ASSET PROTECTION IN MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL ENVIRONMENT: A CASE STUDY (p.2)

by Col. Rakesh Mehta, CPP, M Sc, M Phil,
Defense and Management Studies.

Globalization has afforded tremendous opportunities for business managers to exploit international resources to cut down costs and work out economics of scale for enhancing overall business profitability. State sovereignty over territorial jurisdictions and its citizens are often subjugated to regional groupings to leverage economic benefits. EU, ASEAN, SAARC, G-8 and many other economic and security related groupings are hinged on the principle of ‘Nations integrating into global environment‘ for overall welfare of improving economic status of its citizens. Though socially and economically desirable, this trend imposes mammoth responsibility on security professionals to provide a secure framework for protection of assets thus created. Despite growing trends for Nations towards global integration, the States are parochial when its perceived jurisdictional, territorial, economic or other sovereignty related issues are threatened. This case study is being presented to highlight the complexity and gravity of challenges posed by inherent conflicts between globalization and state sovereignty.

THE INCIDENT

• Background. The case study refers to an incident in United Nation Mission in Iraq and Kuwait (UNIKOM) immediately after the First gulf war in 1991-92. The US lead Coalition Forces had mounted an attack on Iraqi forces with overall aim of liberating Kuwait. On successful completion of the operation by Coalition Forces, the UN had mandated an Observer Mission ‘UNIKOM‘ to prevent violations of cease-fire between the Iraqi and Coalition Forces.
• The Demilitarized Zone ( DMZ ). The UN Mission was established in the DMZ between Iraq and Kuwait and given a strip of land about 15 km in width to ensure physical separation of the Coalition and Iraqi Forces. Please refer map below for details. This territory was also under dispute and a separate ‘Boundary Demarcation Mission’ was established to demarcate international border between Iraq and Kuwait. De facto, neither Iraq nor Kuwait was exercising territorial rights in DMZ though both countries had some police posts in this area. The UNIKOM had its head quarters in Umm Qasr with posts strung along the DMZ to monitor its assigned duties. The Mission was staffed by 300 military observers drawn from almost 34 countries. In addition about 3000 administrative personnel from UN Field staff were also present in the DMZ. All these personnel had diverse backgrounds and belonged to different countries.
• The Terrain Hazards. The area was a vast desert with hardly any roads and tracks for communications. The temperatures were touching almost 50 Centigrade with hardly any local water resources. The area was heavily mined. The problem was further compounded due to raging fires in the oil wells that were burnt by the retreating Iraqi Forces. In addition to UNIKOM, numerous other rehabilitating agencies were also working in the DMZ. The overall scenario was ‘confusion’ with no centralized agency to control movement and enforce law and order.
• The Incident. The UN Engineers had brought in heavy earth moving equipment for construction of habitat, rods and tracks. In addition, some engineers were tasked for mine clearing duties. The overall control was being exercised by UNIKOM Headquarters. At that stage, an incident of loss of Heavy Earth Moving Crane weighing about 40 tonnes and costing about $ 100000/- was reported by the field engineers. As per the known information, the Crane was being used for the construction of a track when it encountered a minefield. Hence, the decision was taken to first mark and recover the minefield and thereafter resume the track-building task. Another specaialised engineering unit was assigned the task of clearing the minefield. The mine clearing activity lasted about a month. On receipt of the completion report of mine clearance, a team was sent to recover the crane. To its horror, the team found that the crane was missing from its last known location and nobody seemed to know its whereabouts.
• The Investigation. The informal inquiry reveled that the Crane was last handled by a driver from American Continent who has been repatriated back to his parent country. The Crane had been leased by the contracting agency to the engineering unit. As per the known information, a formal inquiry was ordered and an officer of the Chinese origin was designated as the inquiry officer.
• Environmental Complexities.

1. The Crane entered the DMZ through Kuwait. Hence, its induction documentation was available with Kuwait administration only.
2. The Crane was operating in the DMZ wherein neither Kuwait nor Iraqi laws were applicable due to territorial dispute between the two countries.
3. The police posts present in the DMZ were grossly under staffed and largely ineffective.
4. The sandstorms had washed off all trails of tracks by the Crane. Site inspection revealed that last known trail was heading towards Iraq.
5. The custodial accountability of the Crane could not be established because weather conditions prevented driver from staying at the Crane location and had to be evacuated from the site. Thereafter he got repatriated in normal rotation to his home country.
6. UN had no jurisprudence over its employees. The disciplinary action against the accused could only be initiated by the ‘Parent Govt’ of the UN employee.
7. The ‘National Egos’ involved wanted cover/protection to their respective citizens and hence not very cooperative.
8. The formal institutional links between Kuwait, Iraq and UN were not yet fully operational to resolve such trans-territorial incidents.
9. The language barriers put great obstacles in incident investigation. A Spanish-speaking driver had to be investigated by an officer of Chinese origin with Arabic speaking people as witnesses to the case thus compounding an already complex situation.
10. Since Iraq was under an UN embargo, the cross border movement between Iraq and Kuwait was not permitted. Hence, the witnesses could not be brought into any centralized place for cross-examination.

