Community police officers
in Swaziland (eSwatini) paraded naked five suspected thieves and severely beat
them on their buttocks. At least two needed hospital treatment.
It happened at KaMasuku and
is the latest example of how local police disregard the law.
The Times of
eSwatini reported Mpolonjeni
community police made a widespread search looking for stolen vehicle parts. The
suspects were removed from their homes in the early hours.
It reported one of the
community police officers Menzi Maseko saying, ‘We were just fed up as a
community and wanted to send a clear message to criminals as we are approaching
the festive season.’
The Times added,
‘They warned anyone who would be tempted to commit crime in the area not to
dare try as they were on the lookout and ready for war.’
The community police operate in rural Swaziland and
are supervised by traditional chiefs who are local representatives of the
absolute monarch, King Mswati III. They have the authority to arrest suspects
concerning minor offences for trial by an inner council within the chiefdom.
For serious offences suspects should be handed over to the official police for
further investigations.
Community police in Swaziland have a long history of
attacks on people.
In
October 2019 it was reported community police at
Mahwalala allegedly beat a teenager to death to make him confess to a crime he
had not committed. He was one of six people accused by the police of robbing an
elderly man. It said he was interrogated through the night and died of his
injuries.
In June 2019 it was reported community police at
Gundvwini in the Manzini region illegally forced a six-year-old boy to strip
and then thrashed him on the naked buttocks after he was accused of stealing a
cellphone from a schoolteacher.
In June 2018 five
community police officers at Ngoloweni in Sandleni
attacked a man described as ‘mentally disturbed’ and beat him close to death
and set
his genitals on fire. They suspected the 44-year-old man had
attempted to rape a girl aged six.
See also
Swaziland
police ‘beat teenager to death to make him confess to crime he did not commit’
Police
beat man close to death
Police
gang-rape schoolgirl
https://swazimedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/police-gang-rape-schoolgirl.html
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