Brutality erodes civil rights

We are living in unprecedented times due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

But that is be no justification for the increasing intolerance and strong-arm actions by the authorities that needlessly brutalise innocent people.

Indeed, the police appear to be stuck in their old repressive days.

The heavy-handed treatment of the people who were marching in Nairobi on Tuesday to commemorate the Saba Saba day was uncalled for.

July 7 is associated with the fight against oppression that culminated in the restoration of multiparty democracy in early 1990s.

Of course, the police, who teargassed the demonstrators and arrested 50 activists, will argue that they were only enforcing the ban on public gatherings, one of the key measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

They had a right to do that but the way they went about it smacks of utter callousness.

Rounding up people whose only ‘mistake’ was joining a peaceful procession and throwing them into crowded police cells defeats the very purpose of protecting them against the deadly disease.

True, the pandemic presents the biggest health challenge in many years with nearly 160 deaths and 8,000 confirmed cases so far.

But the police must resist the tendency to brutally enforce the safety guidelines, especially where there is no direct threat to law and order.

It is unacceptable for the officers to hide behind the Covid-19 pandemic to erode the gains made from the struggle for greater freedoms.

As the conveners have rightly pointed out, they had complied with the constitutional requirement to notify the police of their intention to hold a march in the city.

The authorities must enforce the pandemic safety regulations but must not infringe on people's rights unless they breach the peace or pose a security risk.