“Unless it is absolutely legitimate and necessary for purposes of law enforcement, Extra-Territorial Detention or the practice of arresting and transferring suspects from one district or province to another for detention must stop. In most democracies, this practice is frowned upon because it is widely viewed as a tactic for either punishing intimidating suspects,” stated the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in their statement issued by commission spokesperson Mweelwa Muleya.
It is good that the HRC, though late to do so, finally issued a statement denouncing the police for the two months’ detention of Luanshya based brothers Ernest and Elijah Kaumba, whom they transferred from Luanshya to Lusaka without subjecting them to the due process of the law.
The HRC denounced the unbecoming, immoral and abusive conduct by the police of arresting suspects and transferring them to far areas from their place of residence, which deprived them of the necessary family and community support thereby, exposing them to a wide range of human rights violations such as inadequate access to food, drinking water and other basic necessities.
As the HRC correctly observed, this practice was frowned upon because it was widely viewed as a tactic for either punishing or intimidating suspects. The boys were subjected to the most inhumane treatment by the police in violation of the due process of the law, to send a message to them and the others that police were ready to exact extra-judicial punishment anytime.
The police would have rather continued violating the two brothers’ rights had it not been for public pressure, that was beginning to embarrass and expose their abuses on a daily basis. They were literally forced into taking the Kaumbas to court and issuing them with bonds not because they wanted, but simply because they were pressured to.
It is such a shame that these violations are happening under President Hakainde Hichilema’s watch, despite his claims to the contrary that such violations would not be entertained under his administration. We are actually wondering how he feels seeing the actions that are happening clearly contradict his own words. Today he orders police not to detain suspects beyond 24 or 48 hours, the very next day his police officials are detaining people for two months.
He should not give Zambians the impression of someone who actually has two ‘tongues’, one used to appease the public with sweet pronouncements, and the other one for his own officials in government. Because Zambians are wondering where the police actually get the audacity to ignore repeated pronouncements from their own Commander-In-Chief against such unwarranted and abusive long detentions.
If the police were convinced that the Kaumbas or those other people they detain arbitrarily have done wrong, the best they could have done was to arrest them, and as a responsible service they should be, work towards releasing them from detention quickly so that they can have their day in court. They would do so confident in the fact that they will successfully prosecute their case in the courts of law against the suspected offenders.
Otherwise, we cannot allow Zambia to degenerate into a lawless society where the police should become the prosecutor and judge, or worse off an instrument used to commit all sorts of crimes against the suspects. Their operations should be above reproach. They should not act on matters because they have been pressured by the public into doing the right thing.
We urge Hichilema and his administration to reform these state institutions to truly serve the public purpose they were intended for. There is more to transforming these state institutions than reducing the claim to want to do something about them into mere slogan chanting during election seasons.
By Daily Revelation Editor
“Unless it is absolutely legitimate and necessary for purposes of law enforcement, Extra-Territorial Detention or the practice of arresting and transferring suspects from one district or province to another for detention must stop. In most democracies, this practice is frowned upon because it is widely viewed as a tactic for either punishing intimidating suspects,” stated the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in their statement issued by commission spokesperson Mweelwa Muleya.
It is good that the HRC, though late to do so, finally issued a statement denouncing the police for the two months’ detention of Luanshya based brothers Ernest and Elijah Kaumba, whom they transferred from Luanshya to Lusaka without subjecting them to the due process of the law.
The HRC denounced the unbecoming, immoral and abusive conduct by the police of arresting suspects and transferring them to far areas from their place of residence, which deprived them of the necessary family and community support thereby, exposing them to a wide range of human rights violations such as inadequate access to food, drinking water and other basic necessities.
As the HRC correctly observed, this practice was frowned upon because it was widely viewed as a tactic for either punishing or intimidating suspects. The boys were subjected to the most inhumane treatment by the police in violation of the due process of the law, to send a message to them and the others that police were ready to exact extra-judicial punishment anytime.
The police would have rather continued violating the two brothers’ rights had it not been for public pressure, that was beginning to embarrass and expose their abuses on a daily basis. They were literally forced into taking the Kaumbas to court and issuing them with bonds not because they wanted, but simply because they were pressured to.
It is such a shame that these violations are happening under President Hakainde Hichilema’s watch, despite his claims to the contrary that such violations would not be entertained under his administration. We are actually wondering how he feels seeing the actions that are happening clearly contradict his own words. Today he orders police not to detain suspects beyond 24 or 48 hours, the very next day his police officials are detaining people for two months.
He should not give Zambians the impression of someone who actually has two ‘tongues’, one used to appease the public with sweet pronouncements, and the other one for his own officials in government. Because Zambians are wondering where the police actually get the audacity to ignore repeated pronouncements from their own Commander-In-Chief against such unwarranted and abusive long detentions.
If the police were convinced that the Kaumbas or those other people they detain arbitrarily have done wrong, the best they could have done was to arrest them, and as a responsible service they should be, work towards releasing them from detention quickly so that they can have their day in court. They would do so confident in the fact that they will successfully prosecute their case in the courts of law against the suspected offenders.
Otherwise, we cannot allow Zambia to degenerate into a lawless society where the police should become the prosecutor and judge, or worse off an instrument used to commit all sorts of crimes against the suspects. Their operations should be above reproach. They should not act on matters because they have been pressured by the public into doing the right thing.
We urge Hichilema and his administration to reform these state institutions to truly serve the public purpose they were intended for. There is more to transforming these state institutions than reducing the claim to want to do something about them into mere slogan chanting during election seasons.
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