Displaying items by tag: police

130,000 internally displaced Rohingya trapped in detention camps in Myanmar have no future, with little access to land or livelihoods. They depend on foreign aid and die of treatable diseases due to limited healthcare. Shelters, built in 2012 to last two years, have deteriorated. Children only attend basic classes in temporary learning spaces. The authorities are using coronavirus response measures as a pretext to harass the Rohingya, who have told Human Rights Watch (HRW) that military and police forces regularly subject them to harassment and punishment at checkpoints. Police at a checkpoint made a woman do sit-ups for thirty minutes for not wearing a mask; she was then too exhausted to move. People must perform squats at checkpoints with their hands on their ears. HRW said, ‘The reality is dire. Oppressive and systemic restrictions imposed on those remaining in Myanmar may be indicative of ongoing genocide.’

Statistics show that in the final two months of 2019 police dealt with 664 crimes involving machetes - an average of one every 130 minutes. Three years ago the deadly blades were used in only 100 crimes a month over the same period. Also the toll will be significantly higher because only 34 of the 43 police forces responded. Stabbing hotspots London and Greater Manchester refused to provide data. Rising numbers of criminals are using machetes as their weapons of choice to instil terror in victims and rival gang members. Offenders use them in violent rapes, robberies, and murders. The Home Office said that the Government is doing everything in its power to protect communities from the effects of knife crime, and is recruiting 20,000 more police officers over the next three years as well as ensuring that the most violent offenders spend longer behind bars.

Ukraine’s police demanded that the Jewish community of Kolommya provide them with a list of all members of their community and of Jewish students, with addresses and phone numbers. The demand was made to the head of the community, Jacob Zalichker, who said he would only comply when presented with a court-ordered warrant for the information. Joel Lion, Israel’s ambassador, brought the document to the attention of Ukraine’s president and two different ministries. He said, ‘I received phone calls from the highest officials of Ukraine strongly condemning this act of anti-Semitism. We will work together to improve education for the police about anti-Semitism’. Ukraine’s first Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was elected last year.

In many places, police not only fail to protect people in poverty from violence, but they are violent predators themselves. Millions of the most vulnerable people in the world live in fear of police who extort bribes and brutalise innocent citizens. This has increased during coronavirus curfews. In Kenya it is easy for a corrupt or incompetent police officer to falsely accuse and imprison or even kill an innocent person. As measures have been put in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus, there has been a spike in police abuse while enforcing the night curfew. The government’s independent policing oversight authority has documented at least 35 cases of police brutality in connection to the curfew enforcement, including twelve deaths. Other agencies report at least one death a night in the communities which the justice centres monitor.

Policing covers a vast range of issues. Often non-crime-related issues take up a considerable amount of time and resources where local needs are many and varied. Faith communities can help the police in numerous ways by engaging with and providing support to some of the most vulnerable within our communities. Within the National Policing Vision and Mission, faith communities can support them with their non-statutory requirements. The #FaithAndPoliceTogether vision is to see the police services in England and Wales work in partnership with faith groups to build safer communities and reduce demand. This will have an important role to play in bringing about community cohesion and transformation, The policing vision for 2025 stresses that the links between communities and police form the bedrock of British policing. These include parenting courses, youth services, addiction recovery services, supported housing, and much more.

The Archdeacon of London has published guidance to priests about taking precautions in the light of the spread of coronavirus, principally in terms of the risks of infection arising from administering Holy Communion. Pray for God to give wisdom to churches until the infection risk is over. After a coronavirus case emerged in London, doctors there warned that the London Underground could be a hotbed for spreading the disease across the city’s extensive transport links. After a patient in isolation at Arrowe Park Hospital tried to leave, police have now been given the power to seize people in danger of spreading coronavirus and force them into isolation in handcuffs. The World Health Organisation said that the measurement of the coronavirus outbreak could be ‘the tip of the iceberg', as thousands of cases might be undetected.

Release International is pressing Malaysia to set free a Christian pastor who was abducted in a military-style operation by fifteen men in balaclavas three years ago. His wife Susannah said, ‘There was an eye-witness to the scene. He thought it was a movie production. My children went door-to-door and found CCTV footage of the entire incident. It was a very military-style operation, well-organised, and done in about forty seconds. Last year, an officer confessed that the abduction was done by the police.’ In 2019, Malaysia’s human rights commission accused the Special Branch of carrying out two abductions - Pastor Koh and a social activist. Both were boxed in by vehicles in similar snatch operations, and have disappeared. Pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife Ruth also went missing in 2016. Pastor Koh ran Hope Community, an organisation in Kuala Lumpur helping the poorest members of society. See

Warnings from the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) about long-term funding of police services have received widespread media coverage. An estimated half a million applications are needed to fill 53,000 police officer posts, to fulfil the Government’s pledge to boost the service by 20,000. The federation calls on ministers to deliver on recent promises and rewrite funding rules by introducing at least a ten-year strategy for budgets, to allow forces to plan properly for the future instead of sticking to the current annual review. Speaking on Sky News a representative said, ‘Many promises have been made; we now need them to be turned into action.’ An estimated one in every 170 people in England and Wales will be needed if those 53,000 vacancies are to be filled. See also

Two protesters are in a critical condition after being shot in violent demonstrations and a pro-Beijing supporter was doused in flammable liquid and set alight after arguing with protesters, who are demanding greater democracy and police accountability. The pedestrian crossing where the first young protester was shot has become a site of considerable tension. He remains in a critical condition. The protester we prayed for last week after falling from a car park has since died. The police also drew firearms from their holsters in two other places but denied reports that they were ordered to ‘recklessly use their firearms’. An independent expert said that Hong Kong’s police watchdog does not have the powers or resources to cope with the scale of protests, and ‘light touch’ body probing by the police at demonstrations has a capabilities ‘shortfall’. Powers to summon witnesses need to meet the task of examining allegations against police. See also

Chow, a university student, fell from the third floor of a car park while fleeing tear gas and suffered a significant brain injury as a result. A third-year journalism student, surnamed Tang, was arrested on 2 November when covering protests in Taikoo Shing. His university’s student union said that when he was arrested, he was wearing his press card and journalists’ association membership card, and had not taken part in any of the frontline protest activities. Pray for police to respect the rights of student reporters and ensure their safety when they are performing their duties. Also, the university has asked the police commissioner for full details about a qualified St John Ambulance first aider student who suffered serious burn injuries after being hit by a tear-gas canister while performing his duties. Students and alumni are demanding that the universities condemn police violence as they handle anti-government protests.