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Zimbabwean lawyers on Tuesday condemned the police’s use of deadly force against suspected criminals, saying it violated the constitution and human rights.
The lawyers’ criticism came after a spike in violent crimes during the festive season, in which police shot and killed five suspects in December 2023.
“No one has a right to kill anyone, save for a few exceptions as governed by law,” said Dumisani Dube, a human rights lawyer. He said the police should only use lethal force as a last resort and respect the presumption of innocence.
Another lawyer, Jacqueline Sande, said the death penalty should only be carried out by the hangman, not the police. “It should only be used as a matter of life and death to preserve the police officer’s life, not as a means of deterring or convicting criminals,” she said.
But Tinashe Runganga, a lawyer, said the police were justified in using deadly force to protect themselves and the public from dangerous armed robbers.
“These are not innocent people, they are dangerous. The policy protects these officers. I think the police are professionally executing their duties,” he said.
The police denied having a shoot-to-kill policy and said they only acted in self-defence when attacked by criminals. “We will respond appropriately according to the merits of the situation when dealing with violent crimes such as armed robbery cases,” said Paul Nyathi, the police spokesperson.
He said the police had arrested seven notorious armed robbers on Sunday and three of them had died from their injuries. Jealous Nyabasa, the acting chief director of the Criminal Investigation Department, warned that anyone who touched a gun would face severe consequences.
“There is no space for armed robberies in Zimbabwe. You touch a gun, you die by the gun. We will not allow our people to suffer at the hands of armed robbers, we will deal with them severely,” he said. Kukurigo
