Armenian Minister of Internal Affairs Vahe Ghazaryan, today in Doha, met with the head of the Qatari Police Academy Brigadier Dr. Mohammed Abdullah Al-Mihanna Al-Marri.
Ghazaryan’s office, in a statement, says the two discussed prospects for cooperation between the police academies of their countries including the training and education of personnel.
They agreed to launch an exchange program for police academy students.
Ghazaryan and his delegation also attended Milipol Qatar 2024 global homeland security and safety exhibition and conference organized by the Qatari Ministry of Interior.
The police forces of both countries fall under the purview of their respective Ministries of Internal Affairs.
It should be pointed out that Qatar is listed as “Not Free” according to the 2024 Freedom House ranking and that Qatar’s legal system is a mixture of civil law and Islamic (Sharia) law. Armenia is listed as “Partly Free”.
What “police cooperation”, then, were the two officials discussing? What, specifically, can Armenia’s police learn from their Qatari conterparts?
Here are some telling excerpts of the Freedom House report on Qatar.
1 – Qatar’s hereditary emir holds all executive and legislative authority and ultimately controls the judiciary.
2 – Political parties are not permitted and public participation in the political arena is extremely limited.
3 – No genuinely independent anticorruption mechanisms hold senior officials and members of the ruling family publicly accountable for the allocation of state resources.
4- Both print and broadcast media are influenced by leading families and subject to state censorship.
5 – Organizers of public events must obtain a permit from the Interior Ministry, and protests are rare.
