24 November 2008: Policing and Human Rights in Africa

Human rights are rights and freedoms that belong to all individuals regardless their nationality and citizenship. They are fundamentally important in maintaining a fair and civilized society. Police should consider that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and with human rights. Human beings, endowed with reason and conscience, should act towards one another in a sprit of brotherhood. Human rights are therefore an entitlement that nobody can give or take away.

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Respect for human rights lies at the heart of good governance. In a democratic society, it is the responsibility of the State to protect and promote human rights. All state institutions whether they are the police department, the army, the judiciary or civil administration have a duty to respect human rights, prevent human rights violations, and take active steps for the promotion of human rights. Disrespect and contempt for human rights have resulted in extremely cruel acts that have outraged the conscience of mankind. Subsequently the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest common aspiration of people across the world.

The role of the police is especially significant in this respect. The police is charged with the responsibility of maintaining order and enforcing laws. Therefore, the onus of bringing to book those who break the law – including those laws that protect human rights – lie at the doors of the police. The police’s role in preventing and controlling crime is directly related to human rights. In the performance of their duty, law enforcement officials shall respect and protect human dignity and maintain and uphold the human rights of all persons. Police officers must be governed by the fundamental principles of human rights. They should respect and protect the right to life, prohibition of torture, prohibition of slavery and forced labour, right to a fair trial, no punishment without due recourse to the law, recognition and equality before the law. Moreover, police officers must respect civil, political, economic, and social rights.

It is sadly the case that, while performing their duties, actions of the police in Africa frequently conflict with the respect for human rights. Police officers are pressured to get quick results, often with unofficial guarantees that they may use whatever possible means to accomplish the task at hand. This results in their violating human rights particularly when they investigate crimes. Crime investigation is the process by which the perpetrator of a crime, or intended crime, is identified through the gathering of facts or evidence. The primary goal of investigation is establishing facts that testify to guilt or innocence. The governing principle in this regard is presumption of innocence – being innocent until proven guilty. In today's Africa, however, the opposite is the case as police usually arrest and lock up people prior to the collection of evidence which they begin to look for after having arrested or having detained people who fall under suspicion. As a result, policing in Africa demonstrate the practice of presumption of guilt until proven innocent.

It cannot be overemphasised that respect for human rights must be a central consideration in preventing and controlling crime. Neglecting and violating human rights will invariably lead to mistrust and could result in the total breakdown in police – community relations. The public outcries against rough treatment by the police would severely demoralise and weaken the effectiveness of the police service and the government. Moreover, police officers are subject to criminal prosecution when they violate the fundamental principles of human rights. At this junction, African governments must keep this in mind and must caution their law enforcement agencies to respect and protect human rights of citizens. Infringing on human rights compromise the justice system of the country and destroy the relations between citizens and the government. The actions of the police are indeed to be closely regarded as the first step towards good governance.