Human Rights and Police Training in Transitional Societies: Exporting the Lessons of Northern Ireland

Abstract

This article looks at police transformation in transitional societies through the prism of an analysis of police human rights training. Using Northern Ireland as its focus, this article posits key lessons to be considered in any society hoping to use the transitional moment to best effect—in terms of both institutional reform of the police and the wider peace building project. This article addresses how obstacles to inculcating a culture of human rights into any police organization mutate, or take on a heightened urgency, in transitional contexts. This article then draws conclusions with resonance, not just for Northern Ireland, but for policing change generally in transitional societies.