Swaziland’s Police Commissioner has promised an
investigation into police shootings after six people were killed in separate
incidents in the past three months.
Police Commissioner Isaac Magagula told local media the
police and the Director of Public Prosecutions would be the investigators.
The announcement came after an unarmed man was shot dead
in cold blood on a public bus by a plain clothed police officer. Police later
said the man had stolen copper wire before boarding the bus.
The Times of
Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom ruled by
King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, reported
Magagula said the investigation would ascertain whether police had broken
any law.
The newspaper reported, ‘Since December [2013], police
have shot and killed six suspects in different incidents in the country. The
latest case is that of a passenger who was shot dead by a plain clothes police
officer in a bus which was from Siteki.
‘On December 12, police shot and killed two suspects in
the Built It heist which occurred last year. In January, the police shot and
killed one suspect in a dramatic car chase with theft suspects at Ngogola. Also
in the same month, two suspects, who were wanted for a string of robberies,
were shot and killed by the police.’
Observers of Swaziland have for a number of years
identified a shoot-to-kill policy by police and armed forces in the kingdom. In
the past the Swazi Police have claimed they have investigated killings, but no
officer has ever been prosecuted. No independent inquiry has ever been held
into police killings.
In 2010, following a spate of police shootings, the commission chair Rev. David Matse of the Swaziland Human Rights and Public Administration Commission pleaded with the police and army to ‘consider the law before shooting at suspects’.
In 2010, following a spate of police shootings, the commission chair Rev. David Matse of the Swaziland Human Rights and Public Administration Commission pleaded with the police and army to ‘consider the law before shooting at suspects’.
He said even if a person is escaping from lawful custody, other means of arresting that person can be attempted before the suspect’s life is considered expendable.
‘When it has been necessary to take life, let there be proof that all other remedies were exhausted and that there was no other alternative,’ he said.
See also
SWAZI POLICE SHOOT-TO-KILL ON BUS
SWAZI POLICE SHOOT-TO-KILL
POLICE SHOOT TWO STUDENTS IN HEAD
POLICE SHOOT INNOCENT BYSTANDER
SWAZI GUN COPS ENDANGER CHILDREN
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