Police accused of murdering suspects

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

There are chilling allegations that police eliminate wanted criminals at
stage-managed field investigation exercises in the countryside, a highly
placed source told The Zimbabwean.
11.07.1208:59am

by Staff Reporter

According to the source, suspects regarded as dangerous criminals by police,
would be taken to remote areas and shot dead or left with permanent
disabilities. Investigating officers would claim that the suspects met their
fate as they attempted to flee lawful arrest.

“Such ill-fated field investigations are common place and hundreds of
suspects – mostly those accused of serious offences such as armed robbery
and political activists - have fallen victim to them. Dangerous criminals
with connections within the police were spared. The practice has forced a
number of junior CID officers to resign or seek internal transfer to the
uniformed section, as the gruesome practise was against their conscience,”
said the high-ranking police source.

When The Zimbabwean visited Harare Remand Prison recently, a number of
people visiting detained relatives complained about how some suspects were
either killed or injured during such investigations.

“An inmate accused of committing a serious crime was recently shot in the
leg as he reportedly attempted to flee from police custody at an undisclosed
location. Several others sustained serious dog bites under similar
suspicious circumstances,” said a concerned visitor at the remand prison.

Meanwhile, some former detainees accused plain clothes Criminal
Investigations Department officers of continuing to use severe torture as
means of extorting confessions from the accused