“Extra-judicial killings at the behest of the state have become an unprecedented phenomenon, often taking place in broad daylight,” so claims former President Ian Khama in a dossier that he has just published.
In another part of the dossier, he laments “a disturbing phenomenon in the country where security agents have turned into executioners who carry out what opinion leaders have termed extra-judicial killings often done in broad daylight. In one instance, a mass killing followed a public announcement by a minister of state ordering law enforcement agents to eliminate criminals.”
While not specific, Khama is referring to the macabre drama that unfolded in a Gaborone residential district (Phase 2) last year. A group of 10 armed robbers – fresh off a job at the Main Mall, were gunned down by an elite strike force from a Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) base in Sebele, which is in the outskirts of Gaborone.
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