Africa, Headlines, Human Rights

RIGHTS: Need to Police African Police

Sanjay Suri

LONDON, Jun 13 2006 (IPS) - A set of reports released in Tanzanian capital Arusha has called for a reform of “corrupt, violent and brutal” policing ways in East African countries.

The set of five reports that look at policing in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were released as part of a two-day roundtable on police and police reforms in East Africa hosted by Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and the East Africa Law Society.

“The people of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are suffering under police forces that too often are corrupt, violent and brutal tools of government,” CHRI director Maja Daruwala said at the launch of the reports Monday. “This type of policing is at direct odds with the claims of democracy made by the governments of East Africa.”

The first three reports launched by Deputy General of the East African Community Customs Union, Peter Kiguta, look at police accountability in the three East African countries. Each of the reports on the police, the people, and the politics in each country looks at the development of the police force, examines the issues facing the police, and considers the legislative and political frameworks that the police operate within.

Two further reports were released on the impact of government budgets on policing in Kenya, and on the impact of government budgets on policing in Uganda.

“Corrupt, violent and ineffective policing is – sadly – the reality in far too many Commonwealth African nations,” Clare Doube from the CHRI told IPS in an email interview from Arusha. The three national reports, she said, have “a particular focus on illegitimate political control of the police.”

As a solution, she said the reports advocate greater accountability. “Impunity must not be tolerated and police at all levels must be held accountable for their actions,” she said.

Policing across the three countries fits a pattern, Doube said.

“The central failings of the police in each of the three countries are linked to their colonial history,” she said. “Colonial, regime policing designed to keep rulers in power continues to exist, despite the decades of independence and democracy.”

This central failing manifests itself in many ways, she said, “in the way that the police is structured and administered, in the inter-linking with the military, in the relationship between the executive and police leadership, which in turn impacts on the quality of policing that we see in these three countries.”

What is needed is to move from this regime policing to democratic policing – the only type of policing appropriate to a democracy, Doube said.

“Any genuine move towards greater democratisation of a country will include greater democratisation of the police, as one of the most important agencies of the state – and one of the most visible to citizens,” Doube said. “While there may have been some positive improvements in East Africa, recent history shows regression from the ideals of democracy, both broadly as well as in policing.”

In an attack on media in Kenya in March, the police and mercenaries attacked media houses, which reflected clear political manipulation of the police, Doube said.

The four-year research has highlighted multiple areas of concern, Doube said. Some of these include:

– illegitimate political interference and partiality of the police

– militarisation of the police, which should remain a civilian agency

– violence, brutality, excessive use of force and torture

– corruption

– secrecy and lack of transparency

– inadequate resources and poor conditions for the police

– lack of accountability and impunity for misdeeds

“The role of police is to protect the community,” said Daruwala, “In Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, they protect the governments.”

The launch of the reports was an excellent first step on the path to police reform in East Africa, Daruwala said. “The region is moving towards democracy. Old, regime style police forces have no place in the new countries of East Africa.”