Workers in Swaziland
(eSwatini) are to march in protest against police brutality in the kingdom,
ruled by absolute monarch King Mswati III.
Police recently used live ammunition,
rubber bullets, teargas and water cannon against public service workers engaged
in legal protests. The police and security forces have a long
history of using violence against striking workers and people demonstrating for
democracy.
Political parties are
banned from contesting elections in Swaziland and groups advocating for
democracy are banned under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
The protest on 31 October
2019 will include marches to deliver petitions to the Ministry
of Public Service, Ministry of Labour and Social
Security, Ministry of Education and Training and the police headquarters in the
Swazi capital, Mbabane.
Earlier this month (October 2019), the International
Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) condemned police brutality during the public
servants’ strike where more than 30 people were injured by police.
ITUC General Secretary Sharan
Burrow said in a statement, ‘Respect for workers’ rights, good faith
dialogue and a government that responds to people’s needs and concerns – just
like any other country, this is what Eswatini needs, not state violence against
the people. eSwatini’s King Mswati pledged to us earlier this year to build
these bridges, yet now we are seeing the government pulling all stops to
undermine them.’
In a letter
addressed to Swazi Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, the ITUC said, ‘The use of
violence, even for purported reasons of internal security, constitutes a
serious violation of human and trade union rights.’
In the letter to the PM, ITUC, which represents 207
million workers across 163 countries,
called for an ‘urgent and impartial investigation’ into the police
shootings.
Swaziland has one of the worst
records in the world for workers’ rights, according to an
ITUC report. Reviewing the year
2018, ITUC said ‘police brutality reached
unprecedented levels’ and ‘security forces fired live ammunition at protesting
workers’.
In September 2018 police fired
live bullets, rubber bullets and teargas at workers and demonstrators who
had been legally protesting during a three-day strike. The streets of Manzini,
the kingdom’s main commercial city, were turned into a ‘battlefield’, according
to local media. The Swazi Observer, a
newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, said the bus rank in Swaziland’s
major commercial city was ‘turned into a warzone as stun grenades, teargas,
teasers and rubber bullets became the order of the day’.
In July
2018 the ITUC protested to the Swaziland Government after police attacked
peaceful demonstrators in the kingdom’s capital Mbabane. Four people were
seriously injured, with two left critical, after police fired stun grenades,
rubber bullets and water cannon.
Two of the injuried workers after the public servants' protest
See also
Swaziland
police brutality under attack from international workers’ group
Police
fire stun grenades at protest
Two
critical after police attack
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