By JULIUS PHIRI and MILDRED KATONGO –

.Ngoma

COPPERBELT University students have told the Human Rights Commission that overzealous police sent to quell last week’s disturbances at the Kitwe campus made off with money, laptops and mobile phones.And the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) has said that the conduct exhibited by some of the police officers in the unfortunate incident could have the effect of eroding the positive strives Zambia has made in promoting and protecting human rights and tarnish the country’s image.
In interviews with a team of HRC investigators, the students are also said to have complained that police broke doors to hostels to drag out even those who had nothing to do with the riot, brutalising them mercilessly and taking them away to be detained.
In a Press statement released yesterday, the HRC spokesperson Mweelwa Muleya said students complained that during the police operation, during which scores of them were detained by police, some of them claimed to have lost such valuables as money, mobile phones and laptops from their rooms and accused the police of being responsible.
The students were interviewed over two days by HRC officers following last week’s rioting at the campus ignited by delayed allowances and the suspension of the student’s representative body, COBUSU.
He said during its investigations, the HRC interacted with the Zambia Police Service, including Copperbelt Police Commissioner Charity Katanga, the CBU Management through the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Naison Ngoma, the interim CBU Students Union, students , management and doctors who attended to the injured students at Kitwe Central Hospital and at the CBU Clinic.
Mr Muleya said the HRC also attended Friday’s meeting between the students and the Ministry of Higher Education Permanent Secretary Mabvuto Sakala who was accompanied by Kitwe District Commissioner Binwell Mpundu, Kwacha Member of Parliament Joseph Malanji and CBU management on 15th December 2017.
“The investigations were in line with Article 230 (3) a of the Zambian Constitution which mandates HRC to investigate and report on the observation of human rights and freedoms,” he said.
He said the HRC’s findings were due to delayed payment of meal allowances was the cause of the students’ unrest who started protesting on  5  December 2017.
“On that day, one (1) student was arrested. On 6th December 2017, four (4) more students were arrested. On Friday 8th December 2017, another 23 students were arrested from their rooms after the police, who had kept vigil for four days at the CBU campus gate, pursued them after students allegedly stoned them and verbally abused them,” he said.
He said the students and other stakeholders informed HRC that some students confronted the police officers at the campus gate after allegedly hearing a 19:00 hours news item to the effect that the
Government had suspended payment of meal allowances to students.
Mr Muleya said it was the HRC’s view that the police should refrain from breaking into hostels and using excessive force when dealing with on-campus student disturbances and for improved dialogue based on mutual respect and trust between the Government and Students who are on the Bursary Scheme.
He said there was need for proactive attention to students needs as opposed to the apparent reactive approach after students have protested.
“The call to students to stop the practice of stoning and verbally abusing police officers assigned to maintain law and order at the campuses because it is the constitutional mandate of police officers to maintain law and order as well as protect life and property.
Stoning and verbally abusing police officers or any individual or group of individuals for that matter is a violation of their inherent rights and dignity,” he said.
Mr Muleya also said the view of the HRC that there should be no witch-hunt of suspected students ring leaders in the protest as that may lead to victimisation and violation of their right to education and to freedom of expression.
“The HRC is making the recommendations against the back ground of increased complaints of police officers pursuing protesting students into their campuses as it happened during the recent protest at the Copperbelt University (CBU) where Police Officers broke into rooms of some students, tear -gassed, physically assaulting them before detaining them,” he said.
Higher Education Minister Nkandu Luo criticised police conduct in the incident as heavy-handed in Parliament last week with her PS telling the students during last Friday’s meeting that Government would pay for the cost of repair to the damage caused to their rooms.
The LAZ  Council said the association was concerned that despite the Bill of Rights guaranteeing every citizen various fundamental rights and freedom, some police officers who were legally mandated to ensure citizens enjoyed rights were in fore-front denying students their constitutional rights.
They hoped that the police officers who assaulted and brutalized the students would be identified and brought to book.
“LAZ joins various stakeholders in condemning the brutal assault of CBU students by some police officers deployed to quell a protest.LAZ hopes that an amicable means of allowing students to air their grievances peacefully through student leadership will be found in order to avoid such occurrences in the future,” they said.
The council said in accordance with the it’s mandate, it would engage Government through the ministries of Higher Education and Foreign Affairs on how such unfortunate and avoidable incidents could be averted in future.