The assault was the latest violent attack on students by police and security forces dating back a number of years.
The latest happened on Monday night (22 February 2016)
at the Kwaluseni campus of the university, known as UNISWA.
The Times of Swaziland,
the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom ruled by King Mswati III,
sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, reported, ‘a Royal Swaziland Police
(RSP) Operational Services Unit (OSSU) casspir drove at high speed into a group
of about 2,000 students, who, when they realised that the vehicle was not
stopping, ran in all directions.
‘Ayanda Mkhwanazi, (22), a second year B-Ed-Science
student, was run over by the RSP vehicle and is fighting for her life at the
Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital.’
The newspaper added, ‘Mkhwanazi is said to have
suffered severe injuries, including a broken spinal cord, fractured ribs and
further injuries to the body, face and legs.’
The Swazi Observer,
a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, named the student as 23-year-old Andile
Mkhabela. It reported, “The official police version of
events was to the effect that Mkhabela tried to climb on the body of the
casspir and fell, thus injuring herself.
‘This was said by Chief Police Information and Communications Officer
Superintendent Khulani Mamba yesterday afternoon.
‘He denied that the casspir could have been used as a weapon by the
police and when he was asked if the officers were qualified to rush a person to
the hospital instead of waiting for paramedics considering that Mkhabela had
spinal injuries, Mamba said they were trained in first aid and acted due to the
emergency of the situation.’
The Swaziland National Union of Students (NSUS), in
a statement posted on Facebook, named
the student as Ayanda Mkhabela. The statement said
newspapers had distorted the truth to make the incident look like an accident.
SNUS said, ‘Truth of the matter is approximately 1,000
protesting students at Kwaluseni UNISWA were targeted by the police casspir
which sped to disperse them and as their desire hit our very own desperate
Ayanda Mkhabela. Upon knocking her down, as expected the casspir switched off
lights and she was taken away, fortunately to hospital.’
Students at the university have been protesting and
boycotting classes to protest about delays in registration. The university has
been closed until further notice.
Police and security forces in Swaziland routinely
violently attack students when they engage in protest.
In November 2013, police raided dormitories and dragged
students from their rooms. Later they beat up the students at local police
stations. Students had wanted the start of examinations postponed. Armed police
stood
guard outside examination halls as the UNISWA Administration
attempted to hold the exams.
In August 2012, two students were
shot in the head at close range with rubber bullets,
during a dispute about the number of scholarships awarded by the government. Reports from
the Centre for Human Rights and Development, Swaziland, said several other
students were injured by police batons and kicks.
In February 2012, police fired teargas at students
from Swaziland College of Technology (SCOT) who boycotted
classes after the Swazi Government did not pay them their
allowances.
In November 2011, armed
police attacked students at the recently-opened private
Limkokwing University. The Swazi Observer
said Limkokwing students reported that police ‘attacked them unprovoked as they
were not armed’.
The newspaper added, ‘During a visit to the
institution about 10 armed officers were found standing guard by the gate’. The
Observer said police fired as they
tried to disperse the students.
In January 2010, Swaziland Police reportedly
fired bullets at protesting university students,
injuring two of them. They denied it and said they ‘only’ fired teargas. Students
from UNISWA had attempted to march through the kingdom’s capital, Mbabane, to
call for an increase in their allowances.
See also
STUDENTS
UNDER SIEGE BY ARMED POLICE
POLICE
FLEE ROOMS AS POLICE ATTACK
BOYCOTTING STUDENTS CLOSE UNIVERSITY
POLICE
SHOOT TWO STUDENTS IN HEAD
ARMED
POLICE STOP STUDENTS PROTEST
SWAZILAND STUDENT UNREST SPREADS
STUDENTS
UNDER FIRE FROM POLICE
SWAZI
STUDENTS BEATEN TO PULP
SWAZILAND
POLICE ‘SHOOT STUDENTS’
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2010/01/swazi-land-police-shoot-students.html
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