RCMP in talks with Saudis to train police

Some question supporting kingdom with oft-criticized human-rights record

RCMP officials are negotiating a deal with their counterparts in Saudi Arabia to provide training in “investigative techniques.”

The negotiations between RCMP and Saudi officials come at a time when the federal government has said it is trying to “diversify” its relationship with Saudi Arabia beyond trade and economic interests. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews each held meetings this month with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, the interior minister, during a visit to Canada, according to a posting on the Saudi ministry’s website.

Rick Roth, a spokesman for Baird, said Wednesday the men discussed a number of bilateral and regional issues, including the crisis in Syria, but declined to elaborate.

Julie Carmichael, a spokeswoman for Toews, who visited Saudi Arabia last May, said his meeting focused on “matters related to policing and mutual interests in areas of security.”

Postmedia News reported this week that Canadian officials are concerned that Saudi Arabia could try to acquire atomic weapons in the event of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Those concerns highlight the fine line Canada must walk as it seeks to increase exports of nuclear technology, while ensuring it doesn’t contribute to the spread of nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, RCMP briefing notes obtained under access-to-information legislation show that the Mounties have been trying to forge closer ties with Saudi police.

A Dubai-based RCMP liaison, who is responsible for 12 Middle East countries, regularly travels to Saudi Arabia for the purposes of “conducting inquiries and cultivating working relationships,” the documents state. Co-operation with Saudi police is described as “very good.”

In November 2011, Saudi officials made a formal request to the RCMP run Canadian Police College, which provides advanced and specialized police training courses and workshops, to establish a memorandum of understanding to provide “various training products.”

RCMP spokesman Sgt. Greg Cox said in an email this week that negotiations are continuing.

“The Canadian Police College is in negotiations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to provide investigative technique training to its law enforcement,” he said. “There is no signed agreement in place at this time.”

Deputy Commissioner Mike Cabana said the discussions revolve around providing the Saudis with training in evidence collection and software tools for major case management.

Cox said the force receives many requests to provide training and that law enforcement officers from the Middle East and the Arab peninsula have attended courses on investigative techniques at the Canadian Police College.

If the deal with Saudi Arabia is approved, it would mark the first time the college has delivered training in the Middle East region, Cox said.

While such a deal could bolster international co-operation and the fight against terrorism — and has the potential to be a financial windfall — some observers question whether Canada’s national police force should be providing support to the oil-rich kingdom whose human-rights record has long been criticized.

“Unless they’re going in to revolutionize Saudi police, it’s hard to imagine they’ll do anything good,” said Toby Jones, a professor of Middle East history at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Amnesty International’s 2012 report on Saudi Arabia said planned demonstrations were “ruthlessly suppressed,” and hundreds of protesters were arrested and prosecuted on security-related and political charges.

“Cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments, particularly flogging, continued to be imposed and carried out. Women and girls faced severe discrimination in law and practice, as well as violence,” the report said.

Wesley Wark, a national security expert at the University of Toronto, said forging personal relationships with the Saudis is vital to effective international cooperation and will give Mounties a better handle on policing challenges in the Persian Gulf region. The resource-crunched force could be paid handsomely for the work, he added.

But there are risks, he said. The RCMP could end up having to shoulder some of the blame if the units it trains are accused later of improper acts or human rights abuses.

“This has already risen its head in terms of criticism of previous U.S. military training missions to Mali, for example,” he said.

Jones, the Rutgers expert, suggested Saudi Arabia could be reaching out to Western law enforcement as a way to add credibility to its police services and shield itself from future criticism. As for Canada’s motives? The RCMP training could be part of a broader effort to enhance trading between the two countries, he said.

Jones cited an arms-transfer database maintained by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute that showed Canada has sold billions of dollars worth of military equipment, including armoured vehicles, to Saudi Arabia over the last several years.

“The Saudis are the biggest spenders in the region,” he said. “Providing police services and coordinating training with the Saudis is likely just one part of a broader initiative to maintain as much of a foothold as possible in this lucrative security market.”

But, he cautioned, “all of this comes at quite a cost, considering the Saudis have a terrible record on human rights and police brutality.”