Security ought to be careful on tear gas use

What you need to know:

The issue:

Use of tear gas

Our view: 

A review of the use of chemicals in crowd control is something the security agencies, particularly the police, should consider.

Given the often turbulent times of political campaigns, police may need to employ crowd control measures to quell riots and restore order.

However, over time, we have seen increasing use of tear gas, formally known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator, a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears.

Exposure to tear gas may produce short term or long term health effects, based on how, where and to whom it is applied.

 As the electoral season gets underway, there has been increased use of tear gas in various parts of the country and for various reasons.  A TV broadcast showed officers lobbing canisters of tear gas on a motorway in western Uganda as one of the presidential candidates was passing through on his way to the campaign venue.

In this instance, canisters were being thrown in the direction of oncoming traffic, which included, among others, a fuel tanker.

 In another instance, a candidate was being asked to move their venue of campaigns from the vicinity of a hospital as it was anticipated that tear gas would be used and might affect the sick occupants of the nearby hospital.

However, perhaps the issue to address is the Police’s increasing reliance on tear gas.

Community policing and dialogue might prevent the escalation of tensions in some instances, reducing the need to constantly rely on brute force and chemical agents to disperse crowds. There have been a number of reports of injuries arising from tear gas and its use in the past.

A review of the use of chemicals in crowd control is something the security agencies, particularly the police, should consider.

At some point during this election season, the authorities should stop to consider the existing crowd control protocols and how tear gas is deployed. What is the justification for its use in every instance and could there have been alternatives?

The current atmosphere is not one we should accept without question. It has become almost a foregone conclusion that at certain political gatherings, tear gas will be deployed.

The situation deteriorated so much that recently a gathering of rather harmless religious and cultural leaders in Mityana was dispersed with tear gas, leaving the elderly and other vulnerable people in tears, not just from the gas but also from disappointment at how low the force had sunk in its efforts to maintain law and order.


Our commitment to you

We pledge:

To be accurate and fair in all we do.

To be respectful to all in our pursuit of the truth.

To refuse to accept any compensation beyond that provided by Monitor Publications Ltd. for what we do in our news gathering and decision-making.

Further, we ask that we be informed whenever you feel that we have fallen short in our attempt to keep these commitments.