A woman and her baby were held in a police cell
overnight in Swaziland along with at least 10 other students who are saying
they were beaten up by police.
The students from
Swaziland
Christian University (SCU) had been arrested and detained for
allegedly vandalising property and disturbing classes at Saim
Christian High School on Wednesday (31 January 2018). They
had been taking part in a protest march about unpaid allowances.
Fellow students protested at the magistrates court in
Mbabane, the Swazi Observer reported
(2 February 2018). It said, ‘The students are said to have been battered by the
police and one of them sustained a tear on the left ear.’
The newspaper reported Students Representative Council (SRC) president
Thabani Mkhwanazi, ‘said they are
saddened by the brutality they encounter at the hands of the police because
they are passively portraying their frustration while police are armed with
heavy guns and an aggressive approach to matters’.
It quoted him saying, ‘We have been exposed to too much brutality at the
hands of the police and we demand answers on why they are this aggressive to
defenceless students who are simply making known their grievances through a
passive protest.’
The mother, who the newspaper did not name, was
reportedly kept in a cell with her baby overnight. The newspaper called this ‘an
unbelievable episode’.
Ntswaki Khumalo, a third year nursing student, who
also spent the night in a police cell at Mbabane police station, told the
newspaper they were arrested by police during the protest action and bundled
into the back of a police van and sent to the police station.
The newspaper reported, ‘Upon arrival, they were placed
into holding cells where a contingent of about seven police officers allegedly
came into where they were kept and started assaulting them.
‘She said at some point the police hit them with the back of an R4 rifle while they continued hitting them with open hands across the face.
‘She said at some point the police hit them with the back of an R4 rifle while they continued hitting them with open hands across the face.
‘They said after the brutal lashing, their friends and
colleagues arrived at the police station to see them and give them food they
had bought but only to be told that they would not be allowed to see them as
they would be provided with police food.
‘Students said that the cell they were in had dirty
blankets and reeked of urine and other disgusting things such that they now
fear that the baby may have contracted some diseases as they were not even able
to change its diapers. This, they said, was due to the fact that they were not
allowed access to running water.’’
Deputy Chief Police Information and Communication
Officer Assistant Superintendent Phindile Vilakati denied that students from
SCU spent the night in jail with a baby. She could not confirm or deny
allegations of police brutality and assault.
This was not the first run
in between police and students at SCU. In September 2017 armed riot police broke up a peaceful vigil by
students outside the Ministry of
Education and Training when they were seeking to get their closed university
reopened.
Armed police from the
Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) gave the students 10 minutes to
disperse. The OSSU is known for its violence and the students led by executives
of the university’s student representative council decided to march away.
SCU was closed in August
2017 following an investigation by the Swaziland Higher Education Council
(SHEC). According to a 40-page report, SCU, a private university in a joint venture with
the Swazi Government, did not have the required funding to continue. There were
also issues among others about the suitability of learning resources such as
the library and the relevance and quality of its courses.
The university which
specialises in medical-related courses had an enrolment of 916 students in the
past academic year
In 2015, when SCU was in financial crisis and could not pay salaries,
the university blamed the Swazi Government for not giving it money it had
promised.
In February 2015, it was reported that armed police
raided the university’s campus after students boycotted classes. They were
protesting about a shortage of lecturers and inadequate teaching facilities.
It was also separately reported that 25 female
students from the university had been raped in the previous year. Students
blamed the university for not providing them with secure accommodation.
See also
POLICE
‘TORTURE’ STUDENTS IN CELLS
ARMED
POLICE END STUDENT PROTEST
STUDENTS ARRESTED AT COURT HOUSE
SWAZI STUDENT LEADERS ARRESTED
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