Unprofessional conduct by the state security has become one of
the biggest threats to enjoyment of human rights in Zimbabwe.
Apart from the proliferation of videos of state security agents –
mainly the police- exhibiting signs of being drunk while on duty,
there has been an increase in the way state security agents
continue to treat citizens in an unprofessional way and getting
away with it.
For example, on 11 February an image of a woman arrested with
her children and standing in an outside cell went viral.
This was after police at Rhodesville police station had
apprehended and detained a woman with two minors for
allegedly violating lockdown regulations.
It was only after the image went viral that the police issued a
statement promising to investigate the matter.
Nothing has been heard of the investigation to date and like
many other cases involving the police this is likely to die in its
tracks. The police owe it to citizens they are mandated to protect
to make known the findings of their ‘investigations.’
On 5 February police officers reportedly threw teargas canisters into a commuter bus that was carrying over a
dozen passengers along Seke Road in Harare.
Police officially denied the incident despite the overwhelming evidence:
“We were waiting for transport and we ran in all directions after teargas
had been thrown into the bus. Smoke is still stuck in my throat.”
“No one was run over or hit by cars since the drivers stopped their cars
after seeing commotion, but what surprised me is that there were also
other police officers who were waiting for transport at the scene where
teargas was thrown into a kombi.”
According to a passenger on the bus.
In other reports, on 9 February 2021 at 13:00hrs
about 35 anti-riot police officers’ raided vendors in St
Marys Chitungwiza at Chigovanyika Shopping Centre
and vandalized vending structures and destroyed the
agricultural produce that was being sold. The police
officers allegedly went on to confiscate a vendor’s
money and goods.
In another incident, on 28 February, Police in Gweru
allegedly caused the death of a detained man.
Police arrested the now deceased, Tatenda Pasinyore
(28) for throwing stones on the roof of an elderly
woman's house in the area.
Officers allegedly searched the deceased and found
him
in
possession
of
the
illicit
drug,
methamphetamine commonly known as mutoriro.
Pasinyore attempted to run away but he was rearrested, assaulted and taken to the station, where he
was detained with two other suspects. At about 5 am,
Pasinyore's cellmates allegedly dragged him into a
shed seeing as it was now raining and he was cold. He
started vomiting and died soon after. His body had
bruises on both hips, a deep cut on the right wrist, a
scratch on the leg & bruises under the armpit.
The incidents are growing in number, and it must be
recalled that in October 2020, police threw teargas
into a loaded bus along Bulawayo Road in Harare and
the ZRP claimed the offending officers had been
arrested and promised to update the public on the
progress of their prosecution. Yet to this day, nothing
has been heard of the case and the only official
statement has been from Police spokesperson
Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, who said during
a radio programme on politicking on ZIFM Stereo that
‘lawyers offered to assist the accused police officers’
These cases, together with the allegations that
soldiers in Chipinge assaulted a man to death, are of
great concern.
The professionalism of the state security agents is not
just a human rights issue, but an important matter of
national security.
•
Government should institute investigations of all
serious human rights abuses and ensure that
citizens get justice. State security agents who have
acted outside their mandate should be brought to
book without fear or favour.
•
All interventions should be done in line with
national law and international standards. The
government should also take urgent steps to
reform the state security sector as spelt out in the
recommendations of the Motlanthe Commission,
and as promised by President Emmerson
Mnangagwa in 2017. Law enforcement agents
should arraign and hold to account all those
responsible for human rights abuses. That way, it
creates a culture of accountability and
responsibility within the state security sector.
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