It looks like this government is doing all they can to make life very difficult for these companies to operate. It is so bad, it looks like the very air that companies breath will be regulated and taxed, and if not, the companies will be fined for even thinking about breathing. Ridiculous.
The other thing here that is important to note is that even under all of this pressure by such a corrupt government, or the constant media and congressional pressure, or fickle clients, or the toils of an active war zone, that these durable companies are still operating and overcoming adversity. Imagine an Apple or Toyota operating in such an environment?
Private security companies like these not only have to protect a client’s life and reputation, but must also work hard to protect their own operations and people. Talk about pressure and adverse operating conditions? Either way, this industry will overcome all and any obstacles, just like it always has, and continue to provide vital security services in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Just as long as governments like Karzai’s do such a terrible job of governing or providing adequate security for locals and foreigners, the services of my industry will still be in high demand. –Matt
Security firms face possible fines in Afghanistan
Afghan government accuses 16 security firms of violations
Security firms face possible fines in Afghanistan
Feb 10, 2011
Private security firms operating in Afghanistan will in future face fines for breaking their operating rules, President Hamid Karzai’s office said Thursday, the latest tightening of measures against them.
In August, Karzai ordered that all private security firms — many of which are foreign-owned and provide guards for embassies, NGOs and businesses in violence-hit Afghanistan — be banned.
But he later rowed back on this under pressure from his Western allies, who said the firms were necessary to provide adequate security in the country, whose own police and military are still being built up.
“The interior minister presented a plan regarding fining private security companies that unlawfully recruit foreign staff, unlawfully import armoured vehicles from outside the country, or distribute illegal weapons,” a statement from Karzai’s office said, after a meeting of the National Security Council.
“After a wide review of this law, the security council approved it and it was decided that in the near future, President Karzai will issue an order by which all the companies that act unlawfully will be countered seriously.”
A limited number of licensed private security firms are still allowed to function in Afghanistan.
However, Karzai’s office said on Thursday that seven companies owned by government ministers were being abolished.
But it also indicated that employees of these companies were likely to end up being recruited by the Afghan interior ministry.
Karzai says that private security companies hold back the development of the Afghan police and accuses them of security violations and corruption.
Story here.
——————————————————————-
Afghan government accuses 16 security firms of violations
By Joshua Partlow
February 9, 2011
An Afghan government probe of private security companies has accused 16 firms of violations that include employing too many guards, failing to pay taxes for up to two years, and keeping unregistered weapons and armored vehicles.
The allegations, contained in a list being circulated in Kabul, represent the most detail to date about the government’s case against several prominent U.S. and British security firms in Afghanistan. The government has moved away from threatening to disband these firms, which it considers “major” violators, and appears intent on imposing fines.
In addition, seven security firms with connections to high-ranking Afghan officials are expected to be ordered this week to disband, Afghan officials said.
The allegations detailed in the list, which was obtained by The Washington Post, are disputed by company representatives, who view the investigation as further evidence of President Hamid Karzai’s push to eventually replace them with government guards.
Since August, Karzai has called for phasing out the thousands of private security guards working in Afghanistan, whom he describes as “thieves by day, terrorists by night.” The firms say their departure could derail foreign-funded development projects as well as security provided for NATO convoys, embassies and military bases.
The investigation found, for example, that the British firm G4S – the parent company of ArmorGroup North America, which provides security for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul – employed 1,358 guards more than allowed, kept 27 illegal “bullet-proof” vehicles and used embassy vehicles for off-base, non-diplomatic purposes, according to a copy of the violation list. Other, slightly different lists of violations also have been circulating in Kabul.
Another company, Washington-based Blue Hackle, is alleged to have employed 1,257 guards more than permitted and kept 385 unregistered weapons and “would not reveal the location” of its armory, the document said. Blue Hackle guards Camp Eggers, a NATO military base in Kabul, and has contracts with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and others.
Half of the companies on the list were accused of failure to pay taxes. Others were cited with failure to pay insurance to the families of slain guards. The list also accused one firm of killing an Afghan driver and burning his vehicle. It said another firm killed four people and wounded four, and did not report the casualties as it should have.
“We have heard literally almost every different type of allegation,” said one security company official, who along with other sources spoke on the condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardize their business in Afghanistan. “If you do put the U.K. and U.S. governments’ protective security providers on your [violators] lists, it’s going to make it very difficult to operate here.”
A spokesman for G4S, Patrick Toyne-Sewell, said that the company has not received any official notification from the Afghan government about the alleged violations and that “we do not comment on speculation.”
The president of Blue Hackle North America, Tony Koren, said his company does not have an armory in Afghanistan and has registered all its weapons. Although the Afghan government once had established a 500-person cap for private security companies, Koren said, an exemption included those guards who worked on U.S. government contracts.
“The 500 cap, up until a couple of months ago, was just not an issue,” Koren said. “Everybody knew the major companies exceeded that.”
The Afghan government does not plan to order the 16 companies to disband in the near term but will levy fines based on the severity of the violations, said Syed Abdul Ghafar Sayidzada, the head of the Interior Ministry’s anti-terrorism department.
“We’re not going to disband them all because they’re providing security for coalition bases, foreign organizations and foreign embassies,” he said. “But they will be fined. Once the Afghan security forces improve their capacity and ability to provide security, they will be disbanded.”
Sayidzada said seven other private security companies – including Watan Risk Management, run by two brothers who are distant cousins of Karzai, and NCL, associated with the son of Defense Minister Rahim Wardak – will receive disbandment orders in the “next couple of days” because of connections to high-ranking Afghan officials.
The head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Rajiv Shah, is in Kabul this week and is expected to raise the private security issue with Karzai, Western officials said.
Story here.