In The Arms Of The Law

                                                    

Police brutality has always been an issue which most people refrain from speaking about. Correct me if I am wrong, but we have always associated police brutality with the unscrupulous shooting of innocent victims, aggressive behaviour of police towards citizens by pounding and beating them up; never do we think shoving and uttering derogatory commentary is considered Police brutality.

The other day I walked into a restaurant / pub with a colleague of mine and we sat to enjoy an evening meal. A few hours later, police rushed in, demanding that the place be closed down; since it was now operating out of its designated time frame. My colleague decided to grab a carry/ doggie bag for the road; seeing as he is not the cooking type. The police officer came up to me and demanded that I evict the premises. I only just answered him to say; not a problem officer, but may I leave the premises of the establishment soon as my colleague has finished purchasing his meal. That was supposedly an act of defiance in his eyes, as he frantically grabbed me by my bag and shoved me to the exit door. 

I lost my step and almost tripped and fell. That was not enough for him as he went on to call his colleagues; ‘’this boy is defying my orders, who are you to defy me? I might as well just arrest him right now.  Oh wait, it’s not a boy, it’s a whore’’. In vernacular he said;''yasichaphata kants, ngtokubopha mine nyalo,ungbani vele wena ngwadla”. At that moment, I just knew this was no-longer just about me waiting for my colleague, but more on posing as a threat to him. Supposedly my sexuality and gender identity now posed as a threat to him.

Police brutality goes way beyond beating an innocent person; it delves into the treatment of an un-armed civilian (a mere civilian who poses no threat). As described by Martinelli in 2007, police brutality is the use of excessive, un-required and unnecessary effort by a law enforcement officer over an un-armed civilian in a particular situation. Although there is no basic description of what amount of aggressiveness can be defined as leading to brutality, shoving someone such that they almost reach the floor is, I, believe a characteristic of such. The psychological intimidation, verbal utterances on-their-own, led to a night of wrestles sleep.

Is it not that as a country we uphold the non-discrimination of individuals in relation to ‘’gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, tribe, birth, creed or religion, or social or economic standing, political opinion, age or disability”? This is in accordance with Chapter III Section 20 (2) of the Constitution of Eswatini. His utterances on my gender identity disregarded this, and blatantly undermined this law.

Police brutality is in-fact a civil rights violation and by so doing, a police officer or law enforcement officer tends to violate the human rights of the victim. Chapter III of the Constitution of Eswatini, section 14 (1) (e) states that ;the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the individual enshrined in this Chapter are hereby declared and guaranteed, namely protection from inhuman or degrading treatment, slavery and forced labor, arbitrary search and entry. When loosely translated, this simply means; no one can be placed in prison without a good reason, be detained without trial; be tortured in anyway or be treated or punished in a cruel, inhumane or degrading way. 

Inhumane treatment from law enforcers and degrading treatment in the context of name calling is indeed a breach of this law. This law directly coincides with the Universal Declarations of Human Rights article 5 and 6. These state that; No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Cohesively, Article 6 alludes that everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law. Law enforcers are the law in context and they should that I am a human worthy of respect and dignity.

Swati citizens have a right to be free from all forms of violence from either public or public sources (including law enforcers themselves). Upholding the law serves as part of the law enforcers duty, but if that police officer violates the law; who then takes him to task? How then do I as an individual trust the system of justice?  On the fateful day, if I had tripped during the shoving and hurt myself, who would have catered for my medical expenses? What could have been the narrative thereafter? Police officers often tend to abuse their powers and continue to enforce brutality in the color of the law. The statements uttered by the officer were undeniably degrading. What impression had I given to make him believe I was now a whore? Under what pretext was I now defying the law such that I deserved to be arrested?

How then are we meant to trust our police officers? Are we meant to believe they shall uphold the law without prejudice and any means of brutality? Does justice exist in our dearly beloved Eswatini? Let justice prevail!!!