Three pregnant soldiers in
Swaziland were locked up naked in a guardroom without water, food or access to
the toilet in the latest example of bullying by the Army.
The ordeal which lasted 12
hours was a punishment for not taking part in physical exercises, the Swazi
News
reported on Saturday (6 January 2017).
The
women described as ‘heavily pregnant’ said they were no longer fit to take up intense routine exercises meant for
physical fitness. The News said it happened on 26 December
2017 at the Matsapha Army Barracks.
The News said female officers would not arrest the women and take them
to the guardhouse so male officers were called.
One of the pregnant women told
the newspaper, ‘We were shocked to see male soldiers storming our dormitories
where they dragged us and carried us to the guardroom. It was very humiliating
and it was the first of its kind.’
She said the women decided
to be naked to deter their male colleagues from dragging them to the
guardhouse.
The News reported, ‘While in the guardhouse they remained naked for
over four hours until some of their friends decided to send them clothes which
they wore for the remaining eight hours while they were still locked in.’
This was the latest example
of bullying within the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence
Force as the Army is officially known.
In January 2017, four
potential army recruits were tortured for about 90 minutes when they tried to
cheat on a run. The punishment included having to pose like a urinating dog for 20
minutes appears to have been officially sanctioned. It contravened
the United
Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
It happened at Mafutseni
during a recruitment exercise. Fifteen men had to complete a 3.2km run, but
four of them were spotted getting into a car that was to take them close to the
finishing line.
The Times of Swaziland, reported at the time that they were caught and
punished for about an hour and a half. They were ordered to do push-ups, which
were followed by sit-ups. They were also ordered to lie on their backs and face
the sun. They were also instructed to ‘sit on an invisible chair’ while holding
their ears with their hands. They were ordered to pose like a urinating male
dog for about 20 minutes.
The Army has also tortured
and humiliated civilians in Swaziland. In September 2015, the Swazi Parliament
heard that soldiers beat up old ladies so badly they had to be taken to their homes in
wheelbarrows.
Member of Parliament Titus
Thwala said that the women were among the local residents who were regularly
beaten by soldiers at informal crossing points between Swaziland and South
Africa.
In 2011, a man was reportedly beaten with guns and tortured for three hours by soldiers who accused him of showing them disrespect. He was ordered to do press ups, frog jumps and told to run across a very busy road and was beaten with guns every time he tried to resist.
In 2011, a man was reportedly beaten with guns and tortured for three hours by soldiers who accused him of showing them disrespect. He was ordered to do press ups, frog jumps and told to run across a very busy road and was beaten with guns every time he tried to resist.
His crime was that he tried
to talk to a man whose vehicle was being searched by soldiers at Maphiveni. The
man, December Sikhondze, told the Swazi Observer at the time, ‘I only asked
for a lift but they told me I was being disrespectful and that I should have
waited for them to finish. They took my cell phone and ordered me to do press
ups.’
In July 2011, three armed
soldiers left a man
for dead after
he tried to help a woman they were beating up. And in a separate incident, a
woman was beaten by two soldiers after she tried to stop them talking to her
sister.
He said that he did more
than 50 press ups and he was beaten with guns every time he asked to rest.
See also
ARMY
SEXUAL ASSAULTS AT BORDER POSTS
ARMY STRIPS BUS PASSENGERS NAKED
SOLDIERS INSPECT WOMAN’S PRIVATE PARTS
http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2017/06/soldiers-inspect-womans-private-parts.html
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