Malawi police tops on human rights abuse institutions, says Attorney General

Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale has said the police brutality and human rights abuses constitute to 30 percent of cases reported to his office, the highest among government departments.

“This forces the government to pay huge sums of money in compensation when the victims sue,” said Kaphale.

He was speaking in Lilongwe when his office organised a workshop for the law enforcers on lawsuits the government is settling as a result of the police failure to uphold humanrights and rule of law.

“Thirty percent of the cases reported to my office are of injustices by the police. The police are infringing on the rights of people they are supposed to protect,” he said.

He said regular complaints are battering, false arrest and insults.

He said police officers claim they do that because they get orders from the top.

Kaphale said this is costing the governmen huge sums of money in compensation after lawsuits.

Inspector general of police Lexten Kachama warned the police would take stern action against police officers who take the law into their own hands.

He said there are laid down procedures on how the police should handle suspects. He said it was not true the police get orders from their superiors to victimise people or suspects.