Human Rights Watch has called on the eSwatini government to ensure that the country’s security forces respect the rights of protesters amid reports that they have been using live ammunition to disperse the demonstrators.
HRW Southern Africa director Dewa Mavhinga said on Friday that the eSwatini authorities should ensure that security forces “act within the law and avoid arbitrary use of force.”
“They should put in place a range of measures to safeguard citizens against violence and to prosecute all unlawful use of force,” Mavhinga said.
eSwatini has been rocked by days of violent protests triggered by the king’s decree banning petitions to the government calling for democratic reforms.
Protesters who spoke to HRW accused the army and police of indiscriminately shooting at protesters.
The waves of protests began in May 2021, when students and teachers protested the alleged killing by the police of University of Swaziland law student Thabani Nkomonye.
The authorities have initiated an investigation into the killing, but protests escalated in late June when about 500 youths took to the streets of the country’s largest city Manzini, about 30 kilometres from the capital Mbabane, demanding democratic reforms.
The authorities responded by banning protests and deployed soldiers and the police to disperse protesters.
JN/APA