Police in Swaziland fired warning
gunshots as students protested about late payment of their allowances.
It is now commonplace for Swazi police to fire at civilian protests, such as student and labour disputes.
It is now commonplace for Swazi police to fire at civilian protests, such as student and labour disputes.
The latest attack on Sunday
(12 February 2017) happened after students at the University of Swaziland
(UNISWA) tried to march with a petition to the Ministry of Labour and Social
Security, following a meeting on the Kwaluseni campus.
Local media reported armed
military police from the Operational Support Services intercepted the students
who were walking down the road near the Mahhala shopping complex and fired
warning shots.
The Swazi Observer newspaper reported on Tuesday (14 February 2017),
‘about three warning shots were fired by the police as they dispersed the
students’. The students were then forced to return back to the campus.
The Times of Swaziland reported the students want to restore the 60
percent of allowances that was slashed after the implementation of a
scholarship policy during the 2011/2012 academic year.
It is common in Swaziland
for police to fire at civilians during disputes. On 6 February 2017, they fired
live
gunshots and teargas as workers at Juris Manufacturing in Nhlangano when
workers were locked out in a dispute over allegations that management planned
to purge the staff of ‘troublesome elements’.
In February 2016, Swazi
security forces attacked students at the UNISWA Kwaluseni campus by driving
an armoured troop carrier at speed into a crowd, injuring one so badly her back
was broken. Students had been protesting and boycotting classes to protest
about delays in registration.
The assault was one of many violent attacks on students by police and security forces dating back a number of years.
The assault was one of many violent attacks on students by police and security forces dating back a number of years.
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.
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
MORE POLICE GUNS AGAINST WORKERS
POLICE FIRE RUBBER BULLETS ON STRIKERS
POLICE FIRE SHOTS AT WORKERS’ PROTEST
KINGDOM
ONE OF WORST IN WORLD FOR WORKERS
STUDENTS UNDER SIEGE BY ARMED POLICE
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2013/11/students-under-siege-by-armed-police.html
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