Opinion (Rogério COPETO / Official GNR): A GNR E A ONU[1].
Because the subject of the moment is the fact that a Portuguese go take the United Nations leadership (HIM), I take the opportunity, to make known the participation of GNR in UN peacekeeping missions.
Rogério COPETO
Lieutenant Colonel of the GNR, Master in Law and Security and Homeland Security Auditor
Head of the Education Division / Command Doctrine and Training
The participation of the GNR in peace missions, They have been unanimously praised, either internally or internationally, very fact that participation, that began in 1995, have always culminated in success, not being so oblivious, the characteristic of GNR be a security force of military nature, consisting of a special military body of troops, allowing so perform this type of missions, not infrequently little appropriate for the military and for civilian police, taking into account the type of weapons, that you both have at your disposal, with the advantage of GNR still have experience in daily contact with the civilian population and its activities always take place under the principle of the minimum use of force.
The first participation of GNR on a mission of peace, was 1995, by an officer of the GNR that played roles in Calafate Command Post, Romania, during the supervision of the UN embargo on former Yugoslavia, and since then, up to today, the military of the GNR have participated in peacekeeping missions on four continents (Europe, Africa, Asia and America) under UN auspices, always after the occurrence of conflicts.
This participation has been done in two ways, with police monitors or established units, because thanks to its dual nature, military and police, GNR is able to play a wide range of missions in the context of peace missions, which can range from strictly military missions to the police missions,
As mentioned the dual nature of GNR, police and military, It gives it a more muscular or less intervention capacity, able to make use of force from the less lethal means, to the, especially in replacement of public order operations, may play an observer role, as police monitor and as constituted force.
So, and still 1995, year of the first participation, GNR took part in UNAVEM III with 31 military and MONUA with 93 Military, both in Angola, having the following was in March 2000, of the projection, for the first time in its history, abroad of a self-sustaining force, echelon Company, for the peacekeeping mission in East Timor, constituting the Rapid Intervention Force UNTAET, where he took a leading role in ensuring the security conditions, especially in the capital, Dili, with the mission control civil unrest, security sensitive areas, Bodyguards and security to high entities, and search and rescue operations.
The GNR returned to East Timor again under the aegis of the UN in 2007, participated in UNMIT, with Subassemblies Bravo, in strengthening the contingent that was present in Timor-Leste, with police missions, physical security and protection of sensitive installations and points, anti-insurgency operations, search and rescue operations, capture dangerous individuals and policing of sensitive areas, and UNTAET and UNMIT the only two shares of GNR in UN peacekeeping missions established units, whose terminus of the mission took place in December 2012, participated 477 military mission in the first and 678 on Monday.
In Timor-Leste GNR also contributed to UNMIT with six military that operated as a liaison and participated with police monitors in UNMISET, eleven military, integrated in its civilian police component and UNOTIL, a political mission aimed at ensuring the stability and development of Timor-Leste, with 57 police monitors to the CIVPOL component of the mission, which contributed to the formation of effective National Police of East Timor.
In addition to these holdings in police monitor mode, referred to above, UNAVEM III, MONUA, UNMISET, UNOTIL e UNMIT, GNR also participated in the MONUC in the Democratic Republic of Congo, two military, na UNIMIL na Libéria, two military, na UNOCI, in Ivory Coast, two military, in MINUSTAH, no Haiti, four military and UNIOGBIS, in Guinea-Bissau, with two military.
No total a GNR participou em 13 UN missions, we African continents, American, European and Asian, where he played a fairly wide range of functions, or with units comprise, either with police monitors, in total 1.366 Military.
We know that the close involvement of the GNR in a UN peacekeeping mission will be in Colombia, because the UN Security Council unanimously approved the details of the mission that will monitor the implementation of the peace agreements between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), having the same already been announced by Mr Exmº. President da República, Professor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, that in addition to welcome the peace agreement reached between the Colombian government and the FARC, He confirmed that Portugal will contribute to effective mission that will monitor and verify the implementation of the Agreement, to where twelve military will be sent, eight military and four GNR, and four elements of PSP, and they have earned the approval of the Superior Council of National Defense, which met on board the ship Sagres School, on 6 of September, where the Minister of National Defence stated that "This is a different mission. While participating military, what it is is a monitoring mission of the definitive ceasefire established between the Colombian government and the FARC ".
Or referring to Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, It was distinguished, on 7 of September, with the award of the Nobel Peace Prize, the achieved peace with the FARC, despite it not being ratified by Colombia at the polls, which may cause constraints in meeting more this peace mission, the GNR along with the branches of the military and the PSP will meet with success, and it will certainly contribute to the excellent image that Portugal enlists in the UN and possibly also have helped in the appointment, unanimously and by acclamation, of António Guterres, as the next Secretary General UN.
[1] For the preparation of this article, I held myself in existing information management tools in the GNR and are available on the page GNR, and the work of Major General of the Army by the Portuguese, the reserve situation Carlos Martins Branco, entitled "The Portuguese participation in UN peacekeeping missions", dated 2015.
