT-GAILLARD and his multinational team of 4 experts (France, Spain, Georgia, Russia) informed the participants about the programmation of the inception phase which will end in May 2021 and will lead to the adoption of a multi-annual action plan for all the beneficiaries of the Central Asia region both in national and regional format.
During this inception phase, the project team will visit the 5 beneficiary countries of the project in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan) to identify their needs in the field of the fight against terrorism. This identification will be based on targeted interviews and the use of thematic technical questionnaires (criminology, forensic, surveys on the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes, management of the return of terrorist fighters and their families to their countries of origin, border security, etc.).
The first mission took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from 7 to 14 December 2020. The team met with Judge Rustam GIYASOV, Head of the International Judicial Cooperation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office, Colonel Erkinjon MARUPOV, Deputy Head of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of the Interior, Colonel Rovshan AKRAMOV, Head of the International Cooperation Department of the State Customs Committee and Mr Vadim BARCHUK, Deputy Director of the Executive Committee of the Counter-Terrorism Centre of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
A needs assessment mission to Kazakhstan will take place in February 2021. A coordination mission with the Executive Secretariat of the regional organisation EAG (Eurasian Group) is also scheduled for February 2021 in Moscow. Exploratory missions to the authorities of Turkmenistan and Tajikistan are planned for March 2021.
