Cops slammed over church raid

2008-02-01 07:34

Johannesburg - A raid on the Central Methodist Church here appeared to have been directed at homeless people and asylum seekers amid "disgraceful" police behaviour, said human-rights groups on Thursday.

Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) spokesperson Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, and Duncan Breen of the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (Cormsa) said police allegedly used batons and dogs to clear residents out of the building before asking any of them for their immigration permits.

The raid took place in the church at 23:00 on Wednesday night.

Officers at the scene cited drugs, guns and "illegal foreigners" as the purpose of the raid, said Cormsa.

Police allegedly broke through a large number of doors inside the church and stole cellphones, television sets and the contents of the church's poor relief fund.

Breen said the police reportedly did not find any drugs or weapons in the church.

Asylum seekers with valid permits were arrested alongside hundreds of others who have been unable to get documentation to legalise their stay in South Africa.

Ramjathan-Keogh said the Home Affairs Department had failed to issue documents to the refugees indicating their immigration status in the country.

The Johannesburg refugee reception office in Rosettenville has remained closed since 2005 despite several High Court orders to re-open it. All Johannesburg-based asylum seekers were compelled to go to the refugee office in Pretoria.

The Immigration Act stipulates that searches, with or without a warrant, must be carried out during the day, unless expressly authorised for execution at night.

'Respect the rule of law'

Ramjathan-Keogh said the act also stipulated that searches must be conducted with "strict regard to decency and order" which included the right to the protection of dignity, freedom and security, and personal privacy.

"Any raid targeting illegal foreigners should be carried out in conjunction with the Department of Home Affairs, yet there was little evidence of a home affairs' presence during this particular raid," said Ramjathan-Keogh.

Breen said that Cormsa called on the police services to uphold their own administrative processes and the rule of law, and to respect the rights of documented and undocumented non-nationals in South Africa as provided for in the South African Constitution.

Cormsa also called on home affairs to provide the timely provision of asylum documentation for asylum seekers and refugees.

- SAPA