UN to probe police brutality in SA
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Yadhana Jadoo
Police
fire rubber bullets at residents at point blank range,13 March 2014, in
Bekkersdal, Westonaria. Residents protested by blocading streets and pelting
police cars over a ellection campaign planned by the ANC. Picture: Alaister
Russell
The review, sitting in
Geneva, comes at a time of unsteadiness in the country’s political and social
climate.
A number of nongovernmental
organisations have highlighted brutality and the use of excessive force by the
South African Police Service (Saps) in their submissions to the United Nations
(UN) Committee on Human Rights, which will next week review South Africa’s
record on human rights for the first time.
The Legal Resources Center
(LRC), in its submission, quotes a recent publication by the Socioeconomic
Rights Institute, which states that the recent wave of protests has resulted in
the police “playing a significant role in managing community dissatisfaction
and frustration”.
But the government, through
the police, “has responded to the surge in protests with growing intolerance,
ranging from overtly brutal repression, including the use of disproportionate
and sometimes lethal force, to suppression through less visible means”, it
said.
“South Africa has witnessed
a tremendous increase in the number of protests, particularly those relating to
the failures of local government to deliver basic services,” the South African
Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) submitted to the UN in its overview of key
issues.
“Of concern is the high
percentage of these protests that turn violent, and the disproportionate use of
force by the police to quell demonstrations.
“According to the South
African Constitution, the right to life is absolute… However, despite these
guarantees, there continues to be high numbers of deaths at the hands of law
enforcement authorities.”
The review, sitting in
Geneva, comes at a time of unsteadiness in the country’s political and social
climate.
Contained in the list of
issues the UN seeks to gain clarity from South Africa on includes the excessive
force by police as well as allegations that some prisoners have been subjected
to electric shock treatment and psychotropic drugs.
It has further requested
updated information on Marikana, where miners lost their lives as a result of
action taken by the South African Police Service.
Contained within a report
by the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into the Marikana Massacre, which shocked
the nation in 2012, are recommendations that a panel of experts be appointed,
including independent experts in public order policing, to investigate the
world’s best practices in police do not resort to the use of weapons capable of
automatic fire.
The African Policing
Civilian Oversight Forum said it regretted that South Africa’s response to the
list of issues did not include requested statistics on the total number of
complaints of violence committed by the police that had been lodged in the past
five years.
“There are two specific
measures that South Africa can take to address incidents of torture, violence
and excessive use of force by police officials — align South Africa’s statutory
framework for the use of force with international normative standard and strengthen
the independent oversight of policing,” it said.
In an overview of
cross-cutting issues emanating from five alternate thematic reports submitted
by civil society organisations to the UN, it was stated that: “the blatant
abuse of arrest and use of force powers by the police remain largely
unpunished, and is seldom publicly condemned by the political leadership.”
Look out for regular updates
on the submissions made to the UN Human Rights Committee in upcoming editions
of The Citizen newspaper and online.
http://citizen.co.za/news/news-national/1019692/un-to-probe-police-brutality-in-sa/
