THE Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has flagged the shoot-to-kill policy of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) when dealing with armed robbers after it emerged that some of the incidents now resemble the extrajudicial execution of suspects by the police.
BRENNA MATENDERE
Ahead of Christmas last year, police detectives from the Harare Criminal Investigations Department’s homicide section shot and killed robbery suspect Godkows Machingura (44) in Harare.
According to the police report, the homicide officers trailed Machingura and his five friends who included Paul Zhou and Jabulani Ngobeni after they were tipped off on their plot to commit several robberies, including hits on some prominent individuals.
The police report said Machingura succumbed to a gunshot wound in the groin after the shootout in Harare’s Arcadia suburb.
However, his family has since disputed the police account of the matter, insisting Machingura was a victim of police execution after five bullet wounds were observed on is body during a post-mortem.
The family said he had two shots in the head, one gunshot below the ribs, and two gunshots on his legs.
This week, The NewsHawks obtained the original copy of the autopsy results compiled by a Harare pathologist which confirms the family’s account.
It says his cause of death was not natural. The pathologist outlines three reasons for Machingura’s death which point to police execution.
The autopsy report says he had lung wounds, gunshot wounds and suffered haemorrhagic shock.
According to Healthline Media, Inc, an American provider of health information headquartered in San Francisco in the United States, haemorrhagic shock is caused by heavy blood loss, which can be caused by internal or external bleeding.
Before Machingura’s shootout case, there have also been several incidents where police either say an armed robber was shot dead while fleeing during indications.
Indications are incidents when police, after arrest, take a suspect to the crime scene to understand and gather evidence of the criminal activity.
The suspects would usually be coming from police custody.
In an interview with The NewsHawks this week, Wilbert Mandinde, the acting director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, said his organisation is concerned with what seems to be police executions of robbers. He said police must always endeavour to arrest suspects and take them to court.
“As the Zimbabwe Human rights NGO Forum we are concerned about the police shoot-to-kill policy. We want to start by applauding the good work the police do in apprehending criminals; certainly that’s something which has to be commendable.
“And we also are clear that police should also work to protect themselves. That is a use of defence as and when they are under attack. We certainly have no problem with police doing that.
“We are however concerned about the high rate of these shootings that are currently happening at the moment. And there is every scope for us to believe that police are simply executing all suspected armed robbers. We believe that is wrong,” he said.
Mandinde said at law, the police do not have the mandate to execute suspects.
“Police do not have the mandate to do that. Police should arrest and take people to court where they could be tried, convicted and sentenced. We are worried about this particular thing that we tend to hear that people either attempt to escape or grab guns and fight over guns with police.
“And we always wonder whether when they take these armed robbers out for incident, they do not use leg irons, for example, or handcuff them at the back,” he said.
Mandinde said it boggles the mind that political prisoners are put in leg irons, yet suspected armed robbers who are taken to the crime scene for indications are not put in leg irons.
“As we have seen with other cases, including cases of political prisoners, we would see Jacob Ngarivhume coming to court in leg irons. We would see Job Sikhala coming to court in leg irons. But we are wondering whether the leg irons are only for political prisoners and not meant also to be used on armed robbers?” he asked.
“. . . We are also concerned about the delays in coming up and finalising the selection of the commissioners for the Zimbabwe Independent Complaints Commission.”
Mandinde, who is a former magistrate, said an independent complaints commission to look into the conduct of police regarding the upholding of human rights is key.
“We believe that there must be a Zimbabwe Independent Complaints Commission which is properly instituted and properly independent. It will be in a position to then carry out proper inquiries into these complaints that we now have against the police because we do not believe that the police have the capacity to investigate themselves in this particular matter,” he said.
