Police in Swaziland (eSwatini) have once again reportedly
assaulted people for breaking coronavirus lockdown rules.
Police reportedly fired a shot and severely kicked and
punched residents at Murray Camp, outside the main commercial city Manzini. A
shot was fired at a woman but missed.
It is one of a series of reports in Swaziland of
police and security forces’ brutality against ordinary people during the partial
lockdown that has been in place since March 2020.
In the latest case the eSwatini Observer
quoted witnesses who said police broke up a group who were drinking alcohol
outside a homestead. It happened on Saturday (1 August 2020) at about 4 pm.
A police officer who was not in uniform questioned the
group and when they did not give him the answer he wanted he slapped one of
them. The officer then kicked a man several times in the stomach.
The newspaper reported, ‘Meanwhile, other police
officers, some of whom were in uniform, approached and some of them reportedly
joined in the attack against the residents.’
Later the police tried to take a phone from a woman
because they thought she was recording their actions. They also kicked her in
the stomach. She needed hospital treatment.
The newspaper reported, ‘When she had her back turned,
an officer fired a shot but missed her and soon thereafter he placed the hot
gun on her back.’
Police chased the woman to her home where one male
officer stripped her half-naked while he hurled insults at her, the Observer
reported.
‘All six police officers reportedly took turns kicking
her on her stomach and abdomen. She and three others were taken to the Fairview
Police Post where they were made to pay E260 each for supposedly breaking
COVID-19 regulations and obstructing the police while on duty before being
released,’ the newspaper reported.
The Observer reported a community policeman
only identified as Khoza introduced himself to the police and asked what was
going on. ‘I was insulted, kicked, slapped and degraded in front of everyone
here,’ Khoza said.
Police later denied the attack.
There have been a number of attacks by police and
security forces on people allegedly breaking lockdown rules.
On 15 April Swazi Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini
endorsed police beating people during the lockdown. He
told a press briefing, ‘If you are found to be violating these regulations,
the law will definitely take its course, we won’t compromise on this. Maybe
those who were assaulted were found to be on the wrong side of the law by
breaking the regulations put in place by government. We would like to encourage
members of the public to abide by these regulations, there shouldn’t a need for
the law enforcement to force you to respect these regulations.’
A 15-year-old boy was
shot and wounded by police when he played football with friends on a dusty
field near Gege. The Times of eSwatini reported their game was being
watched by two adults. It said the police officer allegedly fired his weapon to
disperse the spectators.
The Times reported, ‘The startled youngsters
are said to have trampled on each other as they ran away, while one of the boys
aged 15 reportedly sustained a serious injury after he got shot during the
skirmish.
‘The youngster was struck by a bullet in his left arm
while running away from the police officer.’ He was detained in hospital.
In April security forces reportedly
whipped a destitute woman in Eteni when she was on the streets desperately
trying to get food for her three children.
Mbabane lawyer Sabelo
‘Mngo’ Mngomezulu was left with broken ribs after soldiers assaulted him,
two women were whipped with sticks by police and a man was hospitalised after
police beat him about the head with a baton.
An
85-year-old woman collapsed and died when security forces raided her home
because they thought she was selling alcohol.
Armed military police officers also forced members of
the public to do press-ups when they were found at a bus rank in Manzini during
the coronavirus lockdown.
See also
Swaziland
policeman shoots boy, 15, playing football during coronavirus lockdown
More
reports of police and army violence against civilians as Swaziland coronavirus
lockdown continues
Swaziland
armed police, army intimidate people to obey coronavirus lockdown. Woman, 85,
dies
Swaziland
security forces whip destitute woman searching for food during coronavirus
lockdown
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