Swazi government cracks down on protesters‎

[News_Editor]

Swazi government cracks down on protesters‎

2011-04-12 21:44:12 GMT+7 (ICT)

MANZINI, SWAZILAND (BNO NEWS) -- Police in Swaziland on Tuesday attacked protesters and arrested scores of people ahead of planned protests against King Mswati III.

After the majority of the organizers and several journalists trying to cover the demonstrations were detained, the labour unions continued with their protest as planned in the centre of Manzini city. The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), a pro-democracy organization based in South Africa, reported that police used batons, tear gas, and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, but protesters refused to lie down.

According to the Swaziland Democracy Campaign (SDC), the chaos prompted the state to send in the Red Barrettes, a special branch of the Swazi Army. In addition, riot police were all over the country's cities, conducting roadblocks. People, however, continued to join the April 12 Uprising, which demands the end of the absolute monarchy.

The SDC reported earlier that leading trade unionists and activists were arrested at the offices of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions, including SDC Coordinator Mary da Silva. She was giving a telephone interview to a radio station before the line went dead. The SDC said it feared many of those detained would be tortured.

"It has been confirmed by independent observers that this is the largest security mobilization that has taken place in Swaziland for decades," the SDC said in a statement. "It has also been reported that soldiers and police are bearing brand new weaponry, and the source of these instruments of oppression is being investigated."

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) condemned the "brutality of police forces" and urged the African National Congress, South African Government, United Nations and the Southern African Development Community to intervene.

"Swazi people must know that the world and African countries are with them in this trying and difficult time. King Mswati must do the honourable thing by relinquishing executive powers and allow the masses of Swaziland to go to polls and elect their leader," CWU said in a statement.

Buses traveling to the city of Manzini were being stopped, too. The SSN reported that police were arresting people and leaving them in far out places. Sources said that as many as two hundred people were allegedly taken from the streets of Manzini and Mbabane and taken to forests far from the cities.

On Monday, 30 teachers were detained and later left without transport in far out spots in the kingdom. The teachers' union headquarters was also blocked by police to prevent the more than 500 teachers at the center from participating in the protests.

"The police crackdown is all inclusive and is no longer targeting 'obvious participants'. Ordinary people on the streets have also fallen victim to the crackdown and are definitely not pleased by the action by police," SNN reported.

The South African Communist Party also informed that more raids were carried out on Monday night. It said that roughly all of the regime's 20,000 men police force were visible in public spaces "in a coercive operation of intimidation."

Swaziland has a population of only 1.4 million, but 40% of them are unemployed. Protesters are demanding better living conditions and accuse the royal regime of squandering public funds and illegally accumulating wealth.

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