Thursday, March 28, 2024

Police condemned for violating suspects’ rights

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The Human Rights Commission has strongly condemned police in Kasama for failing to observe the rights of suspects.

Commission Chairperson, Pixie Yangailo, has since described the prevailing conditions at Kasama Central Police Station as pathetic.

Ms Yangailo revealed that suspects at the police station were sleeping on the floor due to lack of mattresses and blankets to cover themselves during the night.

She told ZANIS that her fellow commissioners, who inspected the police station, felt that the police were violating rights of suspects by forcing them to spend nights without beddings in the cells.

Ms Yangailo has since demanded that the police command immediately procures new mattresses and blankets for the detainees.

Ms Yangailo also said her commission was shocked and disappointed to learn that the entire Kasama district is being serviced by one police patrol vehicle.

She noted that the district is too vast for police officers to depend on a single vehicle to curb crime and urged police authorities to dispatch additional patrol vehicles to the area.[quote]

Ms Yangailo has, however, encouraged police officers to continue with their hard work of combating crime despite having shortage of transport.

Meanwhile, Ms Yangailo has bemoaned the poor state of police posts in Kasama, saying most of them lacked proper infrastructure and communication facilities.

She cited a police post in Mulenga Hill, where two police officers have surrendered a room each from their houses for use as police cell and reception respectively.

Ms Yangailo said the situation was unacceptable as the safety of police officers together with their families was at risk.

Ms Yangailo has since challenged Northern Province Police Commanding Officer, Charles Lungu, to take the concerns of the Human Rights Commission seriously as they border on the lives of people, especially police officers, who were operating under difficult conditions.

ZANIS

6 COMMENTS

  1. The workshop they had must have been very informative. We need more such meetings. Dont forget to include inmates as well.

  2. We are living in the sophiscated world where you can’t even beat a burglar who breaks into your own house for fear that he may sue you for assault.It is a crazy world isn’t it?

  3. But where did the good madam see suspects in the cells having mattresses and blankets? No one in the cells receives anything, food, blankets, space to sleep, toilets you name it, that is why people in the cells wear their clothes inside out!

  4. I DO NOT GET ANY SENSE OUT OF WHAT THE MADDAM HAS REPORTED TO THE MEDIA .The problem with HUMAN rights commissions is that they rush to the media just to make news but never mind the type of news they make.IF H.R.C wants the police cells to have mattresses and duves please donate and encourage other stakeholders to do the same.MADDAM u are a coward, you want your son and youself to find a mattress in police cell the day u will be arrested for corruptin? we want blankets in hospitals and prisons not police cells.please know how to make tourching news…

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