State/INL Lebanon Program

Funding:

• FY 2006 – $5,000,000 (1207**)
• FY 2007 – $60,000,000 (INCLE*)
• FY 2008 – $496,000 (INCLE*)
• FY 2008 – $9,850,000 (1207**)
• FY 2009 – $6,000,000 (INCLE*)
• FY 2009 – $9,850,000 (1207**)
• FY 2010 – $20,000,000 (INCLE*)
• FY 2011 – $19,500,000 (INCLE*)

*INCLE: International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement Funds
**1207: Section 1207 of the National Defense Authorization Act

Program Goals:

• To build Lebanon’s operational capacity to combat crime, and prevent and respond to terror attacks.
• To assist Lebanon in developing the Internal Security Forces (ISF) into a competent, professional, and democratic police force with the necessary training, equipment and institutional capacity to enforce the rule of law in Lebanon, key to implementing United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) 1559 and 1701.

Program Components:

The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) program is a critical part of the U.S. strategy to strengthen the Government of Lebanon and one of INL’s most effective assistance efforts. There are five central components of INL support to the ISF: 1) training and facilities refurbishment; 2) equipment and vehicles; 3) community policing assistance; 4) communications; and 5) corrections reform.

• Training and Facilities: INL has trained more than 6,100 ISF police cadets in its ten-week basic training academy. INL has also offered advanced training courses, and has trained more than 350 ISF trainers for the eventual transition of the academy to full ISF control. In addition, INL has trained approximately 240 supervisors and more than 410 officers in community policing techniques. The INL program has refurbished temporary ISF training facilities and is working with other donors to ensure a sustainable transition of a state-of-the-art training facility and tactical village to the ISF by 2013. Additional specialized training has been provided on narcotics investigation, intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, and executive leadership. In a survey commissioned in 2011, the high numbers of Lebanese expressed confidence in the ability of the ISF to control crime, professed respect for police in their area, and indicated high prestige in the profession of policing. In addition, the ISF has been able to expand its traditional area of operation in Lebanon, including into areas that were once controlled exclusively by Hizballah.
• Equipment and Vehicles: INL has provided the ISF with much needed non-lethal equipment, including 4,000 sets of basic duty gear, 3,000 sets of riot control gear, 420 police cars, 60 police SUVs, 35 handheld radios, 20 computers, 20 new and 24 repaired Harley Davidson motorcycles, and refurbished 10 Armored Personnel Vehicles. INL is also working to procure new vehicles to support the work of the ISF Counternarcotics Unit and the Mobile Forces, the ISF’s premier counterterrorism unit. These procurements have and will continue to increase ISF capacity to patrol and respond in an expanding area of Lebanon. End use monitoring of INL provided equipment shows that the equipment is being properly used and maintained by the ISF.
• Community Policing: To prepare the ISF for a new security role in the Nahr al Barid Palestinian refugee camp, and in support of commitments made at the 2008 Vienna donors conference, INL began an extensive community policing training and assistance program in FY 2010. Almost 300 ISF officers have been trained and will serve in the camp. Additional assistance provided by INL supports the adoption of community policing as a strategy throughout Lebanon. INL will complete construction of an ISF police station in the adjacent area of the camp in 2012.
• Communications: INL is developing a project to provide a secure, nationwide command, control and communications system for the ISF.
• Corrections Reform: INL is developing a project to help reform the corrections sector in Lebanon by providing technical assistance and training for prison guards at Roumieh Prison, new prisoner transport vehicles to transport prisoners from prison to the courts, refurbishments of a migrant detention facility, and a pre-trial detention analysis.

Program Accomplishments:

The INL program in Lebanon has seen significant indications of success:

• ISF Mobile Forces worked side-by-side with their Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) counterparts to defeat Fatah al Islam militants during battles in and around the Nahr al Barid refugee camp in 2008.
• Public confidence in the ISF as a non-sectarian institution committed to a united, stable Lebanon increased by 17 percent from 2008 to 2009.
• In 2011, 68 percent of Lebanese indicated that the police did a “good” or “very good” job controlling crime; 78 percent said they had “a great deal” or “quite a lot of” respect for police in their area; and 73 percent said that there was “a great deal” or “quite a lot of” prestige in the profession of policing.
• The ISF has been able to expand its area of operation in Hizballah controlled areas of South Beirut and the Bekaa Valley.
• The ISF successfully conducted marijuana and opium eradication campaigns in the summers of 2009 and 2010.
• ISF performance during the May 2010 municipal elections maintained security in Lebanon and facilitated a safe and secure election environment.
• The ISF has maintained internal security during the period since the fall of the Hariri government in January of 2011, with professionalism and with no sectarian bias.
• 2010 end use monitoring of INL provided equipment shows that the equipment is being properly used and maintained by the ISF.