Police have been stationed
at a university campus in Swaziland ahead of the end-of-year examination in
what has been called an act of intimidation.
This is not the first time
police have been onto University of Swaziland (UNISWA) campus.
The latest deployment is at
the UNISWA Luyengo campus. According
to the Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom,
about 20 officers were stationed around the campus, including at the main gate.
It reported, ‘The heavy presence of the officers left the students, who are
preparing for the upcoming examination, worried and intimidated.’
Police took to the campus
after students protested against a lecturer over allegations of abusive
treatment and victimisation by the academic. Local media reported more than 700
students protested and the lecturer’s car was overturned.
It is now commonplace for
police to intervene in student protests in Swaziland, where King Mswati III
rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch.
In February 2017 police
warning gunshots as students protested about late payment of their allowances. It
happened after UNISWA students tried to march with a petition to the Ministry
of Labour and Social Security, following a meeting on the Kwaluseni campus.
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 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.
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.
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 university students by police and security forces dating back a number of years.
The assault was one of many violent attacks on university 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.
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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