Over the years, arbitrary arrests have been used by the government and individuals to settle scores. People have been arrested and detained as a way of fixing them for a variety of reasons. Featuring prominently among the victims are political opponents of Zanu (PF).
In the last 12 years, hundreds, if not thousands, of MDC members and supporters have been thrown into jail as a way of punishing them and deterring them from opposing Zanu (PF) rule.
Similarly, scores of journalists have been arrested on spurious grounds, with the police sometimes using sections of the law that have been judged unconstitutional.
The police, particularly the Law and Order section, is now notorious for swooping on their targets on Fridays, as a way of ensuring that they spend as much time in the cells as possible. In most of the cases, those arrested under spurious circumstances are merely warned, cautioned and released, or told that the State will proceed by way of summons.
In a number of instances, victims have spent a long time in either police cells or remand prison. This is what happened to the likes of Jestina Mukoko, a human rights activist that the government deemed a threat.
Needless to say, the State has hardly won any of the cases relating to the arbitrary arrests. Their objective has simply been to inflict as much harm as possible on perceived enemies so that, in the future, they would think twice before engaging in “acts of rebellion”.
This tactic is common in dictatorships and police states. To make matters worse, victims find it difficult to get redress over wrongful and malicious arrest, because of the complexities resident in our laws. For instance, it is not possible to claim compensation from the State, yet when police officers arrest a person, they insist that they are acting on official orders.
The new constitution should make it clear that any individual judged to have acted ultra vires in executing an arrest for vindictive purposes, whether on an order from a superior or not, should individually be held accountable and face a jail term or the burden of compensation.
In the same vein, anyone giving an order for an arbitrary arrest should also be held accountable, while the government must be sued where it is proven that it acted negligently or maliciously.
Post published in: Editor: Wilf Mbanga
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