HARARE - Germany has pledged to assist Zimbabwe police with training and equipment to set up a DNA laboratory in Harare, Co-Home Affairs Minister Theresa Makone has said. (Pictured: Home Affairs Minister Theresa Makone)
Makone, who returned from Germany last week where she held talks with Berlin’s deputy chief of police, said the government with the help of the Germans was planning to set up Zimbabwes first DNA forensics facility in Harare.
The forensic laboratory will go a long way in curbing unjustifiable arrests,” Makone said. She added: “If you cannot test for DNA, blood or anything picked from a crime scene, police end up beating up suspects until they submit to doing things they would not have done.
By the time the police discover a persons innocence, it would be too late and they would have been denied justice and lost a few years of their time. This will be an opportunity for Zimbabwe to join the rest of the world in having state of the art equipment for crime detection.
The police have been repeatedly accused of law using torture, excessive force, arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention to extract confessions especially from opposition supporters and human rights activists.
The Forensic Laboratory is expected to routinely receive and analyse evidence from police and fire departments.
Post published in: News