Maravi

Policing UNZA protests

Policing UNZA protests
By Editor
Tuesday May 27, 2008 [04:00]

By and large, protests are recognised and accepted as an effective and powerful weapon for pushing through demands. And demonstrations are a peaceful form of channeling anger that we should learn to tolerate as a nation. But in this country, it is not easy to protest or demonstrate peacefully. Even the most innocent of demonstrations or protests is frustrated or stopped by the police. And sometimes this is done in a violent way by the police.

This intolerance has discouraged the development of a culture of peaceful demonstrations. There seems to be a belief that every demonstration is an act of violence. This shouldn’t be so because one of our strongest weapons is dialogue. And demonstrations are part of that dialogue in a nation.

The rights of all individuals and their practical implementation must be acknowledged, protected and fostered, together with the public duties binding all our people.

And when a government seeks to suppress demonstrations of unarmed people, unarmed students by shooting at them, it is conceding a fundamental weakness on its part.

We have on several occasions over the last 17 years condemned violent demonstrations or protests by our students. Barbaric or savage behaviour by students stoning motor vehicles on Great East Road is something that should be squarely condemned and those responsible should be arrested and prosecuted.

Last week’s stoning of automobiles on Great East Road by University of Zambia students was disgraceful and deserves to be condemned.

But equally, the police’s brutal response to this irresponsible and barbaric behaviour by University of Zambia students was also very disgraceful.

Shooting an unarmed student in the chest is attempted execution. It cannot be described in any way as an act of self-defence on the part of the police. The police officers who shot and injured those two students committed a criminal offence for which they should be arrested and prosecuted.

We say this because the right of equal protection before the law, or equal protection of the law, is fundamental to any just and democratic society. Whether the students were wrong or right in their conduct, they are entitled to equal protection of the law as any other citizen of this country. They should not be executed in a summary manner. Our laws don’t allow that. We are all entitled to equal protection of the law – and it doesn’t matter how grave the crime we have committed.

We do recognise and accept the fact that the state must have the power to maintain order and punish criminal acts, but the rules and procedures by which the state enforces its laws must not be arbitrary, must not be left to the whims or emotions of a police officer on duty.
The police have a duty to follow the laws in whatever they do; they are not licenced to execute people anyhow.

The pursuit of justice must be a fundamental norm of the state. And a government that relies on the brutality of the police to solve problems is bound to come to grief. Government violence can only do one thing, and that is to breed counter violence.

And for all our frustrations with our students and other young people, let us not forget their contribution to the governance of our country and to our efforts to create a more just, fair and humane society. All over the world, it is young people who are actually involving themselves in the struggles to eliminate injustice and unfairness. They are the ones who most quickly identify with the struggles for the creation of a more just, fair and humane world.

Young people are capable, when aroused, of bringing down the towers of injustice and raising the banners of justice. Our youths have the capacity to enjoy life and its freedom but they need guidance on how best to do this. They don’t need to be shot at when they get things wrong, when they lose their bearings.

A society which values its future affords the highest priority to giving correct guidance to all its young people. Young people have the right to be stimulated to make sound moral judgement based on a well-informed conscience.

We should admire young people who are concerned with the affairs of their community. The future of our country depends on these young people. And if this is truly so – which it is – then a decision on which the future of our country will depend should not be left to the impulses of an armed police officer’s emotion and passion. We have a duty to protect these young people from their inexperience instead of shooting at them when they are wrong.

It is the character of growth that we should learn from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences.

But one thing we should avoid doing at all costs is to turn our young people, our students into imbeciles. If one is not militant as a youth, they will never be militant in their later life. If one is insensitive as a student, they will never be sensitive after they graduate.

We need to help our young people to see things for themselves, to listen for themselves, to think and analyse things for themselves. This requires a lot of tolerance on the part of society, especially the political leadership, because young people, students can sometimes be very obnoxious, cantankerous and some of them can even have anarchist tendencies. But more tolerant societies are able to get the best out of these young people – for all their problems.

For this reason, the type of policing that we saw last week at the University of Zambia should not be tolerated, should be squarely condemned. The police officers who wounded the two students should be arrested and made to face prosecution. We will not be the first country to do this. Even in war situations, we have seen or heard of soldiers being prosecuted for not following rules or procedures in the execution of their duties.

We need discipline among our students – and a lot of it for that matter. This business of students blocking Great East Road and stoning motor vehicles must come to an end for it is stupid, inhuman and barbaric.

Why should innocent motorists be injured and have their automobiles damaged simply because the students are not happy with the government? Some of the people who get injured in these actions are not even citizens of our country, they don’t even vote in our elections but they are made to pay for the undesirable decisions of our political leaders. Why should this be so?

We urge our students to have a sense of justice, fairness and a humane attitude towards their fellow citizens and other human beings.

It will be better for them to seek justice with no blood on their hands. These little savages who stone motor vehicles on Great East Road are not fit to be members of the University of Zambia Students Union that has a glorious history, that has produced great leaders for our country, including our current Republican President who was once its vice-president.

As for the police, we urge the police command to do everything possible and identify the officer or officers who were responsible for the shooting of those students and bring them to book. Conduct of this nature is not helping the police, it is actually tarnishing its image.

Labels: POLICE BRUTALITY, UNZA

posted by MrK @ 3:37 AM