Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on authorities in Eswatini to ensure security forces respect human rights in the wake of pro-democracy protests that have hit the country since May.
HRW reported that Eswatini police fired live ammunition and teargas into a bus full of people travelling to the capital on 20 October to protest the incarceration of two pro-democracy members of parliament (MPs).
The two MPs, Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, have been in custody since 25 July and are facing terrorism charges after calling for democratic reforms in the kingdom.
Protests have rocked Africa’s last absolute monarchy since May when students and teachers marched to vent their anger at the alleged police killing of Thabani Nkomonye, a law student at the University of Swaziland.
According to Amnesty International (AI), over 70 protesters have been killed by security forces.
AI had also called on authorities to drop all ‘trumped-up charges’ against the two pro-democracy MPs and release them immediately.
‘Instead of resorting to lethal force, and teargassing people in confined spaces, Eswatini authorities should ensure that security forces deployed in the wake of protests respect citizens’ rights, avoid arbitrary use of force, and observe international standards of law enforcement’, HRW said in a statement.
‘They should also put in place a range of measures to safeguard citizens against police violence and prosecute all unlawful use of force’.
In an attempt to resolve the ongoing political and security crisis in Eswatini, South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, in his capacity as the chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation, appointed special envoys to engage Eswatini authorities.
‘Unless these envoys succeed in pressing Eswatini authorities to respect the right to peaceful protest, as enshrined in the country’s own constitution, and ensure the protection of lives, more ordinary Eswatini citizens stand to suffer under the present crackdown’, the statement added.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Photo source: Zambia24
