The killing happened on Friday (12 June 2015) at the Manzini police station.
The Swazi
News, an independent newspaper in the kingdom, where media censorship is
the norm, reported that the
man ‘was suffocated using the now infamous technique known as “tubing”.’
The newspaper reported, ‘The police took the man
who worked as a barber to assist them in an investigation at about 8:30am
yesterday [Friday] and a few hours later, he was reported dead. The police
officers, as they led the suspect away, had warned his work mates that he would
not return.
‘A part of Manzini came to a standstill as about
100 sympathisers gathered at the Manzini Police station to enquire about their
colleague whom they were told died during interrogation.’
The newspaper said the man was being questioned for
being in possession of a stolen CD writer.
The
incident is one of many cases of torture reported in Swaziland where police and security services have been accused
of operating as private militias for King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland
as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
In report surveying human rights
abuses in 2012, Amnesty International stated, ‘Torture and other
ill-treatment remained a concern, with a High Court judge in April [2012]
calling for a commission of inquiry into repeated allegations by accused in
criminal trials that they had been subjected to torture, which included
beatings and suffocation.
‘Deaths under suspicious circumstances and the
failure of the authorities to ensure independent investigation and
accountability continued to cause concern. Police and members of the military
were implicated in the reported incidents.’
In
May 2012 the US
State Department investigated the use of torture in Swaziland and found,
‘Security officers reportedly used torture during interrogation, assaulted
citizens, and used excessive force in carrying out their duties. Reported
practices included beatings and temporary suffocation using a rubber tube tied
around the face, nose, and mouth, or plastic bags over the head.’
See
also
MORE POLICE TORTURE IN SWAZILAND
SWAZI STUDENT LEADER TORTURED
KING’S
PAPER SUPPORTS POLICE TORTURE
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