RESOLUTION OF THE INCIDENT

• Establishing Investigation Priorities. In consultation with the authorities, the overall aim and priorities of the investigation were identified as under :-

1. To locate and recover the Crane.
2. Assign responsibility/ culpability of the theft.
3. Ensure corresponding punishment to the guilty

• Legal vs Informal Approach. It was realised that case cannot be pursued purely on legalistic grounds till the fundamental facts are established. An informal framework would have to be established for this purpose. Hence, through the good offices of the UN, a Liaison Officer, each from Iraq, Kuwait and UN was made available so that requisite cooperation of respective Govts and agencies could be ensured. Since the Equipment of such large dimensions could not just vanish in thin air, it was presumed that it could be in any township in proximity of DMZ that is undergoing post war reconstruction i.e. either in Kuwait City or in Basra town. The liaison was established with all the agencies dealing with such equipment and engaged in construction activities. Finally, a lead was established indicating that the Crane was last seen heading towards Kuwait City and purchased by some Construction company at nominal cost in collusion with some employees of the UN. Further investigation helped in tracing the Equipment and restoring its canabalised remains to the UN authorities. Hence, the first aim of the investigation was thus achieved. Subsequently, the driver of the equipment was held responsible for negligence, thus accomplishing the second aim of the investigation. However, punishing the guilty proved to be a tough task due to complexities already highlighted above. Instead of getting involved in long legal hassles, the case was referred to the respective Govts to initiate actions as deemed fit by the parent Govts.
• The Complex Cauldron. The equipment had disembarked in Kuwait. It moved to the DMZ where UN mandate was applicable. The item was recovered from the Iraqi zone. The presumed accused was a South American. The inquiry was conducted by an officer of Chinese origin assisted by an interpreter of Indian origin. Hence, the diverse application of laws made the investigation and recovery of the asset a formidable task, which probably could have become very difficult to handle if only legalistic approach was adopted to resolve the issue.

LESSONS LEARNT

• The incident dates back to 1992 when the globalization was just getting stabilized. The incident was a precursor to the problems likely to be faced by the international community when the technology makes the geographical boundaries redundant. Though business practices – by and large- have been standardized, yet the security related issues in such environment need urgent redress.
• The spread of terrorism in the current century has further compounded this problem since the epicenter of terrorism is in areas that are not accessible to law enforcement agencies either due to terrain restrictions or state patronage.
• The security professionals need to urge the international community to devise an institutional framework to redress such situations. Some of the suggestions could be :-

1. International Centralised Authority. The incident in case study could be resolved since the UN enjoyed vast respectability among the involved states and hence got willing support of respective countries connected with the incident directly or indirectly. It is essential that some international agency that is perceived to be neutral and acceptable to all the member nations be assigned the responsibility to handle such trans- national incidents.
2. Safe Havens. For international criminals and terrorists should be penetrated and rule of law enforced. The organizations like Al Qaeda and other militant groups need to be divested of their operating bases by all means-military, technological, economic and political.
3. Language Barriers. The case study has highlighted the communication gaps amongst various actors in the incident. Interpreters have become a fundamental necessity in all organizations having international interest. They need to be integrated into the Security Industry as well.
4. The Art of Persuasion. The legal authority alone cannot resolve such incidents. The security professional have to operate without the backing of State Authority. Hence their liaison and informal contacts with the official law enforcement agencies are very important to achieve the desired business objectives. No business can deploy its precious resources in managing endless legal battles in National and International courts. Though guilty need to be punished, yet, the security professionals need to upgrade their persuasion and communication skills to manage such situations.
5. Reconcile National Sovereignty With National and International Interests. No country can endlessly engage in State Sponsored terrorism or undue defense of its citizens despite their known complicity in international crime related incidents. The case of wanted criminals enjoying state patronage in our neighboring countries highlights the gravity of this aspect and needs serious introspection at all levels.
6. Investigation of Incidents. The investigation of incidents wherein multi-nationalities are involved need international mandate and institutional framework that is reasonably fast enough to solve the case in reasonable time frame. The sabotaged investigations into blasts in Samjhota Express, is a vivid example where the witnesses have been denied access to the official investigating agencies.
7. Business Operating Procedures. Whenever the new business is established or mergers/acquisitions are effected, the operating procedure should be established at the earliest so that inventory accountability is ensured at all times. The incident mentioned in case study happened when the Mission was nascent and procedures were in the formulation stage only.

The incident though trivial by international standards, yet manifests the problems of security professionals operating in trans-national and multi-jurisdictional areas. To uphold values of civilized society, the Nation States would have to rise above the parochial issues and cooperate willingly to rid the society from terrorists and criminals. The security professionals will have to upgrade their skills to manage such complex situations.

Go Top