“Abusive policing isn’t just an African problem. But it is pervasive across so many African countries that, you know, that question is appropriate,” said Mausi Segun, the Human Rights Watch Africa director, speaking from Abuja. She said there is a “foundational failure of the institutions to be fit for purpose”, and African police forces have long treated citizens like “subjects”.
“You can’t build on a faulty foundation,” Segun said.
She observed that low-income people tend to suffer violence disproportionately, no matter where they are in the world.
“If you look at the trajectory of police excesses: the excessive use of force, the use of lethal weapons to contain civil demonstrations – most of the time peaceful – they are usually utilised predominantly in low-income communities,” Segun said. “The economic status and the social status of the victims play a huge part in the way that they are treated by police.”
Amid the pandemic, Segun acknowledged that accurate counts of brutality are hard to nail down. At the same, she said, it was crucial to document specific cases to represent the wider problem, and to restore dignity and humanity to the victims of police violence, even in death.
Chungong, at International Alert, said the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the need for a move towards community-centered policing that addresses the root causes of crime and insecurity, rather than using the police as a “repressive force” who are “protecting the interests of a particular group.”
Security officers who misbehave must face sanctions, with institutional mechanisms for meaningful oversight, she added. That means reforming recruitment practices, training, workplace culture, and remuneration, Segun said. “Otherwise, what we have is a system that permits and actively encourages impunity.”
