South Africa's new police commissioner Bheki Cele is seen at the Presidential Guesthouse in Pretoria, Wednesday, 29 July 2009 (GCIS/SAPA)
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
The number of people shot and killed by South African police in 2009 increased by more than 25% on the previous year, new figures show.
The Independent Complaints Directorate say that 556 people died in 2009.
The news comes as politicians debate an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act about the use of force by police.
Recent comments by senior ministers recommending a shoot-to-kill policy have provoked a heated argument about police violence in the country.
South Africa has one of the highest rates of violent crime in the world and the country's police chief Bheki Cele has defended the use of "deadly force" by police when necessary.
But opposition parties and other rights groups claim lethal force has caused an increase in the loss of innocent lives.
In November 2009 there was outrage over the shooting of a three-year-old boy by a police officer who allegedly mistook a pipe the boy was carrying for a gun.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8587560.stm
Published: 2010/03/25 16:26:41 GMT
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