Rwandan Minister of Justice Johnston Busingye on Saturday condemned the use of excessive and at times deadly force by some police personnel while on duty during COVID-19 lockdown, saying this is not part of the operational guidelines of Rwanda National Police.
This reaction by Rwandan senior official comes after isolated incidents wherein enforcing the law, some officers use as has been witnessed in the recent past.
In recent months, there have been incidents where police have been seen to have used unnecessarily excessive force in some instances, with some resulting in the death of detainees.
The Minister of Justice made assurances that any of the incidents witnessed in the recent months of excessive force on unarmed suspects and detainees was not part of operational guidelines of the police or under instruction.
Earlier this week, Rwanda National Police confirmed the arrest one of its officers for allegedly shooting dead a civilian over the weekend during an operation to enforce directives against the spread of Covid-19 in Ngoma a district in Eastern Rwanda.
The statement issued by the Police said that “Police has arrested the officer involved in the shooting of Evariste Nsengiyumva, a resident of Zaza sector, Ngoma district.”
According to the police statement, the shooting took place at time police and local security organs enforced the nationwide 7 pm (5.00 pm GMT) curfew.
CU/abj/APA