Police fire teargas into commuter omnibus, break international law
By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |
Police on Wednesday broke international rules on the use of tear-smoke when they launched a fuming canister into a commuter omnibus with passengers.
The shocking incident occurred in central Harare during protests against worsening poverty, police brutality and human rights abuses under President Robert Mugabe’s government.
A video circulating online captures the event in which the commuter omnibus driver almost rams into other cars on a deserted road as the vehicle is almost engulfed in teargas fumes.
Police descended heavily on protesters using the #MyZimbabwe banner that was launched by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-) youth assembly on Wednesday.
In the video, police beat up passengers in the kombi and, as the driver speeds off, one police detail throws a teargas canister into the passenger vehicle.
Watch shocking Video on Nehanda TV
Under international conventions and local police riot regulations, tear smoke must not be launched into confined spaces.
The driver at one time stops and then takes off again in apparent confusion as people on the streets run away from the kombi and teargas.
In July, police reportedly caused the deaths of a toddler and an old man when they fired teargas into a block of flats in Bulawayo.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) dispatched one of its commissioners to investigate the matter but his findings are not yet out.
During the July demonstrations against an imports ban, corruption and President Robert Mugabe’s government, police were accused of heavy-handedness that included assaulting women and children, torturing protesters and setting dogs on them.
Jonathan Moyo, the Zanu PF Higher and Tertiary Education minister, recently used Twitter to rap the police for its cruel response to protests, saying that gave Zimbabwe a bad reputation.
Diplomats, political parties and human rights defenders have also condemned police brutality. Nehanda Radio
