POLICE CRUELTY
WE find it unacceptable that police officers, who ought to be professional when carrying out their onerous tasks of enforcing the rule of law are in actual fact the main culprits in breaking the law.
It is extremely worrying that police officers could be found culpable of inflicting harm on hapless children who find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
It is in this vein that we join the Human Rights Commission (HRC) to condemn the conduct of some police officers captured in a video that has gone viral interrogating a young suspect who was found handcuffed and hanging down a metal swing.
We find this kind of conduct unbecoming from a police service that boasts about being professional in its operations.
The video that has gone viral on social media shows a suspected child offender handcuffed and put on a swing, hanging upside down from a metal rod, while being interviewed by officers.
The ordeal the child went through was meant to extract a confession and identify or locate other persons believed to have been connected to the alleged offence that was committed.
That is not how crime must be fought, committing irreparable psychological damage on a child.
We agree with the HRC Principal Information Officer, Mr Simon Mulumbi that the torture and ill-treatment of the child is gravely concerning especially that it is coming from police officers who are supposed to uphold the strictest standards of professionalism.
But it appears that professionalism is least observed in the police service. There is nothing that suggests that professionalism does indeed exist within the ranks of the police service.
The onus therefore is on Inspector General of Police Graphael Musamba to ensure that thorough investigations are carried out to identify the officers appearing in the video.
We do not think Mr Musamba will have a problem identifying the culprits involved and ensure that disciplinary action is taken against them. If it leads to their dismissal from the police service, so be it. It will be good riddance.
As Mr Mulumbi said, the Zambia Police Service must quickly investigate the matter and discipline any officer who will be found wanting.
Mr Mulumbi says it is worrying that the culture of torture and ill-treatment of suspects seem to have taken root in the Zambia Police Service as it has been observed by the HRC during its continued monitoring of places of detention in the country.
As Mr Mulumbi says, the Zambia Police must take serious measures to stop any acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of suspects.
That such cruelty is being inflicted on a Zambian child is worrying in a country that has put in place the Children’s Code Act, an impressive piece of legislation that explains how children ought to be looked after by the law.
President Hakainde Hichilema on August 24, 2022, signed into law a comprehensive law governing children, the Children’s Code Act (Act No. 12) of 2022.
The act brought to an end the piecemeal approach the country has followed by repealing and replacing the key laws that had previously governed different aspects of matters relating to children: the Legitimacy Act of 1929, Juveniles Act of 1956, Adoption Act of 1995, and Affiliation and Maintenance of Children Act of 1995.
However, it is obvious that the young victim in this case did not receive any help from the government for he was not even supposed to be questioned in the absence of his parents or guardians.
Can Mr Musamba brief the nation what the child was doing at the police station?