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| NEWS > 30 December 2006 |
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Activists turn up heat over sl
Decrying what it calls an “epidemic” of law enforcement killings of unarmed suspects, an umbrella group of anti-police misconduct organizations staged a Monday press conference in this embattled city to announce a massive rally for their cause later this month.
The announcement by the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, which puts on a yearly demonstration on the date from which it takes its name, comes as activists in Inglewood are expressing mounting outrage over city officials’ refusal to make public a recently-completed report on a string of heavily-criticized fatal s... Read more
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AND - Johannesburg,Gauteng,Sou
30 December 2006
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To view it in its entirity click this link.
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HOW THE POLICE VIOLATES THE RI
By Justin Mupundu
In the recent past,shooting and killing incidences involving police officers have increased alarmingly.This feature highlights some of the incendents in which the police violated the right to life.
By Justin Mupundu HUMAN life is sacred, no human being; however, poor or uneducated should perish like a wild beast. That’s absolutely beastly of either the police or any ordinary citizen to take human life! Many abuses or violations of the right to life, in Zambia, relates to how the police use excessive force in their execution of duties. A police officer in Lusaka’s Matero Township on Wednesday, October 25, 2006, shot dead a man and seriously wounded another. The shooting incidence erupted when the impounded minibus driver refused to drive to Matero Police Station. Then, the irate police officer, who started shooting indiscriminately, shot dead an innocent man and injured another. In another incidence, in September, a police officer shot dead two teenagers and seriously wounded a third at a funeral house in Lusaka’s Ngo’mbe Township in a bizarre circumstances. On the Copperbelt, in the month of October, two girls were killed in a stampede after police raided a night club where pupils were having a school leavers’ party. Media reports on deaths at the hand of the police officers, whose duty is to preserve and protect lives, are increasingly alarming. The Human Rights Commission (HRC) then chairperson Mumba Maila, now Attorney –General, condemned the killings and described them as extra-judicial. He said: “The police service acutely cognizant of its deteriorating human rights image but seems to have avoided addressing the root cause of human rights problem in the service. The recent killing have all brought home one message and that is all is not well in the police service.” But Police Inspector-General, Ephraim Mateyo said no officer should use the firearm on innocent people if the use of firearm is not meant to protect lives. He said the police officer involved in the recent shooting and killing incidence have been detained and charged with murder and will soon appear before the court. Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ)’s Bishop Paul Mususu said: “They changed their name from police force to police service because they are trying to disassociate themselves from brutality. The name is eluding us; the understanding of the police force might be more fitting than calling them a service. These shooting could be accidental but they are happening too many times.” It’s permissible to use reasonable force on a suspect resisting arrest, or violent; but when the police officers opened fire on the armless citizens, that was absolutely beastly of them! According to the United Nation Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Fire Arms by the Law Enforcement officials, where never the lawful use of force and firearms is unavoidable; law enforcement officials shall minimize the damage and injury. They shall also be required to respect and preserve life. But the police officers involved in the recent shootings and killings did not respect and preserve life. Police officers in the cases in question overacted when they opened fire on the innocent people. Then begs the question: How should the law enforcement officials respect and protect people’s rights? Mr. Mateyo said: “My greatest desire is to lead a highly professional and disciplined police service which respects fundamental human rights and freedoms of everyone in the country.” Mr. Mateyo also directed that firearms be kept in the armory. But the directive alone can not stop his officers from indiscriminate killing of innocent lives. He has not explained how the measure will help curb the irresponsible police killings. However, Mr. Malila noted: “Overzealous and trigger-happy officers are a danger to progress towards the observance of human rights.” In another incidence, on October 14, 2006, residents of the Lusaka’s Misisi compound rioted after they discovered that the police allegedly killed the detainee at the police post and dumped his body near the compound. The police’s alleged brutal killings of detainees in police cells as a result of torture, have earned them public rebuke and condemnation. Torture is prohibited in the Zambian Constitution and the International Convention Against Torture to which Zambia is signatory. The police, whose duty is to maintain law and order, now rates high in the human rights violation. Why? Many gun toting police officers prowling the streets have lost touch with professional ethics, and are sheer careless in handling firearms. Mr. Malila advised: “A tribunal should be put in place to investigate the causes of the ugly pattern of the policing that is emerging and recommend ways of stopping it.” Zambians generally enjoys the right to life; however, incidences of police shootings and killings infringe upon this right. Violation of the right to life threatens the existence of human life. Therefore, Government should not wait for such incidences to gourd them into action. Government’s attempt to usher in a professional police service will save many lives from police destruction. Mr. Malila’s advice that the police service is in dire need of an overhaul should be taken seriously.
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