A police officer beats a female orange vendor on a street in Kampala,
Uganda, on March 26, 2020, after President Yoweri Museveni directed the
public to stay home for 32 days starting March 22, 2020 to curb the
spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus. PHOTO | BADRU KATUMBA | AFP
Soldiers tower over youngsters in South Africa's Soweto
township, forcing them to do push-ups and roll on the floor as
punishment for not adhering to a lockdown meant to halt the spread of
coronavirus.
Caught on camera and circulated on social
media, they added to a string of videos purporting to show violence by
security forces deployed to enforce curfew and confinement across
Africa.
Rubber bullets, tear gas and whips have
been used to maintain social distancing in shopping queues and to
discipline citizens caught outside their homes without valid reason.
"It
seems to be the only way in which authorities know how to deal with the
populace, through violence and humiliation," said Amnesty
International's Shenilla Mohamed, executive director for South Africa,
adding that abuse had also been reported from Zimbabwe, Kenya and
Nigeria.
South African police are investigating the
deaths of three citizens allegedly killed by patrols for defying the
lockdown, which came into force last Friday.
"That's
almost the same amount of people that have died from coronavirus," noted
Mohamed, referring to the nation’s latest death toll of five.
One person was allegedly shot by police on his way home from a
bar—a direct breach of regulations prohibiting the sale of alcohol
during the 21-day shutdown.
Defence Minister Nosiviwe
Mapisa-Nqakula has condemned the reported heavyhandedness and vowed to
withdraw soldiers caught abusing their powers.
Intimidation tactics
To date coronavirus has infected more than 5,690 people in Africa and killed at least 195, according to an AFP tally.
The
pandemic has been slow to reach the continent, despite an acceleration
in recent weeks, and numbers remain relatively low compared to other
parts of the world.
Dozens of African governments
have made use of the extra time to roll out curfews and shutdowns
earlier than their worst-hit counterparts in the West.
But
such measures are difficult to enact in countries where most people
live in poverty and work informally, often in packed urban slums with
little access to sanitation.
"If we take measures
which starve everybody, they will quickly end up being defied," said
Benin's President Patrica Talon on Sunday, adding that his country
lacked the means to enforce public confinement.
As
governments have struggled to keep citizens indoors, their security
forces have been quick to fall back on intimidation tactics, raising
widespread concern.
"It is unacceptable to see such
inhuman and degrading treatment against the population," tweeted Nicolas
Simard, Canada's ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in
response to a video of masked policemen beating a young man to the
ground in the capital Kinshasa, which went into lockdown last week.
'Excessive' and 'detestable'
"This
is uncalled for and inappropriate," tweeted Mombasa governor Hassan
Joho after police charged hundreds of commuters waiting for a ferry in
Kenya’s port city.
Clad in riot gear, they fired tear
gas at the crowd before the start of a dusk-to-dawn curfew, forcing
people to the ground and whipping them.
The Mombasa Law Society denounced the police intervention as "excessive" and "detestable".
Uganda's
army meanwhile apologised for a "high-handed" response after security
forces violently cleared the streets in the capital Kampala, causing an
outcry.
In a separate incident, two men were hospitalised after being shot by police for violating a restriction on public transport.
Footage from Senegal surfaced last week showing policemen beating people found outside after a night curfew.
In one video, officials force three young men to do squats after they were caught exercising at night.
"No
torture, no inhuman degrading treatment and no excessive use of force,"
pleaded Amnesty International's former West and Central Africa director
Alioune Tine.
Police eventually assured that all "excessive interventions" had been punished.
Innocent victims
Yet the risk of a beating has done little to stop citizens across the continent from pursuing their daily activities.
The
need to make a living trumps both fears of catching the deadly virus
and encountering the police, prompting law enforcement officers to step
up their show of force.
More than 1,100 people have
been arrested for lockdown violations in South Africa, while Ivory Coast
has detained 450 for failing to respect curfew.
Ivorian Human Rights Movement (MIDH) chief Doumbia Yacouba said many of the detainees had been beaten and mistreated.
"It is unacceptable and it adds to the psychosis created by coronavirus," he said.
Further
cause for concern emerged when Kenyan police called for an inquiry into
the death of a 13-year old boy felled by a bullet allegedly fired by
police as they cleared a slum area last week.
In South Africa, three young children were wounded when security officials allegedly opened fire against a man.
Human Rights Watch has called for urgent investigations into all abuse allegations and "disproportionate" use of force.
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