Source: Diasporans protest over Zim police brutality – DailyNews Live
Tendai Kamhungira 5 March 2018
HARARE – Zimbabweans in the Diaspora are planning to stage a protest at
the Zimbabwean embassy in London on Wednesday in a bid to push government
to deal with police brutality.
This comes amid calls by civil society activists for authorities to
compensate families of two people that were recently shot dead by the
police.
The protest is being organised by Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe
United Kingdom Chapter together with the MDC, Zapu, Women of Justice
Arise, Zimbabwe Human Rights Organisation and MaZimbabweans Yes We Can.
This is also happening at a time when social activists are calling for the
police to compensate families of the bereaved.
Several organisations have expressed outrage over the killing of the two
civilians by members of the ZRP, following a heated scuffle in Harare’s
Central Business District (CBD) recently.
Harare’s CBD resembled a war zone as law enforcement agents blocked
commuter omnibuses from either dropping or picking passengers in the
capital.
This followed an unpopular directive by the Harare City Council to ban
commuter omnibus operators from ferrying passengers into the city centre
under an operation code-named Clean-up Harare CBD.
Police commissioner-general Godwin Matanga had to issue a formal apology
following the incident, even though he insisted the police had been
provoked and that they were not aware that the operation had been called
off.
Following this incident, the Tendai Biti-led People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) said repression and police brutality had no place in modern
democracy.
“The deaths are a result of a conflict emanating from the failure to deal
with a peripheral issue of congestion.
“A government with no respect for human life must be jettisoned, removing
(former president Robert) Mugabe and a few G40 fellows is tinkering with
the deck while the titanic is sinking,” PDP said.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) also criticised the police over the
killings.
“CiZC condemns in the strongest sense, the inappropriate and violent law
enforcement process which resulted in the death of three innocent
civilians as police tried to forcefully enforce an ill-timed ban of
commuter omnibuses in Harare’s CBD,” the organisation said.
Ancelmo Magaya’s Zimbabwe Divine Destiny also said: “The horrific pictures
of burning vehicles right in front of the ZRP Harare Central Police
Station and the stoning of the same which came as a result of public
indignation over reckless shooting of at least two people by a
trigger-happy police detail, paints a very gloomy and dark picture of the
state of governance in our nation”.
Zimbabwe’s police have a history of using excessive force when it comes to
enforcing certain statutes.
Some police officers have been previously sued in their personal
capacities over these senseless brutal attacks.
COMMENTS