"Shoot at that Muslim": David and Goliath at Mwembechai
It was in the afternoon of 13 February, 1998 that policemen armed with live ammunition were ordered to open fire at the people who were outside the Mwembechai mosque. From the video tape of the shooting at least four people were killed and many others maimed. It is also quite clear from the tape that the aim was to kill the Muslims. In the tape the police commanders are seen and heard ordering their armed policemen to take careful aim of their targets. In two cases the first bullets wounded without killing the intended victims, and the police commander in both cases ordered his men to shoot again. And they did, with unmistakable zest and ruthlessness. The tape also shows the police dragging the bodies of the dead and throwing them into the lorries.
There is one brief scene in this tape which has always moved me to tears. The commander orders a young policeman to shoot. He shoots in the air. The commander orders him to aim his gun at the crowd. The young policeman is clearly torn between obeying his commander and obeying his conscience. The commander repeats the order. The policeman makes a brave attempt to obey his commander. He raises his gun, he looks at the crowd, but his hands become weaker and weaker, and the gun slowly falls to the ground. Was he a Muslim? Or a Christian whose conscience revolted against the idea of killing innocent human beings? I guess his name was not in the list of those policemen who were later to be praised and promoted for their fine job at Mwembechai.
But why was the commander so particular that his policemen should shoot to kill? Why was he so sure of his footing? I do not know, and we may not know the truth without an independent public inquiry. What is known is the chronology of events before and after the killings.
SOURCE:Chapter Two: Mwembechai Killings and the Political Future of Tanzania
It was in the afternoon of 13 February, 1998 that policemen armed with live ammunition were ordered to open fire at the people who were outside the Mwembechai mosque. From the video tape of the shooting at least four people were killed and many others maimed. It is also quite clear from the tape that the aim was to kill the Muslims. In the tape the police commanders are seen and heard ordering their armed policemen to take careful aim of their targets. In two cases the first bullets wounded without killing the intended victims, and the police commander in both cases ordered his men to shoot again. And they did, with unmistakable zest and ruthlessness. The tape also shows the police dragging the bodies of the dead and throwing them into the lorries.
There is one brief scene in this tape which has always moved me to tears. The commander orders a young policeman to shoot. He shoots in the air. The commander orders him to aim his gun at the crowd. The young policeman is clearly torn between obeying his commander and obeying his conscience. The commander repeats the order. The policeman makes a brave attempt to obey his commander. He raises his gun, he looks at the crowd, but his hands become weaker and weaker, and the gun slowly falls to the ground. Was he a Muslim? Or a Christian whose conscience revolted against the idea of killing innocent human beings? I guess his name was not in the list of those policemen who were later to be praised and promoted for their fine job at Mwembechai.
But why was the commander so particular that his policemen should shoot to kill? Why was he so sure of his footing? I do not know, and we may not know the truth without an independent public inquiry. What is known is the chronology of events before and after the killings.
SOURCE:Chapter Two: Mwembechai Killings and the Political Future of Tanzania
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