RIOT POLICE “ACTED IN BAD FAITH”

The Commission of Inquiry set up by the Mozambican Interior Ministry to investigate the brutal attack by members of the riot police on unarmed security guards who were demonstrating against their employer, Group Four Securicor (G4S), has reached the preliminary conclusion that they “acted in bad faith in the use of excessive force”, according to the spokesperson for the General Command of the Police, Pedro Cossa.   Cossa, who is a member of the Commission, told reporters on Tuesday that disciplinary proceedings are under way against five members of the riot police.“There are indications that some police agents acted in bad faith”, he said. “Disciplinary hearings are under way, and it is expected that criminal proceedings will also be opened”,The violence erupted on 6 April, when about a hundred off-duty security guards demonstrated outside the Maputo offices of the G4S human resource department, claiming that they had suffered unjust deductions from their wages. The demonstrators broke windows, tore up fencing, and set fire to tyres outside the building. The regular police were unable to control the crowd, and so somebody – it is still not clear who – called in the riot police.What followed were scenes of extraordinary brutality, caught on camera by Mozambican television crews. The riot police hurled themselves at the unarmed protestors, and set about beating with their truncheons anyone they caught.Although the protestors did not resist arrest, the beating continued, and television viewers could clear see how utterly defenceless protestors were beaten mercilessly.
Cossa said that the riot police platoon sent to G4S consisted of 12 men, and there was sufficient evidence to hold five of them responsible for the brutal onslaught against the demonstrators. He added that, as the investigations continued, it was possible that more members of the platoon would find themselves facing disciplinary or criminal proceedings.The behaviour of the riot police has been criticised from all sectors of Mozambican society, including by Interior Minister Alberto Mondlane himself, who ordered a thorough investigation.After all the policemen involved have been fully questioned, the Commission of Inquiry is expected to draw up a final statement on the matter.